Sabres Tame Lynx, Move into First

First place was on the line Tuesday night as the first-place Lynx (2-0) faced off against the second-place Lite-Sabres (1-0-1). This was a rematch of last season's classic semi-final battle that saw the Lynx prevail 12-7.

The Sabres arrived ready to play, flooring two full lines, while the Lynx were missing several players including rookie of the year candidate goaltender Tony McCarthy and former all-star Greg Foran. Foran was reportedly upset that his name was being bandied about in trade rumors. Lynx captain, and the evening's starting goaltender, Chris Bleichert had mentioned before the game that he had appeased the fuming Foran with a "3-piece from KFC", and that Foran was expected to play.

The game started out well for the Lynx as they scored 4 first-period goals on Sabre netminder Chris McMaster. McMaster said that during the first period he heard cries of "washed-up", "over-the-hill", and "you couldn't stop a FOR loop" from the sidelines. Despite the good play of the Lynx, they only led 4-3 at the intermission.

The second period started where the first left off, with the Lynx scoring two of the first three goals, improving their lead to 6-4. But that acted as a wake-up call for the Sabres, who began using their numbers to their advantage, outworking the Lynx at every opportunity. Led by first-year Sabres Dave MacKenzie and Scott Wilson, the Sabres broke out to a commanding 10-6 second intermission lead.

That burst seemed to break the spirit of the Lynx for the third period, as the Sabres rolled to a comfortable 15-7 victory. MacKenzie led all goal scorers with 5 to bring his season total to a league-leading eleven markers. Wilson added 4, while Chad Griffin notched 3 for the Sabres. Scoring their first goals of the season for the Sabres were defensive stalwart Jason Powell and two-way threat Virag "the Jean Machine" Pandya.

Jason Fitzgerald led the Lynx in a losing cause with a hat trick, while Jay Allison and Richard Wannamaker added two apiece.

With the victory the Sabres will assume sole possession of first place at the end of the week for the first time in their illustrious history. For only two other weeks in league history has a team other than the Hackers held sole-possession of first place (Fire in 2000A & Lynx in 2001A).