Vanek returned to the game

On Feb.7 in Ottawa,Sabres' winger Vanek got hurt in the game after being hit on the face.Then he missed the last nine games because of his fractured jaw,and after that he said he was ready to return to the lineup to play against Montreal Canadiens.

Now Vanek is ranked eighth in the NHL with 32 goals in 54 games."It’s a big plus," Head Coach Lindy Ruff said. "But I think the question is how ready is he going to be? Can he answer the physical, can he answer the conditioning? We hope he can."Still Vanek believes that he is going to get better enough to play on the ice.