In a season filled with a surplus of highs, the first bad break has struck the Buffalo Sabres. It's in Henrik Tallinder's left wrist. The defenseman is scheduled to have surgery today on his broken left wrist, and he could miss up to two months. Tallinder, who broke his left arm during the spring's playoff run, was hurt early in Thursday's victory over the New York Islanders. "Same place exactly," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said after a 5-4 shootout loss to Atlanta on Saturday night. "It wasn't picked up on X-rays. It just wasn't feeling right again, even after practice [Friday]."

Goalie Ryan Miller and the Sabres were finally reminded how disappointing losing can feel. Vyacheslav Kozlov scored the lone shootout goal and the upstart Thrashers put an end to the Sabres' bid for an NHL record start with a 5-4 victory Saturday night. The loss ended Buffalo's season-opening winning streak at 10, the Sabres having to settle for sharing the league record for best start to a season set by Toronto in 1993.

An NHL record-matching 10-0 start was not part of the Sabres' goals entering the season. "Well, it's not the goal," Sabres co-captain Daniel Briere said after practice Friday. "I mean, it's very exciting. I think we're all proud of what we've accomplished so far. But at the end of the day, it's not what we're aiming for down the road." It's going to take more than a perfect start to impress a team that's dreaming of a Stanley Cup after losing Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals last season to eventual champion Carolina. "We don't put much stock into it," goaltender Ryan Miller said of matching Toronto's 1993 record for best start to a season. "It's not going to define our season." Today, the Sabres, with tempered enthusiasm, will try to break the record when they host the Thrashers.

Martin Biron, who was the Sabres' backup goaltender last night, has been sporting a plain white mask. He said he was waiting to see the Sabres' new uniforms before ordering a new mask, but some folks are suggesting he was waiting because he was hoping to be traded. Biron, who lost his No. 1 job to Ryan Miller last season, was surprised he wasn't moved at the draft in June. He makes $2.178 million U.S., which is more than most teams want to pay a backup goaltender. Miller earns $2 million this season.

Arbitration bludgeoned the Buffalo Sabres over the summer. A league-high 12 players filed, and the soaring judgments pushed their salary-cap figure within $50,000 of the ceiling after General Manager Darcy Regier predicted they wouldn't come close. No other team was so adversely affected by arbitration. Even after restricted free agents Jay McKee and Mike Grier bolted for the Western Conference, the Sabres were forced to sever ties with popular winger J.P. Dumont to fit under $44 million cap. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is sympathetic to the Sabres' situation, but warns arbitration could become more of an inconvenience to the players. As long as the salary cap is tied to a percentage of league revenues, teams can't be hurt financially - although they might be forced to say goodbye to valued players. "Not a big fan of arbitration. Never have been," Bettman said Wednesday night during the Sabres' season-opening victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in the RBC Center. "Because we have the hard cap it wasn't something that we felt we had to go to the mat over, but I think over time . . . if the awards are excessive in a hard-cap system, you've got to take a good, hard look as to whether or not the monies are being fairly allocated in a sensible way." The Sabres were stung in the first full year under the new collective-bargaining agreement because they declined to negotiate during the season and finished with only three regulars under contract. Many of their free agents were coming off career campaigns and held arbitration rights. "Buffalo had the team that it had in place," Bettman said. "The contracts were what they were. You try to put yourself in position where you don't have so many unrestricted, so many restricted, so many arbitration-eligible players. "But I don't think it was possible for any club to completely reorganize itself in one season. It will take a couple of years to continue to adjust." Bettman predicted the salary cap would go up again. "Will we see as dramatic a growth spurt as we saw last season? I don't think so, but we have a very strong business, a very strong fan base," Bettman said.

Daniel Briere scored the only goal in a shootout and Ryan Miller stopped Carolina cold to give the Buffalo Sabres a 3-2 victory over the Stanley Cup-champion Hurricanes on Wednesday night in a season-opening rematch of last year?s Eastern Conference finals. Jason Pominville and Chris Drury each had goals during regulation for the Sabres, who claimed they were motivated all offseason by their Game 7 loss to Carolina.

The Carolina Hurricanes will kick off the league's 89th season in style when they raise their Stanley Cup championship banner prior to squaring off against the Buffalo Sabres. It is a rematch of last year's Eastern Conference finals, which the Hurricanes won at home in Game Seven before dispatching of surprising Edmonton in another seven-game series to capture the Cup. Two other games will be played on Wednesday, with the Ottawa Senators visiting the rival Toronto Maple Leafs and the Colorado Avalanche hosting the Dallas Stars.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have claimed forward Chris Thorburn off waivers from the Buffalo Sabres, it was announced Tuesday by General Manager Ray Shero. Thorburn, 23, appeared in 77 games with Rochester Americans (AHL) during the 2005-06 season, establishing career highs in goals (23), assists (27) and points (50). He led Rochester in goals, tied for third on the club in scoring and ranked fifth on the team in penalty minutes. Thorburn also appeared in two games last season with the Sabres, recording one assist and seven penalty minutes.