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Vanek helps Sabres double up Canadiens

Nov 24, 2007 - 4:25 AM BUFFALO, New York (Ticker) -- The Buffalo Sabres are regaining their form at the expense of the Montreal Canadiens.

Thomas Vanek scored the eventual game-winning goal and Ryan Miller made 30 saves as the Sabres defeated the Canadiens, 4-2, on Friday.

Buffalo won for the third straight time, defeating Montreal twice in the process. The teams close out a home-and-home series in Bell Centre on Saturday.

Vanek's power-play goal with 8:33 remaining in the third period gave Buffalo a 3-2 lead. Vanek snapped a seven-game goal-less drought by backhanding his own rebound past Montreal rookie goaltender Carey Price.

It was Buffalo's second power-play goal of the game.

"It was a good play by (Nathan) Paetsch," Vanek said. "He just shot it at my stick. I got a good tip on it. I hit (Price) in the shoulder, he was looking for the puck, he didn't know it was laying on his back side. It was a good bounce. It was a good win for us."

Daniel Paille added an empty-net goal with 14 seconds remaining.

The Sabres capitalized on their first power-play chance to open the scoring.

Derek Roy redirected a sharp pass from Maxim Afinogenov past Price at 8:56 into the first period.

"This is the roll we've been looking for and we have to stay on it," Roy said. "Keep working hard in practice and in games and look forward to the game against Montreal, a big division game."

Buffalo doubled its lead 7:39 into the second period when Tim Connolly raced to the net, pouncing on a big rebound off Brian Campbell's shot from the point. Connolly beat Price for his second goal of the season - and first since October 11.

Montreal halved the deficit when Christopher Higgins buried a 20-foot wrist shot past the glove of Miller. It was Higgins' ninth of the season.

Miller made two spectacular saves to preserve a 2-1 lead through 40 minutes. He denied Guillaume Latendresse with a sparkling glove save with 5:28 left in middle session. In the period's closing minute, he denied Higgins' uncontested wrap-around attempt.

"I'm pleased with our effort and the great part is we have room to improve which is scary for the rest of the division," Miller said. "If we stay motivated and we keep trying to improve, teams are going to have a tough time with us."

Lindy Ruff was also pleased with his team's play of late.

"I think putting three together, they have been solid games, and they have been against good opponents," Ruff said. "I think that is important for our team right now. That was a tough game tonight."

Tomas Plekanec tied the game five minutes into the third period on a breakaway.

"I thought when Plekanec scored that goal that was what we needed to turn the tide off the game," Higgins said. "Then there was the questionable call on Mike (Komisarek), that was a pretty bad one.

"They scored power-play goals, they cashed in on their opportunities and they played pretty tight defensively - but it's no excuse for how we started the game."

Price saw his personal three-game winning streak snapped after making 28 saves.