"Tim Connolly heard the cartilage crack. He saw the funky angle. The Buffalo Sabres' center knew he had a broken nose, but since he finished the game after getting his snout bounced off the boards, he figured it wasn't too bad.

A CT scan showed otherwise.

"There were nine fractures in the nose, so they had to kind of piece it back together," Connolly said Thursday. "They used some type of jelly mold to basically reconstruct it."

The surgery was a success, and Connolly will return to the lineup Saturday against Boston after a four-game absence. With the cartilage back together, make no bones about it: Connolly will be relied upon heavily to sniff out significant offense.

He is the unquestioned No. 1 middle man with Derek Roy lost for the season after quad surgery this week. The Sabres will need Connolly to produce points.

"He's going to have to, if you look at it," coach Lindy Ruff said after practice in Northtown Center in Amherst. "They're our two most creative offensive players [Roy and Connolly], and when you're looking for production you've got to look to those guys first."

It's no surprise, then, that Ruff has inserted Connolly on the top line with goal-scoring leader Thomas Vanek and promising rookie Luke Adam. Connolly also is expected to assume Roy's spot at the point on the power play."