TAMPA, Fla. — For the Buffalo Sabres' sake, hopefully video cameras followed their

every move prior to Thursday's game. That way they can review the tape, retrace their steps

and do exactly the same thing every game day — because whatever they did, it worked.

The Sabres busted out of their slow-starting mode in a big way against Tampa Bay, scoring

three times in the first period of a 6-2 rout. The vocal Blue and Gold backers in St. Pete

Times Forum repeatedly celebrated as the Sabres lit up the Lightning early.

The fast start was sought and needed. Buffalo's three-game winless streak featured sluggish

openings, and the Sabres came out intent on stopping both those skids. They collectively have

been at a loss to explain why they don't always come out swinging, so maybe a playback of

Thursday's actions will give them some explanation.

The changes started early. The Sabres skipped the morning skate and had a meeting instead.

Then, when the pregame warm-ups started, the Lightning had the ice to itself as coach Lindy

Ruff told his team to wait three minutes.

"It's the first time we tried it and it worked, so I think the odds are pretty good that

we're going to do it again," said right wing Jason Pominville, who scored three times. "I

don't know if that's why we came out better, but it definitely has been our focus. Our starts

haven't been good enough."

The Sabres owned the opening period with the trio of goals and a 14-4 shot edge. They

improved to 27-4-4 when scoring first. They finished with their best goal output since a 7-2

win in Phoenix on Jan. 18.

"It was a good steppingstone for us," Ruff said. "Our desperation, our attention to

positioning, our puck possession was real good. The first 30 minutes, we had the majority of

puck possession, and it made it tough on them."

The coach said an extended meeting Wednesday was a real eye-opener for the team.

"We got their attention," Ruff said. "It was a real good meeting, interactive, and

everybody agreed to a man that we need to be better."

Pominville opened the attack with 5:19 gone. The Sabres' power play, which has scored in

three of the past four games after a five-week skid, did the honors. After Tyler Myers gave

Buffalo a 2-0 lead with 6:04 remaining, Pominville sent the Buffalo fans in the crowd of

16,868 out of their seats again.

The combination of Henrik Tallinder's long pass and a fall to the ice by Lightning

defenseman Andrej Meszaros gave Pominville a breakaway. He was stopped on his first attempt

but kept skating and dumped the rebound home with 3:37 left.

Pominville completed the scoring for his second career hat trick with 34 seconds to go in

the game. Hats poured to the ice to honor the visiting player, and the Sabres' Three Stars

— Pominville, Derek Roy (one goal, two assists) and Ryan Miller (23 saves) —

responded by skating out to wave to the cheering masses.

"There were a lot of fans here, so we decided to stay out," said Pominville, who has 21

goals. "On the road you don't normally do it, but all three were on our team so we just

decided to give them a salute."

The Lightning, in a 4-0 hole, finally beat Miller in the third period. Steve Downie scored

with 11:54 left, and a power-play goal by Vincent Lecavalier cut the margin to 4-2 with 2:38

to go.

Thomas Vanek's empty-netter with 1:46 to go ended the Lightning's slim hopes and set the

stage for Pominville's hat trick.

Miller was at his dominating, read-the-play best before the goals. He correctly read

several cross-ice plays to make saves look easy. He got a big ovation prior to the game, as

has been the custom since his Olympic performance, and got a larger one midway through the

second with two saves on a Lecavalier breakaway.

Miller's performance came one game after allowing three goals on five shots and getting

pulled in Atlanta.

"I was happy to have it tonight," he said. "I obviously didn't have it in Atlanta and

wanted to bounce back."