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Briere's overtime goal lifts Sabres over Oilers

Feb 16, 2007 - 4:42 AM BUFFALO, New York (Ticker) -- Daniel Briere ended a long drought of coming through in the clutch for the Buffalo Sabres.

Briere scored his 25th goal just 62 seconds into overtime, leading the the Sabres a 2-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

The win snapped a six-game home winless streak against Edmonton for Buffalo, which last beat the Oilers on home ice at the Memorial Auditorium on October 18, 1995. The Sabres also improved to 6-1-1 against Western Conference opponents this season.

"I think what you're seeing from our team is better, complete efforts," Briere said. "In January, we were working for 25-30 minutes. The first period was a little shaky, but after that, the second and third period, the effort was there. We're finding ways to win one-goal games."

"Something's got to change where we get a two-pointer out of a game like that, or when you're down a goal or two in the third and you get a win," Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish said. "We're going to need some of those things to happen for us. We had all kinds of chances to win the game. Offense isn't coming easy for us."

The Oilers have scored a league-low 55 goals on the road.

After receiving a pass from Jochen Hecht during a 3-on-1 rush, Briere fired the puck over goaltender Dwayne Roloson's left shoulder to give Buffalo its fourth straight win. It was the fourth game-winning goal for the co-captain this season but first since November 22.

"I wanted (Roloson) to make the first move," Briere said. "When he slid, I let him go by. Roloson made some big stops on me all game long. I let him commit first."

"I think you see that a lot in hockey," Edmonton's Shawn Horcoff said. "One team comes down, gets a good chance to score. A lot of times when it's 4-on-4 and that happens, you're going to give up an odd-man rush. I wasn't able to get that shot on net, someone made a good block and they turned it up. They turned that 3-on-1 into the winning goal."

Briere, the All-Star Game's Most Valuable Player, has 10 goals and 13 assists in his last 18 contests.

Thanks to Briere, who leads the team with 69 points, Buffalo improved to 6-1-0 in its last seven games and climbed one point ahead of idle Nashville (81) in the race for the Presidents' Trophy.

The Sabres have won each of their last six home games, outscoring their opponents, 25-12.

Horcoff gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead at 7:02 of the first period, when his shot from the left faceoff dot got past All-Star netminder Ryan Miller. Horcoff has four goals and three assists in his last six games.

"It was just a matter of trying to find that soft spot on the ice," he said. "(Ales) Hemsky made a great pass. I just caught the puck and tried to get it off as quick as I can, and as high as I could. Fortunately, it went in. Ryan (Smyth) made a great screen."

But the Sabres drew even with 1:56 remaining in the middle session as Maxim Afinogenov poked a rebound past Roloson. The right wing entered with just one point in his previous five games.

"The shot caught me a little high, I was going to try and cover it," Roloson said. "At the same time, I looked up. It was just one of those things."

Afinogenov, who is second to Briere on the Sabres with 57 points, left the game after two periods with what initially was described as a "upper body" injury but later confirmed as a wrist injury.

"We've lost Max for a minimum of six weeks," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. "He's got a broken scaphoid bone in his wrist. He fell on it. I think it happened the shift before he scored."

Roloson made 29 saves for the Oilers, who fell to 0-1-1 on their season-high seven-game road trip.

Miller made 27 saves en route to his third straight victory. He has allowed just six goals during that span.

"We've committed to playing good, solid hockey," Miller said. "Guys are understanding what has to be done out there. It's not hurting our offense any. I thought we created well tonight."

"The two most outstanding players on the ice were the goaltenders," MacTavish said. "Rollie had to make a couple real five-star saves that looked like goals. Miller was real solid as well. Rollie was spectacular, especially in the first eight and nine minutes of the second period."