Defenseman Craig Rivet hasn't had much luck since donning the captain's "C" before the first game of the season. Rivet has already undergone arthroscopic knee surgery that forced him to miss five games, and now he's day-to-day because of an upper-body injury.

Rivet skated with the team Monday morning in preparation for the Sabres' game against Nashville but then was scratched later in the afternoon before a 2-0 loss to the Predators.

Coach Lindy Ruff said Rivet was hurt on a hit in Saturday's loss to Montreal. Nathan Paetsch dressed for only the seventh time this season, replacing Rivet.

The Montreal Canadiens feel they have plenty of room for improvement despite a victorious start to the longest homestand in their 100 years of existence. Andrei Markov scored Montreal's third goal of the second period to send the Canadiens to a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night. Andrei Kostitsyn and Steve Begin also scored in the middle period for Montreal.

The Buffalo Sabres beat the Pittsburgh Penguins at their own game. Paul Gaustad broke a tie with his second goal, and Drew Stafford had two goals and an assist in the Sabres' 4-3 comeback victory over Pittsburgh on Friday night. The Penguins had won seven of the 11 times they've trailed after two periods this season, and were tied for the NHL lead in third-period goals coming in.

A gritty effort finally produced the results the Buffalo Sabres desperately needed. Derek Roy scored twice and the Sabres beat the Northeast Division-leading Boston Bruins 3-2 on Wednesday night to snap a five-game losing streak. After outshooting their previous two opponents -- Philadelphia and the New York Islanders -- by a 77-51 margin, Buffalo still found itself on the losing end.

With his team up by a goal and barely hanging on, New York Islanders captain Bill Guerin stepped up and gave goalie Joey MacDonald a hand. Guerin scored the decisive goal early in the third period, MacDonald made 35 saves, and the Islanders sent the reeling Buffalo Sabres to their fifth straight loss, 4-2 on Saturday night.

Martin Biron made the Buffalo Sabres pay for plenty of missed opportunities. Biron made 40 saves for his first shutout of the season and 24th overall in the Philadelphia Flyers' 3-0 victory over the Sabres on Friday night. Buffalo misfired on a handful of open nets, hit three posts, and couldn't muster any luck against a Philadelphia team that won its third straight.

A slow start did not stop the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night. The Bruins overcame an early 4-2 deficit to defeat the Buffalo Sabres 7-4. It was Boston's sixth straight win at home. Zdeno Chara and Chuck Kobasew each scored two goals, Marc Savard had a goal and three assists to lead the Bruins. "We got ourselves in trouble early and that is uncharacteristic of our team to give up those kinds of...