WASHINGTON — In the last three games, the Buffalo Sabres had numerous defensive lapses

and collapsed during crunch time. They signed Mike Grier this summer to tighten their system

and provide a smart, calming presence with games on the line.

Hmm, think the absence of Grier might have something to do with the Sabres going 0-2-1?

Think they were missing what he provides?

"I think so," coach Lindy Ruff said Tuesday. "He's one of the better two-way players in the

league, and these tight games early in the year that we were winning, the tight games now we

lost.

"You look at the Boston game [2-1 in overtime], you look at the Florida game [6-2] that was

tight right to the end, we're sitting in Ottawa in a 2-1 game in the third period [and lose

5-3].

"He's been around the room, but there's nothing like having the jersey on and playing.

We've been able to do a good job on the penalty-killing front without him, but the intangibles

are there."

Grier will be back in uniform tonight when the Sabres face the Washington Capitals in

Verizon Center. The right winger missed the last five games with a groin injury.

"It's been two good days of practice, so I'm excited to be back," Grier said in HSBC Arena

before flying to Washington. "It's always tough watching, especially when we're playing some

tough teams. It wasn't an easy schedule for the guys. They did a good job, played hard, but

when you're watching you're dying to help."

As Ruff often says, it's tough to gauge how long a groin injury will affect a player.

Grier's ailment, which occurred Nov. 11, kept him out longer than he expected. He figured he'd

be back for the Nov. 14 game against Philadelphia or, worse case scenario, a week ago when

Florida visited.

"Maybe I was a little overly optimistic ... They gave me a few extra days off, and now I'm

ready to go," Grier said.

The return of Grier gives Ruff a completely healthy roster, allowing him to set the forward

lines to his liking. He's putting Derek Roy in the middle of left wing Thomas Vanek and right

wing Jason Pominville; Tim Connolly will be flanked by Clarke MacArthur and Drew Stafford; Tim

Kennedy will center Jochen Hecht and Grier; while Paul Gaustad will be in the middle of Matt

Ellis and Patrick Kaleta.

The offense has been struggling, which Grier — from his spot above the ice —

attributes to system breakdowns.

"I just think we got away from our game defensively a little bit," he said. "Guys are

squeezing the sticks a little bit, trying to make things happen offensively, and it took away

from our defensive game. We ended up giving up too many rush chances."

. . .

Probably the main focus of the first 10 games was defenseman Tyler Myers and his quest to

stay with the team. In the past 10, the rookie has blended into all the story lines. "Both 10

have been good," Ruff said. "I don't really have any complaints about his game. He's really

carried on through the second 10 games almost as well as he did the first 10. That's good. You

know there may be a drop-off at some period, but I haven't seen it yet."