No informal chat at the front of the room with reporters. Instead, there was a podium and a

microphone and the media was seated in rows of neat chairs.

No Buffalo Sabres backdrop plastered with advertising on the wall. Just a stately "Stanley

Cup Playoffs" banner colored in black and blue. Maybe some symbolism to those colors perhaps?

Yes, it's that time again in HSBC Arena. For the first time since 2007.

"It's great to be back in," coach Lindy Ruff said Monday during his first playoff news

conference of the spring at the arena. "You've got to be excited to be back in again because a

couple years of being absent really hurt."

The Sabres were off Monday and will return to the practice ice today. And while Ruff is

mighty happy to be back in the postseason party, he was also brimming with good news on his

injured players.

It's possible Tim Connolly, Jochen Hecht and Drew Stafford could all play in Thursday

night's opener against the Boston Bruins.

"Connolly has been skating over the weekend," Ruff said. "We're optimistic about him

practicing and possibly playing on Thursday. Jochen Hecht hasn't skated yet but I'm not ruling

him out. Drew is a question mark but we're optimistic that he may be ready too."

Connolly, Buffalo's second-leading scorer during the regular season with 65 points, has

missed the last nine games with a lower-body injury believed to be to his foot. Hecht sat out

the final three games after minor finger surgery. Stafford would be the least likely to play

after suffering a mild concussion Saturday in Ottawa.

Getting healthy in the days leading into the series is the top priority for the Northeast

Division champions. Once the Sabres figure out who's in and who's out, they can make a

decision on ace prospect Tyler Ennis.

Does Ennis stay or does he go back to Portland? An interesting call.

Ennis had nine points in 10 games this season and could be an X-factor player against

Boston, a team the Sabres scored just 11 goals against in going 2-2-2 during the regular

season.

Ruff said he hasn't made up his mind on Ennis yet.

"We'll have to make that decision based on Hecht and Connolly and Stafford being available

to play," Ruff said.

Ruff's other decision will be on defense, where Chris Butler and Andrej Sekera have spent

the latter portion of the season alternating games. The coach was hoping for one or the other

to claim a job on a regular basis but neither has and Ruff indicated it's possible the

rotation could continue.

There will be no rotation in goal, of course, in this series. Ryan Miller of the Sabres and

Tuukka Rask of the Bruins are locked in as the starters and the main matchup between the teams

took up plenty of Ruff's talking points Monday.

Rask led the NHL in goals-against average (1.97) and save percentage (.931) while Miller

was second (2.22/.929). Each had five shutouts.

Rask was 4-1 with a 1.43 GAA and .954 save percentage this year against Buffalo. Miller

posted figures of 2-0-2, 1.71, .947 against the Bruins.

"He's really blossomed, done a real nice job for them," Ruff said when asked about Rask.

"It's going to be a good challenge for us and we have to make sure we're able to answer the

bell to get traffic to make it tough on him and get second opportunities."

. . .

The three-year entry-level contract the Sabres gave Cape Breton star Luke Adam on Thursday

is worth $2.18 million. The 19-year-old Adam, who is joining Portland for the AHL playoffs,

will get $687,500 next season, $707,500 in the 2011-12 season and $787,500 in 2012-13.

Adam finished second in voting for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League MVP after posting

career-highs in points (90), goals (49) and assists (41) in just 56 games.

. . .

Today will be a big day off the ice for the Bruins as the NHL conducts its draft lottery

live on Versus at 8 p.m. The Bruins acquired Toronto's first- and second-round picks last

September in a trade for Phil Kessel and have an 18.8 percent chance of landing the first

overall pick and a 60.8 percent chance of landing either the first or second pick. The lowest

they can fall is No. 3.

Edmonton has the best odds at the No. 1 pick (25 percent). Central Scouting's consensus top

two prospects are Ontario Hockey League stars Tyler Seguin of Plymouth and Taylor Hall of

Windsor. The draft is June 25-26 in Los Angeles.