Buffalo 3 New York Rangers 1: Thomas Vanek Does It Again

Both the Buffalo Sabres and New York Rangers knew fully well that one side's undefeated streak would end tonight. The stage was set for the 5-0 Rangers and the 2-0 Sabres. After just two minutes of action, Colton Orr and Andrew Peters threw down the gloves and went toe-to-toe.

It was a decent scrap to get the game going with no clear winner. Just six minutes and 32 seconds into the first period, Ryan Miller was beaten by a fluky goal. Michal Rozsival took a shot from the point that went off Scott Gomez' leg and by Miller.

Not much action to cheer about in the first period with both teams playing great defensively. Early in the second frame, Buffalo levelled the game with an ugly goal of their own. Teppo Numminen took the original shot before both Clarke MacArthur and Ales Kotalik took a whack at the rebound.

The loose puck was tapped through the legs of Lundqvist by Peter Prucha eventually, and Kotalik was credited with the goal. At 10:03 of the period, Patrick Kaleta took a run at defenseman Paul Mara but missed.

Mara was enraged and began swinging at Kaleta's face. Last season, Kaleta delivered a late hit on Mara in a game between these two teams. Mara missed some time and obviously, those memories came back to him today as he lost it.

Buffalo had a five minute powerplay as a result. Outside the blue line, Jason Pominville was approached by Rozsival, and sent a pass across to Derek Roy. It led to a two-on-one for Roy and Thomas Vanek.

Henrik Lundqvist stopped Roy's slapshot, but Vanek was there to bang in his fourth of the season.

Early in the third, Craig Rivet received a double minor for high sticking Ryan Callahan.

The puck was cleared and Daniel Paille rushed down the left side to pick up the puck. With Vanek skating down the right wing, Paille swung a perfect pass to the Austrian for his second goal of the game. Buffalo became the first squad to score both a powerplay and a shorthanded goal against the Rangers this season.

Paille and Vanek are looking like quite the shorthanded pair, hooking up for the second straight game in similar fashion. New York kept looking for an opening, but the Sabres just kept getting into the shooting lanes and blocking shots.

Buffalo held on for the win to improve to 3-0, and ended the Rangers' early winning streak. Lindy Ruff said he is determined to turn Thomas Vanek into one of the best all-around players.

Tim Connolly, Jochen Hecht, and Paul Gaustad are out, so Vanek is receiving time in the penalty kill. So far, it's paying dividends as two of Vanek's five goals are shorthanded markers.

This has to be a joy for all Sabres fans, to see Thomas playing to his full potential after a bit of a struggle last season. More importantly, the Sabres ended their four game losing streak to New York dating back to last season. As it stands, Buffalo is the only unbeaten team remaining in the Eastern Conference.

It's still early in the year. However, with an opening night win against the Montreal Canadiens, and a win on Broadway tonight, the Sabres look poised and ready to return to postseason action.