• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Gaustad, Miller propel Sabres past Maple Leafs

Feb 14, 2008 - 5:14 AM BUFFALO, New York (Ticker) -- Paul Gaustad scored the game's only goal midway through the third period and Ryan Miller stopped all 35 shots he faced as the Buffalo Sabres edged the Toronto Maple Leafs, 1-0, on Wednesday.

The Sabres improved to 8-0-2 in their last 10 games and jumped ahead of the idle New York Rangers for seventh place in the Eastern Conference.

The Maple Leafs saw their modest two-game winning streak come to an end.

With 11:04 remaining in the third period, Gaustad accepted a centering feed from Daniel Paille and wristed a shot over the left shoulder of goaltender Vesa Toskala for his eighth goal of the season and first in 10 games.

"I didn't know where Dan was going there," Gaustad said. "He's so agile and so fast. He was doing a great job behind the net. I just tried to get open and he made a great pass."

"I thought it was a bad play by me," Toskala said. "I tried to play the puck with Anton (Stralman). A little miscommunication."

That was the only offense Miller needed, as the netminder recorded his seventh career shutout and third of the season.

Miller stopped 10 shots in the first period, 12 in the second and 13 in the third. His best saves came in the middle period, when he denied both Matt Stajan and Jason Blake from close range.

"I thought Ryan was very good," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. "I also thought our team, maybe we were a little bit tired, but we were real smart. I thought we played a real good back-to-back game. We didn't give up a lot of big situations, we didn't give up a lot of odd numbers. We controlled a good part of the play, even in the third period."

Not to be outdone, Toskala stopped Tim Connolly and Derek Roy in succession just two minutes later. The Finnish goaltender ended the night with 19 saves.

"We had our good scoring chances and they didn't have that many," Toskala said. "It was a pretty good game for us, good effort, but again, zero points."

Toronto captain Mats Sundin echoed the same sentiment.

"I thought we played a really good game," the Swede said. "I thought we were the better team for the most part, actually had lots of chances to score some goals.

"I thought Miller was the difference. He played a really great game. I thought Vesa had a great game, too, but Miller with the shutout - that was the difference."

Buffalo was playing its sixth game in nine days, while Toronto was in action for the first time since Saturday.

"They were well-rested and we had to be smart," Miller said. "I think we did a good job being smart. They're desperate for points, too. You're not going to keep them away from getting shots. I got to see a lot of pucks, and (we) did what we could to maintain for the third (period)."

Buffalo right wing Jason Pominville's eight-game points streak came to an end.