Patrik Stefan couldn't have emptied the HSBC Arena faster on Wednesday night if he had pulled the fire alarm. It was Yannick Tremblay's game winning powerplay goal that made all of the difference, however.
The Buffalo Sabres (6-6-1-0) were stunned by the Atlanta Thrashers (6-3-3-1) with a final score of 7-4 in front of 10,584 fans. The loss leaves the Sabres with 13 points, three behind division leader Boston. It also marks the second time that the team had allowed more than six goals at home this season, the other time coming during the home opener against the New York Islanders.
"It was one of those games where I feel like I blew it, that's it. No more, no less. I blew it and I have to shake it off," said Sabres goalie Martin Biron.
On a Curtis Brown hooking penalty at five minutes and 17 seconds into the third period, the Thrashers effectively penetrated the Sabres defense, finding Tremblay alone in the slot on the far side of the net. He easily placed the puck underneath Biron.
Biron, who played only 53 minutes, allowed seven goals on 21 shots. The performance spoiled an otherwise solid streak for him, in which he had posted a 3-1-1 record along with a 1.58 goals against average. His average now stands at 2.80.
"I had played with the idea of taking him out at the end of the second (period)," said head coach Lindy Ruff on Biron. "I decided to let him fight through it."
Ilya Kovalchuk opened the scoring for the Thrashers, sending a bullet past Biron at seven minutes and 34 seconds in the first. Kovalchuk now has 12 goals in 13 games and leads the league in that category.
The loss eclipses what had been a solid period and a half of hockey for the Sabres. Hitting hard and forechecking well, Buffalo had managed to produce three goals following Kovalchuk's opening goal. Afinogenov scored first for Buffalo, followed by Dumont to end the first period. Brown scored a powerplay goal in the second.
That is when it started to fall apart. Atlanta scored six consecutive goals , taking the lead on Tremblay's goal, but sealing it when Patrik Stefan scored on a short-handed penalty shot at 10 minutes and 50 seconds in the third. At that point, the crowd went home, and the Sabres wished they could. It was the first short-handed goal by a Thrasher this season.
"Some how we lost our focus," said Chris Drury, Sabres captain for the month of November. "Maybe we got a little full of ourselves. Saying (to ourselves) this is going to be easy and we're going to make plays. That's when we started turning it over."
Afinogenov, who had missed most of the 2002-03 season with concussion symptoms, and who had been benched earlier in the season for poor play, scored his first goal of the season. It was his first goal since March 29, 2003, against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Taylor Pyatt assisted on three of the four Sabres goals, the first assists of his this season. He currently leads the Sabres in goals with six. Leading the team in points with 12 is Chris Drury, who has scored a point in nine of the last 10 games.
The Sabres play a home and home series with the Montreal Canadiens at 8 p.m. Friday in HSBC Arena and 7 p.m. Saturday in the Molson Centre.
