Sabres 3 - 2 Coyotes
Final
  for this game

Miller, Girgensons lead Sabres over Coyotes

Jan 31, 2014 - 6:51 AM Glendale, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - Zemgus Girgensons netted the game winner while his club was shorthanded early in the third period, as Buffalo slipped past Phoenix, 3-2.

Tyler Ennis and Steve Ott also supplied offense for the Sabres, who swept the two-game season series from their Thursday foes.

"We wanted to come in and play extremely hard," Ott said. "I thought we did that tonight."

Ryan Miller collected his second win in three starts thanks to 38 saves, and improved to 6-0-0 all-time against the 'Yotes.

Antoine Vermette and David Moss tallied for the Coyotes, who have dropped six of their last 10. Thomas Greiss took the loss despite 25 stops.

Girgensons tallied while his club was shorthanded only 1:52 after the third-period puck drop, when, in one motion, he stripped Phoenix defenseman Keith Yandle of the puck and pushed a backhander between the pads of Greiss for a 3-2 game.

Phoenix couldn't do much with its final power-play chance of the contest. Smith was called to the bench for the final 1:35 of regulation and the hosts couldn't solve Miller.

"They just packed it in around the net and we wouldn't pay the price to get to the net," Phoenix head coach Dave Tippett said of his team's inability to solve Miller late.

Ennis potted a Girgensons rebound at 6:08 of the first period, but Phoenix tallied twice in an 18-second span late in the frame to take a one-goal lead to intermission.

Vermette potted his 20th of the season, a power-play marker on the backhand from the left side at 18:30, then Moss followed up a Jeff Halpern rebound and scored with the backhand at 18:48.

The Sabres evened the score at 6:38 of the second while up a man, when Ott followed up a Ville Leino chance in close and beat Smith to the left post.

Game Notes

Buffalo's first victory of the season against Phoenix occurred on Dec. 23, a 2-1 decision for the Sabres when a rebound from Mark Pysyk popped in the air and landed in a fold on the rear of Smith's jersey, who backed his way into his own net so that the puck was clearly over the goal line ... Sabres defenseman Christian Ehrhoff was a late scratch due to an unspecified illness ... Moss' tally snapped a 16-game goal drought.






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