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Sabres top Penguins on Mair's overtime tally

Sep 30, 2006 - 3:19 AM PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- Adam Mair made the most of a rare opportunity.

Maxim Afinogenov forged a tie with less than six minutes remaining in the third period and Mair scored at 2:53 of overtime to lift the Buffalo Sabres to a 4-3 preseason victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

One of three Sabres to log less than 10 minutes of ice time, Mair got a chance in the extra session and ran with it, beating goaltender Jocelyn Thibault with just his second shot of the game.

Mair's heroics were made possible by Afinogenov, Buffalo's leading scorer last season. With teammate Dmitri Kalinin in the penalty box for hooking, the 27-year-old Russian fired a shot past Thibault at 14:08 to knot the game at 3-3.

Co-captain Daniel Briere and defenseman Teppo Numminen also scored for Buffalo, which registered the only three shots in overtime.

Colby Armstrong tallied twice and Sidney Crosby set up a pair of goals for the Penguins, who went 1-for-9 on the power play.