Things are definitely going wrong for the Buffalo Sabres. What makes it worse is the parts of their game heading south are the areas in which they formerly excelled.

Take tight games, for example. The Sabres were stone-cold locks with the outcome in doubt. They rolled to a 15-0-5 record in the first 20 games decided by one goal.

Lately, they've struggled. They are just 2-4-2 in the past eight, including Friday's 4-3

loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

"We haven't been able to just grind it out, so to speak," defenseman Toni Lydman said. "We did a great job with it in the early going, and it's that time of the year when the games get tougher and the wins are harder to get. Every team is pushing for the playoff spots or trying to stay on top, and that's the way we should be. We should be pushing."

Ryan Miller was the best goaltender in the world as the Sabres climbed to the top of the Northeast Division. He hasn't been as sharp recently, including the most crucial time Friday.

The teams were tied, 3-3, with 3:17 left when Miller whiffed on Jussi Jokinen's

unobstructed slap shot from the left faceoff circle. After the puck got past his glove, Miller bent over and stared at the ice as the sellout crowd in HSBC Arena groaned.

"You're not going to skate through the season without some major screw-ups, and we can count that as a major screw-up," Miller said. "Hit the tip of my fingers. Not a very good example of eye-hand coordination."

The biggest example of the tide turning against the Sabres is the one that matters most: the win-loss column. It's filled with L's. The Sabres have lost three straight and are just 2-6-1 in the past nine games.

"We've hit a tough stretch," coach Lindy Ruff said. "Now it's time to see how we're going to react to it. We've had pretty smooth sailing, and adversity is one thing you've got to deal with. Don't think for a moment that we were going to go the whole year without dealing with some type of adversity."

It won't take long to see how the Sabres deal with their dilemmas. They complete their

four-game work week tonight with a visit to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

"I know that you face tough stretches," Ruff said after Friday's loss. "My job, with very

little practice time between now and tomorrow night, is to try and correct some of these

mistakes through video and get us back on the same page and go out and win a hockey game."

Most of the Sabres cleared out of the dressing room before the media arrived, but they

certainly didn't move that quickly at the beginning of Friday's game. Carolina took eight of the first 10 shots and opened a 1-0 lead.

Despite getting only four shots, the Sabres went to intermission with a 1-1 tie on Andrej Sekera's goal with 1:25 left.

"The first period scared me," Ruff said. "Late in the first period, we finally got a little

bit of desperation and a little bit of energy in our game."

The third period was full of bursts by both teams, with three goals in the opening three

minutes. Eric Staal put Carolina in front with 34 seconds gone. Drew Stafford answered with back-to-back goals, giving Buffalo a 3-2 lead with 17:02 to play.

The Sabres' first late-game crack came with 11:37 left. Sergei Samsonov carried the puck to the front of the net and slid it across the crease for a tap-in by Tom Kostopoulos, who got loose from center Tim Kennedy.

"We're making mistakes in the last 10 minutes of games," right wing Mike Grier said. "It's something we've got to fix."

Miller's mistake on Jokinen's shot ended the game and left the 18,690 fans booing as they exited.

"When you've got that lead in the third you should pretty much do whatever it takes,"

Lydman said. "The last little while we haven't been that sound defensively as we would like to be in that situation when we're either tied or within one goal.

"It takes a little extra."