• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Afinogenov, Miller lift Sabres past Islanders

Dec 20, 2007 - 4:19 AM UNIONDALE, New York (Ticker) -- Maxim Afinogenov scored the game-winning goal with 2:17 remaining in the third period and Ryan Miller made 42 saves as the Buffalo Sabres posted their fourth consecutive victory by defeating the New York Islanders, 2-1, on Wednesday.

With the teams tied at 1-1 late in the third period, Afinogenov accepted a feed from Brian Campbell in the right faceoff circle and beat a sliding Rick DiPietro for his sixth goal of the season.

"It was a nice pass by Campbell," Afinogenov said. "He saw me in the slot and I felt my shot and scored on a one-timer. Earlier, I had a good chance but I missed it."

Miller made it stand up, denying New York with a two-man advantage in the game's final minute as the Islanders fell to 2-7-1 in their last 10 games.

"The big difference is I am just starting to worry about my game and figure out what I can do to help," Miller said. "They were trying to get shots on net, but our defense was able to give me some lanes."

Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff praised Miller's performance.

"He (Miller) really looks comfortable," Ruff said. "He's beginning to play as well as he has played at any time now. He probably made six game-saving saves for us.

"He gave them a lot of shots, but it is a game when goalies face that many pucks, they start to feel comfortable. We were not throwing 2-on-1s and breakaways at him."

New York, which entered the contest with an NHL-worst 71 goals scored, enjoyed a 43-17 advantage in shots.

Derek Roy opened the scoring 6:11 into the first period.

After his initial shot was stopped by DiPietro, Roy backhanded the rebound past the Islanders goaltender for his team-leading 13th goal of the season.

The 24-year-old center has at least one point in each contest during Buffalo's winning streak. Roy has notched three goals and six points over that stretch, including a pair of assists Saturday in a 3-1 triumph over the Chicago Blackhawks.

Roy's night ended shortly thereafter, as he left the game in the first period with an upper body injury and did not return.

Brendan Witt leveled the game 3:50 into the third period.

The defenseman blasted a shot from just inside the blue line past a screened Miller for his first goal of the season and first since January 9.

DiPietro liked what he saw out of his teammates, but the result was clearly not desirable to the netminder.

"We played the kind of game we wanted to play," DiPietro said. "We played smart. We'd rather stay out of the penalty box a little bit more than we did tonight. We did not get the outcome that we wanted."

Earlier in the day, New York's Chris Simon was suspended an NHL-record 30 games for his latest ugly incident.

On Saturday, Simon received a match penalty for trying to stomp on the foot of Pittsburgh Penguins left wing Jarkko Ruutu.

This marks the eighth suspension in Simon's 15-year career.