OTTAWA — The Ottawa Senators floored Drew Stafford. Thomas Vanek flattened the

Senators.

It will be up to Stafford's recovery timetable to determine if it's a fair tradeoff.

The Sabres celebrated the return of their most accomplished scorer Saturday, using a career-

high four goals from Vanek for a 5-2 victory over their nemesis. The rare win was marred early

when the Sabres lost another key player.

Stafford was lambasted by Ottawa defenseman Andy Sutton just 2:35 into the game and didn't

return.

"Drew's not doing so well," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "He's got a little bit of a

concussion, and it looks like he'll miss some time."

Stafford took a pass near the boards at the Ottawa blue line and never saw Sutton coming.

The 6-foot-6, 245-pound Sutton delivered a clean, crushing hit between Stafford's chin and

chest. The right winger stayed facedown on the ice as Raffi Torres and other Sabres rushed

toward Sutton. Stafford eventually was guided to the dressing room by athletic trainer Tim

Macre.

"To me, that looked like a pretty clean hit," Ruff said. "It looked like he wanted to lower

his head maybe and go inside, and I don't know if that was a good decision."

The Sabres are already without top-six forwards Tim Connolly and Jochen Hecht and can ill

afford to lose another with the playoffs just days away. The Sabres close the regular season

this afternoon in New Jersey against the Devils, and the postseason will begin Wednesday or

Thursday.

The date is undetermined because the opponent and the Sabres' position in the Eastern

Conference standings also are up in the air. Buffalo is one point behind the Atlantic

Division-leading Devils and will become the No. 2 seed with a regulation victory. A loss or

overtime win would relegate the Sabres to third place.

"Home ice [in the second round as the No. 2] would be big for us," Sabres forward Adam Mair

said. "I don't know if you're ever in a position where you want to give that away."

The third seed will play the sixth, while the second seed will face the seventh-ranked

team.

Boston earned the sixth seed Saturday by beating Carolina in the afternoon and watching

Montreal lose to Toronto in overtime at night. Positions seven and eight will be set today

when the New York Rangers visit Philadelphia. A Rangers victory would give Montreal the

seventh spot, while a Flyers win would put Philly at No. 7.

Vanek, meanwhile, showed the Sabres what they've been missing for six games. He returned

from his groin injury to score the opening two goals, then followed Chris Neil's tally with

two more. He became only the fourth Ottawa opponent to score four times.

Vanek's hat trick came on a penalty shot. He was slashed on the ankle by Sutton with 11:03

left in the second period while on a breakaway. His backhand gave him his sixth three-goal

night.

He didn't stop there. The left winger batted a rebound out of midair on a power play with

6:48 left in the second, setting his personal one-night best.

Vanek, who vaulted from 23 goals to 27, nonetheless will fall short of the past three

seasons, when he averaged 40. He wants to use this final weekend and the playoffs as an eraser

on a tough season.

"It's been a rough year, obviously," Vanek said. "The good part is we're in the postseason.

You can make a lot of good in there. That's what I'm looking forward to. Hopefully, I can

contribute a lot more than I have been."

The victory ended a nine-game slide against the Senators. Ottawa fell to 25-7-4 against

Buffalo since the 2005-06 season.

"Obviously, it's nice for me to be back and capitalize on my opportunities," Vanek said,

"but at the same time it was just a good win for us."