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Smyth, Budaj lift Avalanche over Sabres

Oct 26, 2008 - 6:53 AM By Derek Nagy PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

DENVER (Ticker) -- Ryan Smyth scored in the fifth round of the shootout and Peter Budaj made the goal stand as the Colorado Avalanche recorded a 2-1 triumph over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.

Defenseman Jordan Leopold tallied in regulation and Budaj made 29 saves as Colorado posted its fifth consecutive victory.

"They scored and got the lead, but our team persevered - especially in the third period," Budaj said. "We kept on coming, kept on coming and we got the bounce there in the third - and it was a big thing."

Daniel Paille netted his first goal of the campaign and Ryan Miller turned aside 28 shots for Buffalo (7-0-2), which has yet to lose in regulation this season.

"I thought our effort was real good tonight," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. "We had a great second period, spent a lot of time in their zone. It was a hard-fought game both ways."

In the fifth round of the shootout, Smyth skated in on Miller and wristed a shot that caromed off the goaltender's right arm and trickled into the net.

Budaj preserved the victory by denying Clarke MacArthur on Buffalo's final attempt.

"I definitely think that we played a really strong defensive game. It was a big two points for us," Budaj said.

Buffalo opened the scoring at 9:18 of the second period.

Defenseman Toni Lydman shot the puck from just above the left faceoff circle and Paille redirected it on net. The puck just trickled between Budaj's pads to give Paille his first goal of the season and the Sabres a 1-0 lead.

The Avalanche leveled the contest when Leopold tallied with 6:24 remaining in the third. The blue-liner rifled a shot from the slot that deflected off a pair of defenders before sailing over Miller's left shoulder and into the net.

"I think it went off one of their skates," Leopold said. "It wasn't a shot. There was a little room in between them and I was looking for a tip shot from (Smyth). It ended up bouncing around and went in, so a good break for us."

"We went down to five D-men," Miller said. "We battled hard, and to work that hard and have kind of a chincey little play make a difference to get into overtime, it's pretty brutal."

In a clean and hard-hitting affair of two of the hottest teams in the NHL, the Sabres outshot the Avalanche, 30-29, and held the league's highest-scoring team under four goals for just the second time this season.

"Overall, to only allow one goal, this is a good team we just played," Lydman said. "I guess you take the point and have to move on."

It was the first meeting between the teams since March 7, 2007, and first in Denver since 2005.