WAS 10-GOAL BINGE A TURNING POINT OR A MIRAGE IN LOST SABRES SEASON?
By David Staba It only took one minute and 54 seconds, and one swipe of Daniel Paille’s stick, for the Buffalo Sabres to get their fans cheering, a sound they’ve rarely heard over a winless stretch that spanned nearly an entire month. By midway through the first period, after Derek Roy scored the second of his three goals to make it 4-0, the sell-out crowd at HSBC Arena brought out the old “One, two, three …” chant. For the first time in recent memory, they did so free of sarcasm or rancor. And the Sabres were more than willing to comply. For one night, at least, they were a reasonable facsimile of the quick, skilled, hustling team that reached the Eastern Conference finals the last two years and won the President’s Trophy a season ago. Yes, they got breaks, but more important, they produced them. The Sabres eventually hung 10 on the Atlanta Thrashers, purging themselves of a 10-game skid that, depending on how you interpret the National Hockey League’s goofiest rule, may or may not
