Thomas Vanek scored twice, and Daniel Briere had a goal and an assist as the Buffalo Sabres beat the Atlanta Thrashers 4-1 Saturday at HSBC Arena.
In a battle of Eastern Conference powerhouses, the top offenses in the East played a strong defensive game for the first 40 minutes. Briere scored in the first to make it 1-0 and Jason Pominville scored on a 3 on 1 break midway through the second to make it 2-0.
Glen Metropolit scored early in the third to cut the deficit to one before Vanek tipped a Maxim Afinogenov shot past Kari Lehtonen with three minutes to go to seal the win. Vanek would later score an empty net goal.
Ryan Miller made 29 saves in recording his 20th win of the season. Lehtonen took the loss, stopping 28 of 31 shots. Buffalo hosts the New York Islanders on Monday night.
