Miller solid in nets as Sabres shut down Oilers

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	Buffalo Sabres left winger Clarke MacArthur, right, checks on Edmonton Oilers left winger Liam Reddox after... (AP Photo/Don Heupel) · View Photo · Photo Gallery

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• Oilers LW Reddox rammed into boards headfirst

Game Information

Arena: HSBC Arena Location: Buffalo, New York

Referees: Chris Rooney, Brad Watson Linesmen: Scott Cherrey, Brad Kovachik

Attendance: 17,797 (95.2% full)

Team Stat Comparison
66	Goals	52
72	Goals Against	50
21	Power Play Goals	19
18	Power Play Goals Allowed	13
0	Shorthanded Goals	0
2	Shorthanded Goals Allowed	3
301	Penalty Minutes	294
13	Average Penalty Minutes	15

Scoring Summary
1ST PERIOD			EDM	BUF
15:31		Drew Stafford Assists: Thomas Vanek, Tim Connolly	0	1
2ND PERIOD			EDM	BUF
7:34		Steve Montador Assists: Tim Connolly, Andrej Sekera	0	2
17:49		Patrick O'Sullivan (Power Play) Assists: Ales Hemsky, Lubomir Visnovsky	1	2
3RD PERIOD			EDM	BUF
19:41		Jochen Hecht (Empty net) Unassisted	1	3

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- With the game on the line, the Buffalo penalty killers came up big.

Ryan Miller made 28 saves, and the Sabres killed off a late 5-minute penalty to snap a two-game losing streak in a 3-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night.

Fast Facts

• Ryan Miller tied Don Edwards for second on the Sabres' all-time wins list with 156.

• Tim Connolly had two assists to give him 14 points in his last 11 games.

• The Oilers have two wins in their last 10 games and are 2-6-1 on the road.

-- ESPN Stats & Information

Ahead by a goal but down a man and without one of their best penalty killers, the Sabres erased a major boarding penalty on Clarke MacArthur with 6:15 left. MacArthur was given the penalty, along with a game misconduct, after ramming Oilers forward Liam Reddox headfirst into the boards.

The Sabres allowed just two shots and had two blocks during a kill that was missing Mike Grier, who had left earlier in the period because of a groin injury. The defensive-minded Grier is day-to-day.

"The guys did a fantastic job of trying to be real aggressive on the puck carriers," Buffalo captain Craig Rivet said. "We were able to get through it."

Reddox, meanwhile, will need X-rays on a swollen wrist after a violent collision with the boards. He also sustained a cut on his face.

"Watching it on tape, [MacArthur] knew exactly what he was doing," Oilers coach Pat Quinn said. "I don't have anything to say on it. His head got smacked, and he took a pretty nasty hit."

Drew Stafford, Steve Montador and Jochen Hecht scored for the Sabres (10-4-1), 6-2-1 at home.

Tim Connolly also added a pair of assists in Buffalo's fourth straight win over Edmonton.

After an 8-1-1 start, the Sabres found themselves slumping after losing three of four. But they rebounded and killed off six of Edmonton's seven power-play opportunities.

"We were scrambling around," Edmonton forward Patrick O'Sullivan said. "That's the way it's been lately -- not quite able to get the goal when we needed it."

O'Sullivan scored the lone Edmonton goal, and Nikolai Khabibulin made 23 saves for the Oilers (8-9-2), who have lost five of six.

O'Sullivan also hit two posts in the game, the first coming midway through the second period, and the second with less than 2 minutes to go during the long power play.

"The one positive thing is we're playing a lot harder," he said. "We didn't get the result tonight, but we certainly applied more pressure and limited the other team's shots."

Stafford opened the scoring with 4:29 left in the first period when he lifted a backhander from in tight over Khabibulin's left shoulder for his team-leading fifth goal.

Buffalo made it 2-0 when Montador fired a slap shot from the right circle for his first goal of the season, scored at 7:34 of the second.

While the Oilers were on a two-man advantage, O'Sullivan cut the deficit in half with his third goal. He one-timed a feed from Ales Hemsky with 2:11 left in the middle period.

Hecht capped the scoring with an empty-net goal with 19 seconds to go.

"We took some penalties we didn't want to take, but we'll move forward," Miller said. "Our desperation was really high and I thought we did a great job of holding on for the win."

Game notes
The Sabres are 4-0 against Western Conference teams. ... Hemsky, Edmonton's second-leading scorer, returned after missing two games because of a shoulder injury. ... Khabibulin has started all but three games for Edmonton. ... The Oilers are 1-7 when the opposition scores first. ... Sabres LW Thomas Vanek was whistled for three penalties.