Jets 5 - 6 Sabres
Final - OT
  for this game

Vanek's OT goal lifts Buffalo over Winnipeg

Nov 9, 2011 - 6:47 AM Buffalo, NY (Sports Network) - Thomas Vanek's power-play goal with 25 seconds remaining in overtime sent Buffalo past Winnipeg, 6-5.

Vanek was stationed to the right of Jets goaltender Ondrej Pavelec, and a Jason Pominville blast deflected off Vanek's skate and in for the deciding tally.

Derek Roy picked up two goals and one assist, Vanek scored twice and Pominville finished with a goal and two helpers for the Sabres, who never led but rallied from deficits of 2-0, 3-2, 4-3 and 5-4 to win their third straight contest.

Ryan Miller looked shaky at times, but picked up the win with 26 saves.

"You don't plan nights like that. You certainly don't like to see too many of them, but it's good that we came out on the winning side," Miller said.

Bryan Little registered a pair of scores, while both Dustin Byfuglien and Tanner Glass contributed a goal and helper each for the Jets, who dropped three in a row to conclude a seven-game road swing.

Pavelec allowed all six goals on 45 shots in defeat.

Mark Flood beat Miller with a wrister off a Glass dish to give the Jets a 1-0 lead a little less than five minutes in. Blake Wheeler then put a backhanded pass into the slot from behind the net, and Little finished it just 66 seconds later.

But Roy potted a Tyler Myers rebound for a power-play score at 9:05, then Corey Tropp recorded his first NHL goal -- potting a Nathan Gerbe rebound -- just 11 seconds later for a 2-2 deadlock.

Glass shoved home a loose puck from atop the crease at 11:25, but Paul Gaustad made a spin-o-rama dish to Pominville for a short-handed goal off a 2-on-1 break at 13:06 for a 3-3 game.

It was 4-3 for Winnipeg on a man advantage at 1:07 of the second when Little followed up an errant Byfuglien shot which caromed from the back boards into the slot, and fired it home.

But Vanek ripped a shot past Pavelec from the left point on the power play with 4:12 left in the second and it was 4-4 at intermission.

Byfuglien put the Jets up 5-4 when he was left alone up the middle to stick a shot past Miller inside the first minute of the third period.

Roy cranked a shot under the crossbar from the right circle on a two-man edge with 6:08 left in regulation, but the Sabres failed to click on the back half of the power play.

Game Notes

Buffalo took three of four from the Atlanta/Winnipeg franchise a season ago...The original Winnipeg Jets won their last three matchups with the Sabres, including the teams' last-ever meeting on January 10, 1996, a 4-1 Jets victory at Winnipeg Arena...Prior to the game, Buffalo inducted former center Dale Hawerchuk -- who played there from 1990-95, and began his career (1981-90) with the Jets -- into the Sabres Hall of Fame...Long-time Buffalo broadcaster Rick Jeanneret was also honored.






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