Toni Lydman, injured during the first month and a half of the season, could see a

difference in the Buffalo Sabres from his press box spot high above the ice. It was

confidence. He noticed his teammates weren't afraid to make mistakes, that they weren't as

hesitant as the previous two seasons.

Since returning to ice level, the defenseman has observed the biggest change in Andrej

Sekera. Gone is the jittery player from last year who was benched down the stretch. In his

place is an aggressive blue-liner unafraid of finding a time to join the rush.

Sekera's play and confidence are at an all-time high entering tonight's visit by the New

York Rangers. The third-year defenseman will bring a three-game point streak to HSBC Arena.

"He's got more confidence," Lydman said Friday. "When you find that confidence and things

are working for you, you start to make more plays. It's the same for everybody, but especially

young guys.

"You see at some point they realize they're not just good enough to be here and make the

team, they're actually good enough to take more responsibility, make plays, make things

happen, be the difference. I think with Reggie's skating, his skill and his shot, he should be

one of our top guys. I think he's finally realizing it."

Sekera — nicknamed Reggie as a play off the last three letters of Andrej — is

playing so well that coach Lindy Ruff will put him anywhere to keep him on the ice. Craig

Rivet's return from injury gave Buffalo eight healthy defensemen for Thursday's 6-2 victory

over Montreal, so Ruff started Sekera as a fourth-line forward.

"I didn't want to take him out of the lineup," said Ruff, who watched Sekera respond with a

goal and assist after moving back to defense when Chris Butler suffered an ankle sprain.

The Sabres expected this kind of output last season from the 23-year-old. They needed

offense from the blue line following Brian Campbell's departure, but Sekera clearly wasn't

ready. He had three goals, 16 assists and was a team-worst minus-11.

"He was playing a lot of minutes, had more pressure than maybe what a young guy needed at

the time," Rivet said. "Right now he's taking things slow, and he's gradually building

confidence and getting better. You can definitely see in his last couple games that he has

great skating ability and is going to have a good offensive thought process when he's on the

ice.

"He's learning when to get up in the play. He's probably one of the best-skating defensemen

that I've ever played with, so he's using those abilities. Right now he's playing very well

for us."

Sekera, like most players on a four-game winning streak, attributes his play to a positive

frame of mind.

"If you're having fun out there, good things will happen," he said. "I just try to use my

wheels a little more, see if I can create a little more offense for the guys."

A secondary factor, no doubt, is fear. Sekera has been a healthy scratch three times this

season, a victim of Buffalo's decision to carry two extra defensemen. He almost welcomed

getting scratched late last season when he was bewildered, but sitting out this year doesn't

sit well.

"You don't want to get out of the lineup," Sekera said, "and if you do you have to make

sure when you have the next chance to be in the lineup you make the decision for the coach

pretty tough: Do they keep you in or put you out? I'm just trying to make the decision for

them harder."