Tim Connolly called it the best win of the year. Why? Because the Buffalo Sabres probably

should have lost.

The first-place Sabres admitted this week they won't be the best team every night. There

will be stretches in which the opponent takes control and dominates. What matters most is

who's ahead at the end.

The Sabres certainly were not the best team Friday night. The Toronto Maple Leafs were. But

when the crowd of 18,300 filtered out of HSBC Arena, all that mattered was the Sabres had

secured a 3-2 overtime win.

Connolly had two goals and three points, including the game-winner 1:04 into overtime to

drop a hard-charging Leafs squad.

"That's a huge win for us," Connolly said. "We've been playing really well and outshooting

teams, and they came out, played real well and had momentum for most of the game. I think

that's our best win of the year, just being able to pull through when things aren't going so

well."

Toronto swarmed the Buffalo zone for long stretches, dominating everyone in Blue and Gold

with one exception — Ryan Miller. The goaltender turned aside 33 shots, including 15 in

the third period.

"The result is a win, and that's what we want every night," Sabres defenseman Chris Butler

said. "It wasn't our best effort, but you look at Millsie, that's a guy you want to have back

there in a game like that."

The Sabres boarded the team charter immediately after the game and visit the New York

Islanders tonight in Nassau Coliseum. Given Miller's busy night Friday, it wouldn't be a

surprise to see the Sabres turn to backup Patrick Lalime for his second start of the season.

Whichever goaltender is in the crease, he'll need to be good.

Coach Lindy Ruff said several unnamed players are likely to be unavailable for tonight's

game because of illness. Defenseman Nathan Paetsch is probably going to play forward because

of low numbers, while blue-liner Andrej Sekera will come off the injured list.

"Other teams have got to go through it, and we're going to have to just go through it,"

Ruff said. "We're going to have to hang in real tough and play a tough, gritty game [tonight]

to come out with points because right now I don't like where the energy level is on the team."

Friday's victory was the fourth straight for the Sabres, who have won eight of the past

nine games to improve to 8-1-1. While Connolly thought it was the best, it wasn't the

prettiest.

The first period had more penalties than excitement, with a steady stream of players to the

box resulting in a game of dump and chase. Each team, though, managed to use one power play to

its advantage.

The Sabres struck first, getting their first five-on-three goal of the season. Drew

Stafford rushed the crease to bury a rebound with 4:49 left in the first.

Another five-on-three was cut short by Stafford's high-sticking penalty, and the Leafs tied

the game just as he stepped out of the box. Miller never saw Ian White's high blast from the

right circle as Alexei Ponikarovsky parked himself at the top of the Buffalo crease a minute

before intermission.

The tight defensive play of the first period deteriorated in the second. Buffalo was the

only team to use that to its benefit.

The goalies held the upper hand on the run of breakaways and odd-man rushes until Connolly

scored midway through. Jason Pominville intercepted a cross-ice pass in the Buffalo zone. He

looked up to spot Connolly and hit him in stride at the far blue line for a breakaway goal.

The third period was all Toronto. The Leafs took the first 11 shots and 13 of the first 14.

Miller swatted away one-timers and point-blank chances until only 37.3 seconds remained.

Mikhail Grabovski tipped Tomas Kaberle's point shot past Miller, giving the vocal Leafs

backers reason to think they'd walk out with a well-deserved comeback win.

Then Connolly connected from the point on a high power-play shot to allow the Sabres' roll

to continue.

"If he shoots more he's probably a 30-, 40-goal scorer," Ruff said. "It's great to win

those games when you're not sharp."