You get the sense Lindy Ruff is already tired of talking about Tyler Myers. Day after day, someone asks the Buffalo Sabres coach about his rookie defenseman. Ruff lets out a little sigh, makes a remark along the lines of, "As I said yesterday," then praises the 19-year-old.

Here's a little good news/bad news for Ruff. First, the bad: People are going to keep

asking about Myers. The good news? Myers' fine play is why people can't get enough of him.

The 6-foot-8 phenom collected two more milestones Friday night, scoring his first NHL goal

in his first multipoint game to help the Sabres beat the New York Islanders, 6-3. The kid

recorded his first point in his second game, put a plus-3 on his resume in the fourth and

found the net in his fifth.

Is it any wonder why folks are so eager to see the sixth? That comes tonight when the

Atlanta Thrashers visit HSBC Arena.

"Each game that goes on I'm feeling more comfortable out there," Myers said. "I've got to

thank the guys in the room here. We're only five games in, and we just have to make sure we

keep it going."

When the Sabres decided to keep Myers after training camp, he had nine games to show he was

ready for the NHL. If his tryout didn't go well, the Sabres could ship him back to his junior

team and move on with their lives till next season.

Well, that ship has sailed. There'd be a mutiny if Myers went anywhere other than a

permanent Western New York residence.

Myers scored the opening goal in a wild game that saw plenty of goaltending gaffes. Paul

Gaustad's shot from the left circle slid softly to the slot, where a pinching Myers backhanded

it past Dwayne Roloson just 2:27 into the game.

"These first few games I really wanted it, and when I saw it went through his five-hole I

was pretty excited," Myers said. "I gave it a big scream and gave [Daniel Paille] a big bear

hug.

"The coaches, since I've been here, have said to the "D' that we can jump in the play, our

forwards will be there to back us up. When I saw an opening I just decided to jump down."

Drew Stafford retrieved the souvenir puck from the linesman while Myers received a line of

high-fives from his teammates on the bench.

"You can say all you want about his age and whatnot, but he's playing with a lot of poise

and maturity, making smart decisions out there," Stafford said. "It's good for him, but it's

good for us, too, because he's helping our lineup, he's helping us win."

Before people clear space in the rafters to put Myers alongside Gilbert Perreault and Pat

LaFontainte, they should know he was on the ice for two of the Islanders' goals.

"Great goal, jumping up and getting there," Ruff said. "I thought on the whole our defense

struggled at times, and you've got to throw him in that category, too, take a little of the

shine off.

"But to get him in on the offense, play him the amount we've been playing him, it's pretty

impressive."

The Sabres made it 2-0 late in the first with a penalty shot by Clarke MacArthur. He faked

a slap shot, then slid a backhand past an overmatched Roloson.

The former Sabres netminder continued to be overmatched, at least till being yanked midway

through the second period after giving up soft goals to Tim Connolly and Jochen Hecht.

The sellout crowd of 18,690 cheered loudly as the Isles tapped another former Sabre, Martin

Biron, to enter the crease. The cheering waned as New York took over.

The Islanders scored with 7:06 to go on Ryan Miller's first miscue of the season. The

Sabres goalie went behind the net to play a dump-in and whiffed. The puck went under his stick

to the game's other rookie sensation, John Tavares. The first overall pick in June's draft

beat Miller to the net to make the score 4-2.

Although they scored twice in the second period, the Sabres played their worst 20 minutes

of the season and were outshot, 19-8.

"We got into a little of that "we'll give you one, but then we'll take one' with them,"

Ruff said, "but I liked how hard we went at it in the third period."

Paille set up the first goal of the third, driving hard to the Islanders' net. After the

puck was knocked away, Patrick Kaleta swooped in for his second goal of the season with 11:08

left. Just 24 seconds later, the Isles' Andy Sutton answered again.

The suspense finally ended with 4:08 left when Jason Pominville scored the 100th goal of

his career, a slap shot over Biron's glove from the right circle as the Sabres moved to 4-0-1.

"It was good that we were able to finish the game," Myers said, "but there is some

improving that we need to focus on."