It was late in the second period, a full 22 minutes left to play, yet there was a sense that the result hung in the balance when Rod Brind'Amour took aim at an empty Buffalo Sabres net.

A goal would give Carolina a two-goal lead that would loom insurmountable given what little

the Sabres were mustering offensively. A goal would have the Hurricanes entertaining visions

of their first road victory of the season.

Goaltender Ryan Miller, on his knees and out of position, knew the situation called for

desperate measures. He lunged across the crease, protecting ice level with his stick while

simultaneously calculating where his glove might be best positioned. Instinct is really what

it is, the innate knowledge a veteran develops over years of perfecting his craft.

"I was able to get my feet back under me a little bit and dive across," Miller said. "It's

just one of those where you kind of half guess, half watch the puck. I thought I had enough

covered low with my stick that I should reach ... with my glove and I made the right call."

Sabres fans responded to the glove save with a thunderous standing ovation at the next

stoppage in play. Miller's teammates, some of whom also stood to applaud, took their cue

following intermission. They put two languid periods of hockey behind them and repaid Miller

for his heroics with a third-period barrage good for a 5-1 victory Saturday night over the

beleaguered 'Canes.

Mike Grier became the first Sabre to solve goaltender Michael Leighton by converting from a

crowded crease at 1:59. Clarke MacArthur, Derek Roy, Jochen Hecht and Thomas Vanek followed in

rapid-fire fashion, the score growing all the more misleading each time the red light fired.

A romp? Who could have foreseen it when for two periods it appeared the Sabres had spent

themselves broke in Friday's 4-2 win at Philly that snapped a four-game losing streak?

"It's huge," defenseman Henrik Tallinder said. "If we didn't win this game [Friday's] game

wouldn't have been so big. Now it's huge for us. We got four points out of four."

No one in the Sabres' locker room wallowed in the resounding nature of the final score. All

realized it was a game that might well have been placed out of reach had Brind'Amour found net

and the 'Canes committed full out to defensive hockey in the third period.

"It was almost a wake-up call for us to realize, "Hey, we got to get going,' " Grier said.

"It's not the hockey we wanted to play and we owed it to Millsie to come back out in the third

and score him a couple goals."

For Sabres coach Lindy Ruff it was a flashback to the magic of Dominik Hasek. Ruff referred

to the save as "Dom-like."

"You look at that save and think, "If we can't get back in it now, if that doesn't lift us

up, if that doesn't help give us some momentum ...,' " Ruff said. "Even most of guys on the

bench got up and couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it until I saw him throw it out."

The Sabres spent the opening two periods searching for their legs, and maybe a little of

their heart. Three of their mainstays when it comes to physical play — defenseman and

captain Craig Rivet, center Paul Gaustad and winger Patrick Kaleta — were out of the

lineup.

Leg injuries suffered against Philly felled Rivet and Gaustad. Kaleta learned Saturday

afternoon the NHL had dealt him a two-game suspension for a hit in the Philly game that led to

his ejection.

With those players unavailable, the Sabres had to look elsewhere for someone to jolt them

from their reverie and point them toward their first victory of the season when trailing after

two periods. Miller, the first star with 31 saves, provided the lead.

"That was the turning point of the game," Tallinder said. "I mean, it's all him. That's why

why were were going into the third period just one goal down."

"If we go up, 2-0, it's a way different game," Brind'Amour agreed. "Right at the end of the

period, short-handed, that would probably deflate them instead of giving them a big lift."

Probably indeed.