UNIONDALE — Tim Kennedy's daily beatings have temporarily stopped.

The Buffalo Sabres' rookie center has been undergoing a barrage of poundings in the faceoff

circle at the end of every practice or morning skate. The former left winger needs to learn

how to compete in the dot at the NHL level, and the Sabres have Paul Gaustad teaching him.

Gaustad isn't just good. He's the best in the league. He's won 69.1 percent of his draws

this season, a full 5 percent better than second-place Scott Nichol of San Jose.

Kennedy, who was at 36.5 percent entering Saturday's game against the New York Islanders,

obviously has trouble keeping up.

"It's a real hard skill," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "Tim is finding it tough. He's a

winger that has been thrown into the center dot. We make him go up against Paul most days.

It's not easy. He gets a little frustrated, but I think what Paul's doing is working with him,

trying to teach him the little tricks that he's learned over the past couple years. It's tough

when you go in against the best guys in the league."

Gaustad, though, was sick most of last week and missed his second straight game Saturday.

He also skipped a couple of practices, meaning Kennedy's training has been a little easier

with guys such as Adam Mair and Jason Pominville.

"I've been working about 20 minutes after practice each day," Kennedy said. "It's not as

easy as it looks. There's skill that goes into it and strength with some guys in the league.

I'm just trying to get better each day."

Kennedy, as expected with someone learning a new job, has had ups and downs. He entered

Saturday with four games above 50 percent. He's also had nights like Friday's 3-2 win over

Toronto, when he went just 1 for 6 in the circle.

"We defined that as one of the areas we wanted to improve," said Ruff, whose team was 17th

at 47.4 percent last season and entered Saturday in 11th place at 50.8 percent.

"We felt if we could have the puck more, it starts with faceoffs," Ruff said. "It may give

us 3, 4 percent more playing time with the puck instead of going chasing it. I think that part

makes a difference."

Kennedy hopes having a quality teacher will make a difference, too.

"Paul is around the top of the league, so he knows what he's doing out there," Kennedy

said. "He's a great guy to hear what he has to say and how he goes about things."

. . .

The Sabres' record of 8-1-1 following Friday's victory gave them the second-best 10-game

start in team history. The 2006-07 club tied an NHL record by opening the year 10-0.

Buffalo never trailed during the win over the Maple Leafs, continuing a trend in HSBC

Arena. During their six home games, the Sabres have been ahead or tied for 301:05 of

362:42.xleg

. . .

The Sabres' minor-league club, the Portland Pirates, will play in the arena Nov. 12 against

the Rochester Americans.

The Sabres have announced a free ticket offer for the game.

Fans can receive a free 100 Level III ticket if they purchase a ticket to one of the

following Sabres games: Friday versus Philadelphia; Nov. 20 versus Boston; Jan. 9 versus

Colorado; Feb. 5 versus Carolina; Feb. 13 versus San Jose; March 12 versus Minnesota; or March

24 versus Montreal.