Changes were inevitable for the Buffalo Sabres and changes were made prior to tonight's game vs. the Flyers.

Out of line up were defenseman Henrik Tallinder and forward Maxim Afinogenov. In were Nathan Paetsch and call up Mark Mancari. Head coach Lindy Ruff, unimpressed with both players as well as the entire team, said this change was important to the team's success.

It looked as Ruff may have been dead on with his moves as Buffalo played a much more controlled game on defense and responsible on the offense side as well.

Buffalo and Philly traded chances through the first period. But Scott Hartnell was the lucky recipient of being at the right place at the right time. As he was leaving the penalty box he received a long pass behind the Sabres defense directly onto his stick and netted the back hander past Ryan Miller to give Philly the 1-0 lead into the break.

The second period again saw both teams exchange chances and both goaltenders come up big for their teams. Buffalo seemed to have some unlucky breaks with rolling pucks and hitting goal posts. After two periods of play the game was still sitting at 1-0 and was either team's game for the taking.

Buffalo came out in my opinion rather flat at the start of the third. The Sabres were hemmed in their own end and were not able to gain control of any action.

Eight minutes into the third, Jeff Carter gave Philly the two goal lead they were looking for, netting his 12th of the season on a quick shot that seemed to fool Miller a bit.

Buffalo battled but to no avail. Philly netted an empty netter to finish off the game winning 3-0. Martin Biron came back to his hometown and was rather stellar in net, recording his 24th career shutout.

Buffalo will welcome the New York Islanders Saturday night to the HSBC arena, in hopes of stopping the skid they are in the middle of. 

 

Notes from the game

Mark Mancari played very commendably in his call up from Portland. I would expect him to also get the nod Saturday night.

In hopes of Buffalo tightening up their defense, they were rather soft on the forward side of the game. It was almost too much emphasis on defense, as forwards just at times looked clueless on what to do.

Teppo Numminen should be the next Buffalo skater to sit out a game. He just does not have the wear with all to play at any kind of high level on a night-in and night-out basis.

Ryan Miller was stellar on some of his saves tonight. The focus was back.

Anyone seen Paul Gaustad, Dan Paille, or Adam Mair?

Gaustad is just flat out a non-factor in any way. Mair is back to his normal self, taking dumb penalties and thinking he can change his game to a finesse player. And Dan Paille, who made a name with this team for his hard work, is just invisible for most of the game.