In an interview the other day Sabres coach Lindy Ruff hinted at his possible line combinations.  They differ from what I came up with back in July but they work for me.

The top line will be the RAV line once again, not surprising based on the success they have had in the past.

When asked about the line combinations Ruff was quite forthright in his response, stating that one line will remain intact for at least the near future: Derek Roy; Maxim Afinogenov; and Thomas Vanek.

The second line is a little bit different with Connolly centering Kotalik and Pominville.

"Tim Connolly has always played well with whoever we've put him with in camp, but there's always been a connection with him and Al [Kotalik]," said Ruff.  "If Tim can find Al, it's a weapon that I think can be very dangerous."

Jason Pominville could be slotted on the opposite side of Connolly to add both stability in Buffalo's zone and another weapon for the always shifty Connolly to find.

This line could be deadly, maybe even better than the top line.  I didn't expect Lindy to break up Pommer and Hecht but it makes sense.  He did say that some of the components of each line are interchangeable.

The full line makeup looks like this:

Vanek-Roy-Afinogenov
Kotalik-Connolly-Pomminville
Hecht-Gaustad-Stafford
Paille-Mair-Ryan/Peters

This makes me believe that Clarke MacArthur is once again destined to play in Rochester.  He would probably be the first call up in the case of injury.