This was no gentle practice, no 25-minute special that's been prevalent because of the

compressed NHL schedule.

Coach Lindy Ruff had the Buffalo Sabres skating hard on the HSBC Arena ice for 70 minutes

Monday, trying to shake them from the doldrums of a four-game losing streak. They hope the

bottom was Saturday's 4-0 stinker in Columbus.

At the beginning of practice, Ruff's usual quick chat at a wipe board attached to the glass

turned into a five-minute lecture. Stick in hand, Ruff waved his arms and banged the stick on

the ice. Even banged the boards.

At one point a few minutes later, Ruff stopped a drill and made his troops start again.

"We'll play like we practice and practice like we play," he barked.

Most of the drills were based on game situations to get ready for tonight's visit by the

Boston Bruins, and it was easily one of the longer practices of the year. The team took Sunday

off.

"We have to deal with adversity and deal with it in a fashion that will get us out of it,"

Ruff said. "The days of grinding them into a little bit of a nub after four games in six

nights might have led to us losing five or six more. I think we needed to freshen up, we

needed a day away. But we needed to get right back on track.

"I told them we'll get out of it if our desperation in the game is a little greater, our

energy in the game is a little greater, our attention to playing the system is a little

better."

"Today was tough, very tough," said captain Craig Rivet. "We were trying to get our legs

back and our minds focused."

Winger Mike Grier said he noticed the Sabres have been playing cautiously of late, rather

than jumping at the opportunities to make plays, and that's been a main reason for the skid.

"Hopefully this will be it for us," Grier said. "We have to erase it, get it out of our

system the last three games and go [into the Olympic break] on a high."xleg

. . .

Ruff said defenseman Steve Montador, who tweaked his hip Saturday, may be on the ice for

today's morning skate. The coach said winger Patrick Kaleta is feeling a little better and had

additional X-rays on his bruised foot that were negative.

"It just must be a real bad bone bruise that he can't do too much with it," Ruff said.

. . .

Former player and broadcaster Jim Lorentz and ex-Buffalo coach Joe Crozier will be inducted

into the Sabres Hall of Fame tonight in pregame ceremonies.

Lorentz spent seven of his 10 NHL seasons in Buffalo (1972-78) and totaled 331 points, 14th

on the team's all-time list. He then served as a broadcaster for 26 seasons, before retiring

following the 2006-07 season. Crozier was the team's head coach from 1972-74 and has been with

the team's front office for 36 years.

. . .

Portland winger Mark Mancari has been named AHL Player of the Week after collecting seven

points and posting a plus-7 rating in three games. Mancari is tied for ninth in the AHL in

scoring with 49 points in 49 games, including a team-high 20 goals.

Friday's loss to Carolina was the first game this season the Sabres failed to earn a point

when they were tied or leading through two periods. Buffalo had been 27-0-5 in such

situations.