Buffalo Sabres

The coaching world continues to spin. But not for Lindy Ruff.

The Sabres' coach, hired in July 1997, is the longest-tenured coach in the NHL. His tenure is in the spotlight again because a coach was fired in his town. The NFL's Buffalo Bills rid themselves of Dick Jauron.

"I've been more than fortunate," Ruff said. "It's filed somewhere between luck and the overall record, which has been good."

Ruff is 450-340-132 with the Sabres. The wilder numbers come from the coaches who've come and gone since he was hired by Buffalo. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, there have been 148 coaching changes in the NHL and 453 swaps in the NHL, NFL, NBA and MLB combined.

But Ruff sticks with the Sabres, and he figures to for a while.

SENATORS 5, SABRES 3: Buffalo had a 1-0 lead after Thomas Vanek scored on the power play late in the first period, but then Ottawa scored the next five goals to turn the game into a rout. Patrick Kaleta and Jason Pominville scored late for Buffalo to make the score respectable.

• Ottawa improved to 21-6-4 against the Sabres since the 2005-06 season.

• The Sabres are in the midst of their longest winless streak of the season, a three-game skid in which they are 0-2-1.

• The Sabres were outscored 3-0 and outshot 28-11 during the second period of their two weekend games.

Quote To Note:

"It takes us a little while to get the brains turned on, and it's not good enough. We need to find an answer for it, and fast."

Goaltenders:

Ryan Miller, Patrick Lalime.

Defensemen:

Craig Rivet, Chris Butler, Toni Lydman, Steve Montador, Henrik Tallinder, Tyler Myers.

First Line:

Thomas Vanek, Derek Roy, Clarke MacArthur.

Second Line:

Jochen Hecht, Tim Connolly, Jason Pominville.

Third Line:

Tim Kennedy, Paul Gaustad, Patrick Kaleta.

Fourth Line:

Andrej Sekera, Matt Ellis, Adam Mair.

Player Notes:

• LW Thomas Vanek has points in five of the past six games after scoring against Ottawa. He has two goals and four assists in the span.

• RW Jason Pominville has points in two straight (one goal, one assist). He was held off the score sheet in the previous four games.

• G Patrick Lalime made just his second start of the season. He stopped 21 of 26 shots to fall to 0-2.

• D Andrej Sekera, because of an injury to RW Drew Stafford, played forward for the first time in his career. He had one shot in 7:22.

Medical Watch:

• RW Mike Grier strained his groin Nov. 11. There is no time table for his return.

• RW Drew Stafford suffered a lower-body bone bruise Nov. 20 and is day-to-day.