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Hecht scores twice as Sabres pound Maple Leafs

Feb 28, 2007 - 5:08 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- The Buffalo Sabres don't seem to be bothered by all of their injuries.

Jochen Hecht scored two goals and rookie Clarke MacArthur had a goal and two assists as the Sabres whipped the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-1.

Showing their depth, the Sabres received at least one point from 12 players.

"I thought with the number of players we had out, we tried to keep the game simple and put the puck in places where we could still use our speed," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. "There's some guys in the room that really stepped up their play. We got a good effort from everybody."

"You lose 6-1 at home, obviously we're all frustrated," Toronto captain Mats Sundin said. "For some reason, we have been playing really well on the road. But we don't have the record at home that we need if we want to be a playoff team. We still have lots of time, but we've got to start winning at home if we want to make the playoffs."

Goaltender Ryan Miller made 27 saves for the Sabres, who are 7-1-1 in their last nine games. He improved to 6-1-1 in his eight starts.

Buffalo, which also received a goal and an assist from Derek Roy, leads the NHL with 89 points.

"I felt like tonight was good for me," Miller said. "I felt confident and comfortable in the net. I got some really great blocks tonight when I needed them. For the most part, I was able to sit back and get my reads."

"We needed some good saves, and Miller gave us a couple real big saves early on," Ruff said. We need him more now than we've probably needed him all year. He gave us a great game, but I thought the guys in front of him gave him a lot back in return."

Hecht, who has three multi-goal games this season, gave Buffalo a 4-1 lead at 18:28 of the second period. He deflected defenseman Toni Lydman's shot from the point past goaltender Andrew Raycroft.

The left wing, who has 15 points in his last 13 games, gave Buffalo a 5-1 advantage early in the third period when he beat goaltender Jean-Sebastien Aubin on the power play.

"Who would have thought, with all our guys out right now, that we would still get that many goals," Hecht said. "We've got great depth in our system and we see it now. Everybody comes in and really takes advantage of their chances that we get to play. It's really amazing."

Jason Pominville and Drew Stafford also scored for Buffalo. Pominville increased his points streak to five games, a span in which he has three goals and four assists.

Alexei Ponikarovsky scored for Toronto, which is 3-5-3 in its last 11 games. He entered with just one goal in his last nine games.

Raycroft was pulled midway through the first period after allowing four goals on 11 shots.

"Tonight wasn't good, but I think the other times (he was pulled) was more that I've played a lot," Raycroft said. "I don't think it was necessarily a reflection of me personally. You know, that's the way it goes."

The Sabres acquired right wing Dainius Zubrus in a trade with the Washington Capitals on Tuesday. Zubrus has 20 goals and 32 assists in 60 games this season.

The Maple Leafs obtained center Yanic Perreault and a fifth-round pick in 2008 from the Phoenix Coyotes. Perreault has 19 goals and 14 assists in 49 games.

Zubrus and Perreault were in transit and did not make it in time for the game.

Buffalo center Daniel Briere, riding a six-game points streak, missed the game due to the flu.

The teams meet again Saturday in Buffalo.