Sabres Classics: Briere scores twice in Game 3 of 2006 ECF

After opening the Eastern Conference Final with a road victory in Game 1, the Buffalo Sabres slipped in Game 2. Coach Lindy Ruff was blunt in his assessment following the 4-3 loss.

"I wouldn't consider that a narrow defeat, by any means," Ruff said. "Their lines were better than our lines, that's just the bottom line. The first 40 minutes was probably the worst hockey we've played in the playoffs."

That performance stuck with Daniel Briere and his teammates when they went back to Buffalo for Game 3. They answered in the form a 4-3 victory.

Briere scored twice in the victory, bringing his playoff total to seven goals. Chris Drury scored his eighth of the playoffs to erase a 1-0 deficit late in the first period, while Ales Kotalik's second-period tally chased Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward with the score 4-1.

"We knew we didn't do the job," Briere told the media afterwards in regard to Game 2. "We knew we had to make a bigger difference and we did."

Once again, the win did not come without cost. Henrik Tallinder sustained a broken arm, joining Dmitri Kalinin and Teppo Numminen as the Sabres' third starting defenseman lost to injury during the playoffs. Tallinder and Numminen ranked second and third on the 2005-06 Sabres in average ice time.

"You look at one injury and think, 'Oh, we can get by this,'" Ruff said. "You look at two and you're starting to think it's going to get a little tougher. … It was frustrating, but we were trying not to focus on that as an excuse to lose. We were trying to find other reasons on why we should still win."