BUFFALO — Ryan Miller made 28 saves to lift the Buffalo Sabres to a 3-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night.
Drew Stafford, Steve Montador and Jochen Hecht scored for the Sabres (10-4-1), who snapped a two-game losing streak.
Tim Connolly also added a pair of assists in Buffalo’s fourth straight win over Edmonton.
Patrick O’Sullivan scored, and Nikolai Khabibulin made 23 saves for the Oilers (8-9-2), who have lost five of six.
Edmonton left winger Liam Reddox was knocked out when he was rammed headfirst into the boards by Clarke MacArthur late in the game.
Stafford opened the scoring with 4:29 left in the first period when he lifted a backhand from in tight over Khabibulin’s left shoulder for his team-leading fifth goal.
Buffalo made it 2-0 when Montador fired a slap shot from the right circle for his first goal of the season, scored at 7:34 of the second.
While the Oilers were on a two-man advantage, O’Sullivan cut the deficit in half with his third goal. He one-timed a feed from Ales Hemsky with 2:11 left in the middle period.
Hecht capped the scoring with an empty-net goal with 19 seconds to go.
NOTES: Buffalo RW Mike Grier went to the dressing room with 12 minutes left in regulation and didn’t return. ... The Sabres are 4-0 against Western Conference teams. ... Hemsky, Edmonton’s second-leading scorer, returned after missing two games because of a shoulder injury. ... Khabibulin has started all but three games for Edmonton. ... The Oilers are 1-7 when the opposition scores first. ... Sabres LW Thomas Vanek was whistled for three penalties.
