Miller rock solid as Sabres pierce Canadiens

Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller backstopped the Sabres to a 3-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Center Tuesday.

Montreal dominated play from the opening faceoff, outshooting Buffalo 41-23 overall, but Miller was brilliant, particularly in the first half of the game in keeping the score at 1-1.

Ryan basically stole us this one, Sabres captain Jason Pominville told reporters. He played great. He's been playing great for a while now and you get to know what to expect out of him.

He comes in to battle, he never gives up on any shot. He made a couple of big saves to keep us in there.

Montreal defenseman Raphael Diaz scored his first NHL goal, showing great poise moving around Miller before launching a shot into the open net early in the second period.

Jordan Leopold responded for the Sabres firing a rebound past Carey Price.

The game turned for the Sabres on a goal by Thomas Vanek with less than three seconds remaining in the second generated by a perfectly executed play from an offensive zone faceoff.

To me, we played the game the way we needed to play, Canadiens coach Jacques Martin said. We put pucks behind their D (defense), we forechecked, we created chances. But sometimes you don't control the result.

Christian Ehrhoff sealed the victory with an insurance goal with 29 seconds left in the third period.