10/10/11 - 16/10/11

While the loss to Chicago was disappointing, the game against Edmonton looked like one that could - and should - be won, and to that end the Sabres cranked up the offence to outshoot the Oilers 36 to 14. Mattias Thorssel was the first to score, a surprise for the people who originally claimed he shouldn't even be on the main roster and doubling his projected goal totals for the season; Denis Ezhov got the play moving when he took up a loose puck in the Buffalo zone and fed Vladimir Sobotka, another player not believed to be fit to be a Sabre, to move into the neutral zone and past Brian Willems with ease. Tomas Vokoun did well to cover the angles, but Sobotoka's shot eluded him just long enough to let Thorssel in to score on the rebound and put the Sabres up 1-0. It didn't stay that way for too long, Phil Driscoll doing his damndest to justify his five million salary with his third goal on a nifty wrap-around to knot up the scoreline at one apiece. To their credit, the Buffalo players didn't waver as some elements were wont to do last year after going a goal down, and it paid off just over a minute into the second frame. The aforementioned Willems was penalised for a slash into Martin Havlat's gut that forced the winger off - Cam Barker's goal on the resulting powerplay was payback enough, although Branislav Mezei elected to exact a little extra revenge by blasting Willems with a questionable hit that he should be thankful wasn't penalised more harshly than the two minutes in the box he got. Despite the valiant efforts of the Oilers, both goaltenders stood strong in their respective nets from there on out, but more importantly, the victory cut off the Buffalo non-winning streak at 28 games. It may have been an ITC record, but it's no more.

Bouyed by the win, the Sabres continued their foray into West Canada by rolling into General Motors Place to take on the Vancouver Canucks, who'd drawn some interesting remarks for having Robin Fernsworth - the #1 pick in the 2011 Entry Draft - not just play in the big leagues but on the front line, alongside Alex Frolov and Brad Shaindlin. It was generally seen as a bold decision, if not a particularly sensible one; the winger had two points in the previous four games and had been bottled up fairly effectively previously. The game was a typical back-and-forth in the purest sense of word, with no team ever having more than a one goal lead. Rick Nash kicked off the match-up at speed, scoring a goal that was nullified a little after by Dick Tarnstrom that was in turn cancelled out by Martin Havlat, all in the first period. The second was no different, Dainius Zubrus pulling the score to 2-2 but being denied by Michael Ryder. Ryan Malone equalised yet again, Marian Hossa put Buffalo in the lead and finally, the three-point Matt Stajan gave Vancouver something to celebrate about and avoid falling to the same fate as Edmonton.

Current Record: 1-1-0-2, 4 points
Player of the Sim: Denis Ezhov - 0 goals + 2 assists = 2 points
Rick Nash - 1 goal + 1 assist = 2 points
Marian Hossa - 1 goal + 1 assist = 2 points