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Miller, Sabres blank Kings

Dec 20, 2008 - 4:04 AM BUFFALO, New York (Ticker) -- Ryan Miller made 40 saves to record his third shutout of the season and Derek Roy had a goal and two assists as the Buffalo Sabres cruised to a 5-0 triumph over the Los Angeles Kings on Friday.

Drew Stafford netted a goal and set up another and Adam Mair, Clarke MacArthur and Matt Ellis also scored for the Sabres, who have won five of their last seven games.

Miller turned aside 13 shots in the first period, 12 more in the next and 15 in the third to complete his 10th career blanking.

"Ryan (Miller) was there for every shot," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. "That might be as good as he's looked all year, and he made a lot of it look easy. It tells you that he was in the right place all night."

"Sometimes you have to have a little edge in your game," Miller added. "I don't know if I've had it for long enough. You get to the point where you're mad enough at yourself and confident enough in your game that you can go out and play. It's an interesting spot to be."

After failing to convert a one-timer from defenseman Toni Lydman, Roy picked up the loose puck off the end boards. Roy then fired the puck at Jason LaBarbera from behind the goalline and it bounced off the Kings' goaltender and into the net.

"You have to have some luck," Ruff said. "We got some good bounces and that's part of the game too. We put ourselves in position to get the opportunities."

Roy's 10th goal of the season gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead with 3:55 remaining in the opening session.

"We happened to get a couple of good bounces," Roy said. "We worked hard to get in front of the net and got rewarded for a couple of goals. We worked as a team and stuck around the net."

Playing in his first NHL game, defenseman Chris Butler tallied his first career point when he assisted Adam Mair's goal, which extended the Sabres' advantage to 2-0 at the 2:33 mark of the second.

Ellis notched his first goal of the season to provide the final margin. He beat Jonathan Quick, who replaced LaBarbera in the final session, with a wraparound with 5:27 left.

LaBarbera turned aside 10 shots and Quick stopped seven for the Kings, who were shutout for the fifth time this season and handed their third straight loss.

"I liked the way we approached things," Los Angeles coach Terry Murray said. "We hung in there with our effort, with our mental toughness, with our puck movement, with our team play.

We have to find a way to put pucks in the net."