Ryan Miller made 28 saves to lead the Buffalo Sabres over the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 Wednesday at HSBC Arena.
Drew Stafford's fifth goal of the year came with 4:29 remaining in the first period.
The Sabres winger out muscled Oilers defenceman Jason Strudwick and backhanded the puck over Nikolai Khabibulin, giving Buffalo the 1-0 lead.
Buffalo (10-4-1) kept up the pressure in the second. Oilers defenceman Steve Staios blocked two Tim Connelly offerings before Sabres defenceman Steve Montador jumped on the loose puck and slapped it past Khabibulin.
Edmonton countered on the two-man advantage.
Patrick O'Sullivan's shot beat Miller at 17:49 of the second. Lubomir Visnovsky blocked a clearing attempt that caromed to forward Ales Hemsky. The Oilers (8-9-2) sniper collected the puck, passed it to O'Sullivan, who one-timed it past Miller, cutting the Buffalo lead to one.
"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."
But the Sabres sealed the game as Jochen Hecht scored on an empty net for his second goal of the season.
'Miller' time
The Sabres didn't do much to help Miller, as they were penalized nine times for a total of 29 minutes. But the goalie allowed only one goal in that span, which included a two-man advantage and a five-minute power play for Edmonton late in the third period.
"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."
The 29 year-old improves to 10-2-1 with two shutouts this season.
Difference of opinion
Oilers left winger Liam Reddox was knocked out of the game in the third period as he was hit from behind by Sabres forward Clarke MacArthur.
Reddox appeared to lose his balance as MacArthur rode him into the boards. He remained on the ice for five minutes before he could be helped off.
Edmonton coach Pat Quinn was not happy with the play.
"Watching it on tape, [MacArthur] knew exactly what he was doing. I don't have anything to say on it. His head got smacked, and he took a pretty nasty hit," Quinn said.
MacArthur's hit drew a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct.
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff saw it as accidental.
"It's really just a hockey play," Ruff said.
"Clarke was just leaning on him, trying to get position and his legs got tangled up. It's a tough call. I understand why they called it because of how he went in, but there was no intent, there was no running."
