BUFFALO, New York -- Alexander Mogilny of the Buffalo Sabres returned to the ice after sitting out one game because of an extortion threat from the man who helped him defect from the Soviet Union.


Mogilny, who had a goal and an assist in helping Buffalo beat the New York Islanders 4-1 Sunday, said he has already put the incident behind him.


"The thing happened a few days ago," he said. "I don't know where the guy is. I don't even want to know. It's just a normal day, a normal, human day. What can I tell you?"


Sergei Pavlosky, 30, is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail after being charged Saturday with second-degree attempted grand larceny.


Pavlosky and another Russian were unarmed when they were arrested outside the Buffalo locker room on Friday night, police said.


"I think they were stupid guys trying to get somewhere fast. Hopefully, it doesn't go any farther than that," Sabres wing Brad May said.


Mogilny told police he noticed a car following him to a restaurant after practice on Friday. Pavlosky allegedly approached Mogilny in the restaurant and, speaking in Russian, demanded $150,000. Pavlosky told the Sabre he had a gun and would shoot him in the back and stab him in the legs, police said.


Although it has been reported that Russian hockey players were being asked to pay protection money on behalf of their relatives back home, team and law enforcement officials said there is no evidence the men are part of a larger scheme.


Mogilny, 25, was born and raised in Khabarovsk, a city of 600,000 on the Chinese border of the former Soviet Union. He was drafted by the Sabres in 1988 and defected in May 1989. Pavlosky, a Russian who defected to Sweden, helped Mogilny defect while the hockey player was with the Central Red Army team, Mogilny told police.