'Residing all season long in the NHL's lowest-rent district with teams like Atlanta, Nashville, Columbus and Calgary, the Sabres are gradually emerging from the quagmire, having lost only once in 11 games since New Year's Eve. Welcoming back from injury a pair of key performers last night — forwards Jochen Hecht and Maxim Afinogenov — and supported by, dare we say, Dominik Hasek-like netminding from Martin Biron, the boys from the Queen City are making life difficult for a host of superior teams — a tag the Leafs can hardly claim in this town. Last night's loss dropped Toronto's lifetime mark here to an abysmal 18-41-6.'