After struggling through the first two periods of play, Buffalo got to within one after Drew Stafford’s goal. It was only 17 seconds later when Maxim Afinogenov went in and roofed it past Patrick Lalime. Atlanta gave Buffalo their first regulation loss this season.
Despite the loss, Buffalo still managed to get 42 shots, 20 of them coming in the third.
Clarke MacArthur picked up his team-leading 4th goal of the season. Drew Stafford tallied his second this season. For Atlanta, Ilya Kovalchuk scored goals 7 and 8. Both of his goals came only three minutes apart in the first period. Todd White and Maxim Afinogenov scored the other two for the Thrashers.
Buffalo has had trouble facing the Thrashers over the past few seasons, and they continued tonight. Atlanta came out and got on the board quickly.
Goaltender Johan Hedberg picked up an assist on the Afinogenov goal. With the win, Hedberg improved to 11-2-1 against Buffalo lifetime.
The Buffalo crowd was silenced almost the entire game. They did not give Afinogenov a standing ovation at all. Nothing close to what Martin Biron received the night before.
Adam Mair played his first game of the season, after recovering from surgery. Matt Ellis was a healthy scratch.
The Sabres next game is Wednesday in Florida. Expect Ryan Miller to be back in net. Hopefully, Thomas Vanek will be back in the lineup as well.