OTTAWA -- Milan Michalek hasnt scored much for the Ottawa Senators this season, but his first game-winning goal of the year couldnt have come at a better time. Michalek scored his second goal of the game and 10th of the season with 23 second left as Ottawa defeated the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 on Thursday. "We believe theres still lots of goals left in Milan, but its taken a long time to get them out this year," Senators coach Paul MacLean said. "With his work ethic and his play without the puck and his abilities on the penalty kill, theres never been a question about his contributions to the team. "We knew if he would just stay with it good things would happen for him." The Sabres had fought back to tie the game with two third-period goals, but Senators captain Jason Spezza found Michalek, who beat Jhonas Enroth over the shoulder for the winner. "Its all about winning and were not doing that right now," said Sabres defenceman Henrik Tallinder, who said the puck hit the referee and went right to Spezza on the winning goal. "Nothing you can do about it. We didnt go the right way that maybe we should have, but it hit the ref and bounces are going to happen but they just werent in our favour." Erik Karlsson also scored for the Senators (26-21-11) while Craig Anderson made 30 saves. Tyler Ennis and Drew Stafford scored for the Sabres (15-34-8), who lost for the fourth straight time. Enroth made 33 saves. Following two periods that saw the Senators build a 1-0 lead, things opened up in the third period with four goals off several good scoring opportunities. It started with Michalek doubling the Senators lead to 2-0 just 10 seconds into the period on a perfect pass from Spezza which allowed Michalek to redirect the puck in. The goal was the fastest in team history from the start of a period breaking the old record of 12 seconds set by Spezza back in 2009. "At least Im still involved in (the record) I guess. I would have shot it if I knew that," Spezza joked after the game, quickly getting serious when the Sabres comeback was brought up. "A two goal lead is a tricky lead. We give up the one goal to make it 2-1 and then really anything can happen with a bounce here or a bounce there. Hopefully we learn from it." Ottawa got into penalty trouble but was fortunate when Ennis hit the post on one power-play opportunity. The Sabres also had a five-on three advantage for 17 seconds but were unable to get a shot on goal during that brief stretch. Ennis broke Andersons shutout bid at 10:25 of the third when the puck came to him in front off a failed wrap-around attempt by Stafford. The puck rolled off Staffords stick right to Ennis who had an empty net to shoot at. Stafford then tied the game at 15:46 when he grabbed a rebound and went around Anderson who was down and out on the play. "There were no excuses not to battle as hard as we could going into that third period and we did a really good job," Ennis said. "Its super disappointing to lose that one." Only seven goals, including one in a shootout, have been scored in the previous three matchups between the Sabres and Senators. Karlsson put the Senators on the board first with his shot from along the boards eluded Enroth just 3:12 into the second period. Neither team had many quality scoring chances despite seven power plays between them through the first two periods. But one scoring chance the Sabres did have though came late in the second when Stafford drove the Senators net from just above the goal line but he was unable to tip the puck through Anderson. The Senators stymied the Sabres on all seven of their power-play opportunities. "Weve been winning faceoffs and doing a much better job up the ice and on the initial entry into our zone weve contested it and been hard to play against," MacLean said. The Senators were 0-3 with the man advantage. NOTES: Forwards Linus Omark and Marcus Foligno along with defenceman Tyler Myers were scratches for the Sabres Thursday. Scratches for the Senators were defencemen Chris Phillips and Joe Corvo plus forward Matt Kassian. ... Senators forward Bobby Ryan has gone four consecutive games without a point, his longest such streak this season. ... The Senators are 10-0-3 in games this season when captain Jason Spezza has at least two points. ... Matt DAgostini played his 300th NHL game Thursday night and his 25th with the Sabres. ... While the Senators have a game in Boston Saturday, the game Thursday was the last for the Sabres until after the Olympic break. The team will be off until Feb. 25 except for Ryan Miller (USA), Jonas Enroth (Sweden), Henrik Tallinder (Sweden) and Zemgus Girgensons (Latvia) who will all represent their countries at the Sochi Olympics. ... Sabres coach Ted Nolan will also be the head coach of Team Latvia. Blue Jays Devon Travis Jersey . Canadas Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse will reunite at this weekends season-opening World Cup at Canada Olympic Park as they begin their buildup to the Winter Games in Sochi. Blue Jays Marco Estrada Jersey . -- Jonathan Diaz is easy to spot in the Blue Jays clubhouse. http://www.cheapbluejaysjerseysauthenti ... eld-jersey. Follow all the action live on TSN Radio 1050 in Toronto, TSN Radio 690 in Montreal, TSN Radio 1260 in Edmonton and TEAM 1410 on Friday at 3pm et/Noon pt. Blue Jays Dalton Pompey Jersey . -- At the beginning of training camp, Andrew Bogut set a goal to play all 82 regular-season games and regain his place among the NBAs best centres. Blue Jays Sam Gaviglio Jersey . Chris Johnson singled with two outs off left-hander Jerry Blevins (1-1), and Schafer pinch ran. With a 2-2 count, Schafer ran on the pitch and Upton dropped a single in front of Bryce Harper. Schafer already was rounding third when Schafer bobbled the ball.With just a month to go until spring training kicks off, the free agent market is still pretty stagnant. Part of the reason, of course, is the reluctance that teams have in parting with first-round draft picks as compensation for signing certain players, who come with that price tag attached. That made me wonder how valuable first-round picks really actually are. I took a look at three teams, one top dog, the New York Yankees, one middle-of-the-road club in the Toronto Blue Jays and one team generally at the back of the pack, the Chicago Cubs. Since the amateur draft began in 1965, the Yankees have chosen 51 players in the first-round, including supplemental picks. Twenty-seven of those spent some time in the Bigs and 24 didnt make it. The success rate is 52 per cent and this is a team that usually picks in the back end of the first round. The Yankees best first-rounder, without question, is Derek Jeter, taken at number six overall in 1992. The Yankees have done alright with compensation picks for losing free agents, as well. In 1996, they got a quality lefty in Eric Milton for losing infielder Randy Velarde. In 2004, they chose right-hander Phil Hughes when Andy Petitte jumped ship to the Astros before ultimately returning to the Yankees where he finished his career. In 2006, they chose righties Ian Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain upon losing curveball specialist Tom "Flash" Gordon. You might think the Cubs would have far great success with firsts than the Yanks because they miss the playoffs so often. However, the gap is only five per cent on the success scale. The Cubs have drafted 61 players in the first round since 1965 with 35 making it to the Majors. In other words, a percentage of 57 versus the Yankees 52 per cent. The Cubs top picks over the years have included Joe Carter in 1981, Rafael Palmeiro in 1985 and the flame-throwing Kerry Wood in 1995. In 2007, the Cubs used a supplemental first-round pick to take Josh Donaldson, who has since blossomed into a very good player with the Oakland Athletics. The only other supplemental pick of note made by the Cubs was Palmeiro, whom they were able to select for losing reliever Tim Stoddard to free agency. The Cubs made, without a doubt, the worst decision in the history of free agency when they allowed Hall of Famer Greg Maddux to walk away to the Atlanta Braves after the 1992 season. The Cubbies got two draft picks in return, which they used the following June to take pitcher Jon Ratliff and infielder Kevin Orie. In the following three seasons, Maddux won three Cy Young Awards and helped the Braves to a World Series title in 1995. Ratliff and Orie quickly faded into obscuritty.dddddddddddd Where do the Blue Jays fit in? Well, since they came in the American League in 1977, they have made 64 first-round picks and 36 have seen time in the Majors, good for a 56 per cent success rate. The Blue Jays have had pretty good success with first-rounders over the years, including Lloyd Moseby (1978,) Ed Sprague (1988,) Shawn Green (1991,) Shannon Stewart (1992,) Chris Carpenter (1993,) Roy Halladay (1995,) Billy Koch (1996,) Ricky Romero (2005,) Brett Cecil (2007) and J.P Arencibia in 2007...oh, well on that one. Righty Dustin McGowan (2000,) whos battled through a myriad of injuries, is still around as well. The Blue Jays have greatly utilized their supplemental picks and, well, you really couldnt do much better than they have. When lefty Bud Black, now the manager of the San Diego Padres, signed with the San Francisco Giants, the Jays used the pick they received to take Green. When knuckleballer Tom Candiotti left for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Jays wound up with Stewart and when the "Terminator" Tom Henke returned to the Texas Rangers after the 92 World Series triumph, the Blue Jays used their pick to select future Cy Young winner, Carpenter. Of course, there a few in the not-so-good category, too. When Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar left for the Baltimore Orioles, the payback was Joe Lawrence. I guess the bottom line is that there are no sure things, but if you have a top-notch scouting staff and good development staff, you can risk losing those good, but not great free agents. But the ones you target as stars, you can never let walk away. - ESPN came out with its annual top 100 list of All-time Major League greats. Roy Halladay and Dave Winfield fell within the top 125 and received honorable mentions. Five players, though, who wore the Blue Jays uniform (albeit, briefly in some cases) cracked the top 100. Knuckleballer Phil Niekro was number 100, Paul Molitor came in at 78, Roberto Alomar at 74, "The Big Hurt" Frank Thomas at 70 and Rickey Henderson at number 14. Of the seven in total, Halladay was the only one drafted and developed by the Jays. Does that make him the greatest Blue Jay of all-time? Its a great argument, but my vote is still with Alomar, even though he only spent five seasons in Toronto, and my top Blue Jays pitcher, though just by a hair, is Dave Stieb. - Its great to see former Blue Jays fan favourite John McDonald signing a minor league deal with the Los Angeles Angels with an invitation to spring training, but sad to see Vernon Wells get released by the Yankees after being designated for assignment. 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