European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 31, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 36 stars and stripes saturday March 31 2007 sabres stay patient extend Lead in East the associated press Buffalo highs or ing offence and freewheeling style got the Buffalo sabres this far inching them closer to Clinch ing the Eastern conference title goaltender Ryan Miller under stands the sabres need patience and attention to defensive detail if they plan to succeed in the play offs that what pleased Miller after the sabres pulled out a 43 Victory Over the new Jersey Dev ils on wednesday night in a game Between the conferences top two teams we got the rewards for play ing the right Way said Miller who stopped 28 shots the Dev ils play a very patient system that benefits them come playoff time and we feel if we can play against that we can play against a lot of teams in this league rebounding from a Sloppy 41 loss at Toronto last weekend the sabres extended their Lead atop the East standings to seven Points Over the devils As Well As Idle Pittsburgh and Ottawa with six games left Buffalo also moved into a tie for first place in the nil with Nashville the devils suddenly have Wor Ries other than catching Buffalo ending a five game Road swing new Jersey has lost five of eight and sits tied with the hard charging penguins who have won eight of 10 atop the Atlantic division there not losing any games there just getting Points left and right devils goalie Martin Brodeur said of the penguins so that what were aiming to win every game and getting on a Roll before the playoffs Start the sabres never trailed and took control with a three goal third period to break open a 11 tie Jochen Hecht and ales Kota Lik both scored on on timers off the transition and Rookie Daniel Pailles godhead goal came off a rebound it was a Good test because you had to stay patient sabres coach Lindy Ruff said i thought we cleaned up a lot of the careless errors and the careless turnovers Hecht finished with two goals Kotalik was Back after missing 16 games with a knee injury while Paille returned after missing 15 games with a broken Finger coca Tain Daniel Briere had an assist to give him 90 Points 31 goals 59 making him the first Buffalo player to reach that plateau since Pat Lafontaine had 91 Points in 199596 Scott Gomez and Zach Parise had a goal and assist each and Paul Martin also scored for new Jersey Brodeur stopped 19 shots and remained three wins Short of Matching Bernie parents sin Gle season record for victories Brodeur has 44 wins tied with Vancouver Roberto Luongo for the nil Lead it was an uncharacteristic loss for the devils who dropped to 1154 when a game is tied after two periods it usually Doest happen to us like that but give Buffalo credit Gomez said there probably the Best team in the East right now they stuck with it panthers 3 Thrashers 2 at Sunrise Fla Jozef Stumpel scored the tying goal in the third period and notched the Winner in the shootout for Florida Bryan Allen also scored for the panthers who Are hanging on to slim playoff Hopes Florida is in 12th place in the Eastern Confer ence and trails eight place Mont real by six Points with five games left flyers 5 hurricanes 1 Martin Biron stopped a penalty shot among his 23 saves and Philadel phia stymied visiting Carolinas playoff push the hurricanes could have moved into a playoff position in the Eastern conference with a Vic tory but instead the defending Stanley cup champions Are still on the outside of the cutoff line after their second loss in two nights ducks 3 Blackhawk 1 Rookie Dustin Penner scored two goals and Day Bry Galov made 20 saves to Lead visiting Anaheim David the Buffalo sabres Jochen Hecht not shown scores on new Jersey devils goalie Martin Brodeur As Buffa los Jason Pominville 29 and new jerseys Jay Pandolfo 20 look on wednesday Buffalo won 43 nil scoreboard Eastern conference a Buffalo Denew Jersey Atlanta Ottawa Pittsburgh by rangers Tampa Bay 49 45 39 45 44 39 41 20 24 27 24 23 29 32 7 8 11 8 10 9 4 105 98 89 98 98 87 86 286 203 231 269 263 223 237 227 193 235 210 232 204 245 239 Carolina Toronto by islanders Florida Boston Washington 37 36 33 35 26 29 28 30 35 38 10 12 14 6 13 84 84 80 76 65 238 227 230 209 227 243 221 243 267 274 281 Western conference lot pts of a 21 7 105 259 200 20 12 102 243 1 23 7 99 206 185 19 11 103 233 188 san 26 4 98 238 186 24 6 98 210 183 24 8 98 221 184 25 10 92 240 205 30 7 85 251 236 St 33 12 74 196 236 37 7 71 192 229 39 7 69 189 233 los Angeles 37 14 66 216 264 29 42 5 63 201 265 40 9 63 186 242 i cum f i in Tvett time loss or shootout loss division Leader clinched playoff spot wednesdays games Buffalo 4 new Jersey 3 Florida 3 Atlanta 2 so Philadelphia 5 Carolina 1 Anaheim 3 Chicago 1 thursdays games Anaheim at Columbus Toronto at Atlanta Pittsburgh at Boston Edmonton at St Louis Calgary at Minnesota Detroit at Nashville Colorado at Phoenix Vancouver at los Angeles fridays games Dallas at Detroit Montreal at Ottawa Tampa Bay at Carolina Washington at Florida Philadelphia at new Jersey by islanders at Buffalo Columbus at Chicago Phoenix at san Jose wednesday sabres 4 devils 3 new Jersey 0 1 23 Buffalo 0134 second peitod1 Buffalo Hecht 18 Pominville 2 new Jersey Gomez third period3 Buffalo Paille 3 Mair 4 Buffalo Hecht 19 Bri Ere 5 new Jersey Martin 3 Parise 6 Buffalo Kotalik 15 Zubrus new Jersey Parise 31 Zajac shots on Goa new Jersey 9111131 Buffalo 69823 Power play opportunities new Jersey 0 of 1 Buffalo 0 of 1 goalies new Jersey Brodeur 44237 23 shots19 Buffalo Miller 36166 31 shots28 a18690 panthers 3 Thrashers 2 so Atlanta 11002 Florida 10103 Florida won shootout 20 first period1 Florida Allen 4 Gratton 2 Atlanta Kozlov 24 Holik second period3 Atlanta Kozlov 25 Mel Lanny third Florida Stumpel 21 Jokinen shootout Atlanta 0 Kozlov no Hossa Florida 2 Peltonen no Horton g Stumpel shots on Goa Atlanta 15126235 Florida 16710235 Power play opportunities Atlanta l of 8 Florida 1 of 3 goalie Atlanta Lehtonen 32239 35 shots33 Florida Anderson 100 a12864 flyers 5 hurricanes 1 Carolina 0 1 01 Philadelphia 1 1 35 first period1 Philadelphia Carter 12 Knuble second period2 Philadelphia Hatcher 3 3 Carolina Whitney 30 Staal third period4 Philadelphia Knuble 23 Gagne Philadelphia Coburn 2 Sanderson Philadelphia Carter 13 Gagne missed penalty shot Williams car second shots on Goa Carolina 610824 Phila Delphia 381425 Power play opportunities Carolina 0 of 5 Philadelphia 1 of 4 Grahame 9132 24 shots20 Philadelphia Biron 1792 a19123 ducks 3 Blackhawk 1 Anaheim 0 2 13 Chicago 1 0 01 first period1 Chicago Wrbata 13 bark or second period2 Anaheim Penner 27 Perry Anaheim Penner 28 Perry third period4 Anaheim Parros 1 May shots on Goa Anaheim 510823 Chica go 610521 Power play opportunities Anaheim 0 of 3 Chicago 1 of 3 goalie Anaheim Bry Galov 984 21 shots20 Chicago Khabibulin 23255 a1u95 research shop buy All online military online virtual vehicle showroom build your car name your Price program live online consultants  and ask How a family member can take delivery stateside for you while youre away Factor authorized distributor for these highly respected manufacturers All illustrations and specifications Are to the Best of our knowledge Correct m of tin Date of publication they am subject to changes made by the manufacturer and the Laws or of any Federal state or local government Agency All programs and guarantees Are tub fact to terms and conditions visit  for Complete details mas101