SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Buffalo Sabres showed they can play with the top team in the NHL. Then the top team showed why it holds that status.

San Jose scored three times in the third period Saturday, pulling out of a tie and earning a

5-2 victory in HP Pavilion. The Sabres controlled long stretches and kept San Jose quiet. The

Sharks, though, didn't miss when finding the slightest piece of open ice and improved to

35-10-8.

The Sabres fell to 2-2-2 on their longest road trip of the season. They flew to Vancouver

following the game. They finish their seven-game

journey Monday against the Canucks.

The Sabres secured the opening goal when Tim Connolly continued his hot streak. The line of

Connolly, Jason Pominville and Jochen Hecht set up camp in the San Jose zone, with Pominville

sliding a cross-ice pass to Connolly. The red-hot center beat goalie Evgeni Nabokov with 7:19

gone in the first period.

The goal extended Connolly's point streak to 15 games and boosted his goal to 13. He has

seven goals and 15 assists during his run.

Buffalo entered nearly unstoppable when scoring first, but fell to 21-3-3 when getting the

first goal.

The Sabres outshot the Sharks in the first period, 14-5, but Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller was

tested twice on a power play midway through the frame. He stopped Joe Pavelski and

Marc-Edouard Vlasic to help send the Sabres into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead.

San Jose did a Buffalo imitation to get back into the game. The Sabres have been scoring soon

after the start of periods during the road trip, but the Sharks managed the feat in the

second.

Buffalo defenseman Steve Montador backpedaled into the Sabres' zone to get a loose puck but

stumbled. He tried a clearing pass that struck the leg of Manny Malhotra. The San Jose forward

retrieved the puck below the goal line and fed charging Pavelski alone in front. Miller had no

chance on the point-blank shot just 2:07 into the period.

The Sabres built a 22-6 shot advantage, but the momentum began heading San Jose's way because

of special teams. Buffalo failed to score on an extended power play, which included 58 seconds

of five-on-three. The Buffalo penalty killers then got swarmed midway through, with Dany

Heatley narrowly missing two chances.

He struck on his third with six minutes left in the second. The Sharks' top line of Joe

Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Heatley showed their dominance with puck possession. When

defenseman Rob Blake pinched to the front of the net, Sabres blue-liner Tyler Myers covered

him.

It left Heatley alone at the side of the crease, and he redirected a pass by Thornton to give

San Jose a 2-1 advantage.

The Sabres' run of fast exits from intermission continued in the third. Buffalo had 47

seconds of carry-over power-play time because of a Scott Nichol tripping call late in the

second.

Pominville needed only 18 seconds to make the score 2-2. He skated down the left side and

dumped an innocent-looking backhand at the net. Nabokov, a Russian Olympian, somehow whiffed

as the puck squirted through his pads.

The Sabres built a 33-14 shot edge before San Jose recovered to retake the lead. Miller made

a save on Devin Setoguchi's hard shot from the slot. The rebound, though, dropped to the

goalie's right. Pavelski dived to find the net for his second goal of the night.

Jed Ortmeyer gave the Sharks a two-goal lead with 9:33 to play. San Jose's Ryane Clowe gained

control behind the Buffalo net and fed Ortmeyer in the right circle. He ripped a shot in off

the far post to bring the teal-wearing fans among the sellout crowd of 17,562 out of their

seats.

Ortmeyer added his second of the game, an empty-netter, with a minute to play.

The Sabres finished the game with a 40-24 advantage in shots.