PHILADELPHIA — The time to cordially pass cranberries, smile over family memories and relax after turkey dinner was over. This was Philadelphia. Brotherly Love is an empty slogan, not a way of life, especially when the Broad Street Bullies are involved.

So one day after Thanksgiving — when the Buffalo Sabres casually rode into Philly by

train, reminisced with their fathers and enjoyed the holiday — Black (and Blue) Friday

arrived. It was about as different a day as you can get.

Two misconducts. Two fights. Too many scrums to count. Four players helped to the dressing

room. Heads banged off glass. Sticks under helmets. Pucks banked off faces. Blood on the ice.

Orange-clad fans thirsting for more.

Old-time hockey. And in another old-school move, the Sabres won. The team snapped a four-

game winless streak, leaving the riled-up Wachovia Center with a 4-2 victory.

A team needing a victory is always thrilled when one comes, but to win in such an emotion-

filled game meant a little more to the Sabres.

"That's what we've been talking about, the whole team, is playing with emotion, playing

with desperation," defenseman Henrik Tallinder said. "There were a lot of emotions out there,

and we did it."

Tim Connolly had two goals and two assists to spark the Sabres' offense, which slumped

during the 0-3-1 slide.

"That's always a tough battle when you play these guys," Connolly said. "Maybe that even

elevates your game some more. All the guys were really into the game."

The players on both sides had no choice. Otherwise, they'd have gotten run over.

The hostilities started midway through the opening period. Patrick Kaleta boarded Flyers

center Jared Ross, driving his head into the glass and earning a five-minute major and game

misconduct.

Kaleta, who was the recipient of a similar hit by Alexander Ovechkin in the Sabres'

previous game, was jumped by Riley Cote but refused to fight. From there, numerous players

wanted to scrap whenever given the slightest chance.

Sabres captain Craig Rivet and Daniel Carcillo fought twice in the second period. It would

have been three times, but the announcer and time keepers were stationed between the penalty

boxes. Carcillo screamed over their heads at Rivet before finally getting sent to the dressing

room.

The teams officially combined for 25 hits through the first 40 minutes, but it could have

been more.

"You've got to show you're a desperate club," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "When you've

lost the number of games we've lost in a row, you've got to show that desperation if you want

to win again. I thought that desperation, that emotion showed up. You've got to give that

group of guys in the room a lot of credit."

The Sabres also were able to handle adversity. They had a 1-0 lead in the final minute of

the first period, but they were stunned to enter the dressing room in a 2-1 hole. Mike

Richards scored with 33.4 seconds left, and Braydon Coburn followed with just 3.6 ticks on the

clock.

"We stumbled at the end of the period," Ruff said, "but I thought for the next 40 minutes

the battle was good enough to win the game."

Paul Gaustad — who, like Rivet, left with a leg injury — got the Sabres back to

even with a power-play deflection in the second period. Connolly scored twice in the third.

The winner came on a top-shelf laser with 14:33 left, moving the Sabres to 5-0-2 when tied

after 40 minutes.

Ryan Miller turned aside several point-blank chances late as Philly tried to rally. He made

31 saves, including 15 in the third period.

The Sabres' celebration was a short one, as they began to focus on tonight's game against

the Carolina Hurricanes in HSBC Arena.

"We needed to go home feeling good about ourselves," Miller said. "It was a lot more

emotion."