The Buffalo Sabres came back from a 3-0 defecit for the second consecuative game and defeat the Atlanta Thrashers 4-3 in OT at HSBC Arena. Derek Roy (pictured) scored off of a wild bounce of the glass from a dump in into the open net 4:02 into overtime to cap off the 4-3 comeback. The Sabres made franchise history as this was the first time that Buffalo has comeback from 3-0 for the second straight game. They did it on Tuesday night as they beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3. Roy told the AP, "That was the most wide-open net I've gotten in my career, I got a lucky bounce off the glass, it was a good bounce for us." The unlikely goal came on what began as an innocent play when Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers got to the Atlanta blue line and dumped the puck in high along the left boards. Goalie Johan Hedberg anticipated the play, and immediately left his crease to go behind the net in a bid to play the puck. The puck, however, took a strange carom off the glass and bounced directly into the slot, where Roy swept it into the wide-open net.
"We definitely deserved a better fate," Hedberg said. "We were the better team. They had the bounces, you can say that."
The Sabres scored four times in the final 26:53 to win their third straight. Jochen Hecht had two goals and a helper while Baldwinsville native Tim Connolly had a goal and assist to end the Sabres six game skid against Atlanta. Buffalo became the first team to win consecutive games when trailing by three or more goals since Dallas did it in January 2006 in beating Anaheim 4-3 in a shootout and Detroit 6-3.
Ilya Kovalchuk registered his 600th career point as he scored for the Thrashers. Evander Kane and Bryan Little also lit the lamp for Atlanta who are now 0-5-2 in their last seven contests. The numbers looked very good for the Sabres, who improved to 9-9-1 when allowing the first goal, and 5-11-0 when trailing after two periods.
From the Ted Darling Press Box: The Thrashers are in the midst of a seven-game trip that concludes with games at Long Island on Saturday and at Pittsburgh on Tuesday... With Miller's selection to the U.S. team, the Sabres have five players scheduled to play in Vancouver: D Henrik Tallinder (Sweden), D Toni Lydman (Finland), D Andrej Sekera (Slovakia) and minor-league F Philip Gogulla (Germany). And then there's coach Lindy Ruff, a Canadian team assistant. ... Sabres F Nathan Gerbe was activated off injured reserve and returned to Portland of the AHL on Thursday. ... Roy returned after missing two games because of an eye injury. Buffalo returns to the ice on Sunday for a 3:00 pm face-off at the Bell Centre in Montreal against the Canadians.