Sens shake it up

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Alfie: '(Buffalo) always brings out the best in us ... we're looking forward to (tonight)'



-- The return of Anton Volchenkov has had a yo-yo effect on a couple of other Senators.

Christoph Schubert has gone back to being a forward and Nick Foligno has gone back to being a Binghamton farmhand.

Meanwhile, the Senators can only hope that, with the shot-blocking, defensively skilled Volchenkov coming off the injury list, they get back to their winning ways when they face the Sabres tonight.

"I asked the same thing sitting on the bench," captain Daniel Alfredsson said yesterday, pressed by a reporter wanting to know what happened in 8-6 and 6-3 losses to the Washington Capitals. "Sometimes one guy misses an assignment, another guy wants to cover up and he gets out of position, then you make yourself look like an atom team out there, that you don't know your assignment. That's when you get back to basics.

"Buffalo always seems to be a good measuring stick for us, they always bring out the best in us. We're looking forward to (tonight)."


So are the Senators goalies, though neither Martin Gerber nor Ray Emery knew which of them would be getting the start while at the rink yesterday. Either way, their job is made easier by the return of Volchenkov, who last season blocked 34 shots in eight games against the Sabres.

While Volchenkov returns to his usual blue-line post alongside Chris Phillips, the guy who was keeping it warm for him appears to have fallen if yesterday's practice is any indication. Andrej Meszaros was not back with Wade Redden, but working instead beside Luke Richardson on what would be the team's third defensive pairing.

Joe Corvo and Redden remained together as they have for much of the past five weeks.

Schubert returns to left wing on the fourth line.

"It's my third year now, I know my role," said Schubert, who spent the past 15 games at the blue-line position he prefers.

While Foligno was here for 31 games, the Senators elected to keep Cody Bass.

'NEEDS TO PLAY MORE'

"He needs to play more minutes, in more situations, and get ready to play, as quick as he can, somewhere on one of the first three lines of an NHL team, whether that's next week, two months from now or next season," Paddock said of Foligno. "Cody's situation is just a little bit different. In some ways, he is what he is. Not that he can't keep improving, but he provides energy and work, and he provides the ingredient we want on a fourth line."

The coaching staff also has to feel better about the Senators -- who had a 9-1-1 record heading into the home-and-home series with Washington -- facing a team with higher standing. So far, they have won 24-of-33 games against clubs that, as of last night, had a .500 record or better.

Against teams that are under .500, the Senators have only won two of six games.

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The Senators are 2-1 vs. the Sabres this season, winning Nov. 15 in Ottawa (3-2) and Dec. 26 in Buffalo (5-3).

They lost Nov. 21 in Buffalo (4-2) ... Dany Heatley leads the Senators with two goals and four assists in the three games, while Daniel Alfredsson has four goals ... The Sabres' top line is struggling in the last seven games, with Derek Roy goal-less, Thomas Vanek with just one goal and either Maxim Afinogenov (one goal) Drew Stafford (none)

 

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Ruff hoping switch gets Sabres in line
Coach separates Roy, Vanek in search of more



When Derek Roy and Thomas Vanek got long-term deals from the Buffalo Sabres over the summer, it looked like they could spend the next six years on the same line.

The big-money pairing lasted just three months.

Coach Lindy Ruff broke up his struggling offensive headliners Thursday, dropping Vanek to the No. 2 line and putting Roy with a pair of new wingers.

Heading into tonight?s visit from the Ottawa Senators in HSBC Arena, the Sabres are 0-2-2 in their last four games and have scored just two goals in the last three.

So Ruff made a big move during a morning practice in the arena. Roy will center Jochen Hecht and Jason Pominville while Vanek will play wing with Ales Kotalik on a line centered by Tim Connolly.

?Sometimes when you split people up, you get production,? Ruff said. ?We?re looking for that little bit of a spark. It hasn?t been that we?ve played real poorly. . . . Maybe a tweak here or a tweak there can get us back on the right track.?

Roy is tied with Hecht for the team lead in goals with 13 while Vanek has 11. But they have just one apiece over the last seven games, flimsy production for players making a combined $13 million this season. Vanek has only one assist in his last 19 games.

Vanek has been with Roy for virtually all of his four professional seasons, the 2004-05 lockout year in Rochester and three with the Sabres, and hasn?t done much in his career without being on his line. Roy, meanwhile, had some success without Vanek during Buffalo?s 2006 playoff run while playing wing on a line with Mike Grier and Chris Drury.

?I?ve been with Derek for a while now but maybe change is good,? Vanek said. ?We?ve been playing good together but at the same time we haven?t been scoring together. It can be a good thing to get it changed up.?

?It?s going to be different,? Roy said. ?We?ve been playing together for a long, long time. He?s a great player. Things haven?t been going our way. We?ve been hitting posts and crossbars, missed opportunities. Just change our luck, change the chemistry around a little.?

In the second period of Tuesday?s Winter Classic against Pittsburgh in Ralph Wilson Stadium, Ruff switched centers on his Nos. 2 and 3 lines, putting Connolly between Kotalik and Daniel Paille and pairing Paul Gaustad with Hecht and Pominville.

The switch resulted in Connolly?s assist on Brian Campbell?s goal and a steppedup physical game from Gaustad. Ruff said Wednesday he thought he would keep those combinations together tonight but instead opted to break up Vanek and Roy and make major switches Thursday.

?Timmy [Connolly] and Al [Kotalik] are both great players,? Vanek said. ?I?ve played with Timmy before for a few games and we had pretty good chemistry. The most important part is winning a hockey game, not which guys you?re playing with.

?If you want to get out of a slump, he?s a good guy to be on a line with. He can create a lot and find the open man. And Al has good size so he and I can work the corners. With Timmy?s vision, it can be a good line.?

Gaustad skated Thursday with Paille and Maxim Afinogenov, who was then replaced by Drew Stafford after tweaking a groin muscle and leaving the workout early. Ruff said Afinogenov is questionable for tonight but that Stafford could be cleared to return from a concussion to take the spot on that line.

?We?ve been struggling to score goals and it?s a time where the coach has to make decisions,? said Pominville, the team?s leading scorer with 31 points. ?So he decided to switch lines to try to stir things up and get things going offensively.?

Ruff didn?t make the decision to split up his top line lightly but felt he couldn?t wait any longer to shake the Sabres out of their rut.

?The last game Derek hit two crossbars,? Ruff noted. ?You?re looking at those as opportunities for Derek to make a difference in the game. His play has dropped off and Thomas? numbers have dropped off. . . .We just haven?t capitalized and finished our chances and then you sit there with a bunch of guys that don?t have any numbers.?