DETROIT — That wacky delay of game rule that lives in the infamy of Buffalo Sabres

history bit the team again Saturday night in Joe Louis Arena.

Rookie Tyler Myers inadvertantly flipped a puck over the glass and was sent to the penalty

box with 1:13 left in regulation of a tie game. The Sabres killed the first portion of the

penalty to escape with a point but couldn't survive it entirely.

Brian Rafalski's blazing slapshot 31 seconds into overtime allowed the Detroit Red Wings to

capitalize on the break and defeat Buffalo, 3-2. The Sabres had fallen behind, 2-0, in the

first 3 minutes but Jochen Hecht's two goals got them even.

Myers was facing pressure from Patrick Eaves in the Buffalo zone near the right boards and

chipped the puck, unable to strike it hard. It fluttered over the glass. Automatic call.

Shades of Brian Campbell, whose similar penalty allowed Carolina to score the tiebreaking

goal late in Game Seven of the 2006 Eastern Conference finals. Coach Lindy Ruff quickly had a

flashback.

"You hate to see those but it happens," Ruff said. "I've got bad memories with those ones

going over the glass."



"You never mean to do it," Myers said. "You just have to bear down a little more and make

sure it's off the glass. It's a tough play to make and I got unlucky."



Ryan Miller made several good saves in the final minute of regulation but there was nothing

he could do in OT. Nicklas Lidstrom passed across the blue line to Rafalski and Miller's

Olympic teammate beat him cleanly from the left circle.

"I sat back just a little too much. I should have committed probably to the shot," Miller

said. "Nice shot, over the pad, hard, tough to catch up to."



Buffalo moved three points ahead of Ottawa in the Northeast Division pending the Senators'

game later Saturday in Vancouver. The Red Wings, meanwhile, jumped a point ahead of Calgary

for eighth in the West.

Playing not far from his East Lansing home, Miller got a nice round of applause from the

sellout crowd of 20,066 when he was introduced.



He made 34 saves and four came off his younger brother, Drew. Their mother, Teresa, was

spotted by television cameras wearing a homemade jacket split between blue and red.

There were no split loyalties from most fans at the start as the Red Wings beat Miller with

their first two shots in a 73-second span early in the first period.

Pavel Datsyuk rammed home a carom off the backboards at 2:02 and Eaves got wide on Craig

Rivet and chipped the puck over a Miller pokecheck at 3:15.

Hecht potted rebounds past Detroit rookie Jimmy Howard at 7:02 of the first and 5:30 of the

second. The goal resulted from a huge break that went the Sabres' way a the other end of the

ice. Television replays showed a Detroit shot clearly went into the net above Miller on a

deflection.

Steve Montador played it off the net to Craig Rivet, who found Tim Connolly breaking into

the Wings zone. Connolly jumped to elude Lidstrom and got a strong shot on Howard.

"Timmy made a nice move, pulling back on his forehand, cutting across and getting the shot

off," Hecht said. "[Jason Pominville] saw me coming, he left it and I just had to bury it."



The Sabres missed other chances to take the lead. Paul Gaustad, back after missing five

with a hand injury, chipped a shot off the post with 4 minutes left on the best one.

"The last 50 minutes were really good," Myers said. "We battled. It was a well-played game

for us, just a tough outcome."