Sabres Sharp in 4-2 Win at Boston

BOSTON (AP) -- Daniel Paille scored twice, and Ryan Miller stopped 30 shots Tuesday night to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 4-2 victory over the Boston Bruins.

Thomas Vanek broke a second-period tie to help the Sabres win for the fourth time in five games and climb back into playoff contention. Buffalo, which entered in 11th place in the conference, is four points behind the eighth-place Bruins for the last playoff spot in the East.

Tim Thomas made 24 saves for Boston, which had beaten the Sabres in three of the first four games this season. Thomas has lost his last two decisions after winning five in a row.

P.J. Axelsson scored for Boston with 9:48 gone in the first period to tie it 1. That was all the scoring for the Bruins until the final seconds, when Mark Stuart beat Miller for a meaningless goal.

The clock showed 0.0, and while the referee spoke to the off-ice official to confirm that the goal beat the horn both teams celebrated. But the Bruins' celebration was brief, and halfhearted.

Eleven-tenths of a second were put back on the clock for one perfunctory faceoff.

Paille made it 1-0 when he redirected Jason Pominville's pass by Thomas from the edge of the crease 3:30 into the game. It's Paille's second two-goal game of the season. Axelsson tied it when he scored off the rebound of David Krejci's shot 6:18 later.

Vanek tipped Drew Stafford's pass between Thomas' pads with 5:44 gone in the second period. Paille added an insurance goal with 6:06 left when he got his skate in the way of Jochen Hecht's pass and redirected it into the net.

Buffalo made it 4-1 with 1:33 left when Toni Lydman wristed a shot high past a screened Thomas on a power play. It was Lydman's second goal of the season.