PITTSBURGH — The not-so-subtle hints have been making their way into Lindy Ruff's chats for a couple of weeks. Derek Roy, the Buffalo Sabres' coach said, needs to play better.

No one has to tell Roy. He's fully aware.

The center enters tonight's game against Pittsburgh in Mellon Arena on another cold streak.

Roy has no goals in the last eight games and only one in the last 13 outings.

The slump should be over. Roy and Thomas Vanek worked a perfect give-and-go during Friday's

2-1 victory over Boston, with Roy staring at an empty net. He missed.

For a guy with a total of 60 goals during the previous two seasons, it was tough to handle.

"The other night I missed an empty net, and that doesn't happen," Roy said Sunday. "It puts

them down, 3-1, and that just puts the game out of reach. Especially come the latter half of

the season, we're going to need that. I've just got to make that shot. The puck rolled and

whatnot, but I've still got to make that shot. There's no excuses."

It's good Roy doesn't want to use any excuses for his extended slide because the coach

doesn't want to hear them.

"Those are the plays he's got to make a difference on," Ruff said in HSBC Arena before

heading to Pittsburgh. "I don't want to stand here and talk about the opportunities. I want to

talk about the times he's cashed in."

There hasn't been a lot of talk this season. Roy has 11 goals and is on pace for 17, which

would be the lowest full-season total of his career. He had 28 goals last season and 32 the

year before, earning first-line status.

He game has been off from the start — it took 12 games to get his first goal of the

season — and Tim Connolly has become the top middle man, especially after a recent

16-game point streak.

"I've got to get on a streak now," Roy said. "We're winning games, but we can't rely on

Timmy all the time to get the points. I've got to step up."

His wingman figures one good game should bring back the old Roy, the one who would have

buried Boston.

"If he's on top of his game, he probably stops that and puts it in the empty net," Vanek

said. "Right now it's, "Get it in there as quick as possible,' and it doesn't work that way.

"Sometimes all it takes is a game where you get a few bounces here and there, feel good

about yourself, and then you take off."

Roy could use a few positive thoughts.

"It's things like [the miss] that snowball and get in your mind as you try and work through

it," he said. "It seems like when you get down on yourself, it seems like that's when things

don't go for you. You've got to stay positive and keep working."

Ruff has been meeting with the 26-year-old in an effort to find the missing skills.

"It's a conversation that we've had regularly," Ruff said. "I've been showing him quite a

bit of video. We've been sitting around and talking about aspects of his game that you've

slowly got to correct. There's some small bad habits that have crept into his game.

"There's some frustration with the lack of offense, but I think it's the process that gets

you there. It's not unlike where Tim Connolly was at and he turned around. I expect Derek to

do the same."

It would help if Roy could get the power play working. He led the Sabres with 30

man-advantage points last season but is on pace for 20. He has one power-play goal since Nov.

13.

"When his unit is out on the power play, he's the guy that has to run the power play off

his side," Ruff said. "He's got to make the plays that can make a difference for us. I don't

think there's been enough plays.

"His play has been OK, but I've got him in a higher category than that."