Miller, Sabres Stave Off Elimination

By JOHN WAWROW

OTTAWA – Ryan Miller and the Buffalo Sabres withstood a late Ottawa Senators rally and stayed alive in the Eastern Conference finals. Miller was remarkable in stopping 15 shots in the third period, and Chris Drury and Derek Roy each had a goal an assist in a 3-2 win over Ottawa in Game 4 on Wednesday night.

The Sabres nearly squandered a three-goal but staved off elimination, cutting the Senators’ best-of-seven series lead to 3-1 and making Game 5 necessary in Buffalo on Saturday.

It wasn’t easy. The Sabres ended a three-game skid and won for the third time in eight games.

The Senators put a big scare into the Sabres, rallying for two goals in a 1:46 span, cutting Buffalo’s lead to 3-2 with 3:19 left in the second period.

Miller, however, stopped 31 shots – the same number he stopped in a 1-0 loss on Monday.

Ottawa enjoyed back-to-back power plays in the third period but failed to get a puck past Miller, despite getting 10 shots on net during a 4:30 stretch. Miller made a key save when he waved his glove and batted down Joe Corvo’s snap shot from the slot.

Ottawa defenseman Wade Redden also had a shot from the slot sail just wide of an open left side.

Peter Schaefer and Dean McAmmond scored for the Senators, who had a six-game winning streak snapped and lost for only the second time in seven home games.

Maxim Afinogenov also scored for Buffalo, the Presidents’ Trophy winner in the regular season.