BOSTON —Drew Stafford, slumped at his locker stall, sat through wave after wave of

questions about his too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty, a critical mistake in double-overtime

that sent Boston to victory and Buffalo to the edge of elimination. When the inquiries finally

stopped, the right winger dropped his head to his hands.

There was nothing left for him to say, with the possible exception of sorry. He walked over

to Ryan Miller, put his hands on the hard-luck goaltender's shoulders and shared a few quiet

words. Stafford then sought the solace of the change room in an attempt to forget the

loneliness of the penalty box.

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The right winger's ill-timed hop over the boards and trip to the box set up Boston's

game-winning goal, with Miroslav Satan doing the damage. The Bruins winger scored with 12:19

left in double-OT, giving Boston a 3-2 victory Wednesday.

Only nine seconds remained in Stafford's infraction.

"A game like that to be decided like that, it's really frustrating," Stafford said. "For me,

it's disappointing. There's not much to say other than we have to park it and get ready for a

big one.

"Our killers did such a great job all game. Millsie just stood on his head. Those guys

worked so hard on the penalty kill. For that one, they did such a great job. It's just

unfortunate for it to end like that. Like I said, there's not much to say other than you've

got to put it behind you and you've got to move on because we've got to play in two days, and

that's the biggest game so far. That's where I'm at and where everyone else is at."

The next game —Friday in HSBC Arena —is indeed the biggest of the season for

the Sabres. That's because it could be the last one. The Bruins' victory gave them a

commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, meaning every outing for Buffalo is a

must-win.

"If they can win three, we can win three," said Miller, who made 36 saves. "It starts with

just winning one, get ourselves back on track."

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The Sabres were actually 20 minutes away from tying their series with Boston. They skated

out for the third period with a 2-0 lead, but the momentum quickly changed.

The officials flagged Cody McCormick for goaltender interference with 1:58 off the clock

when he drove the net while tangled with Marco Sturm. Just nine seconds later, Miller stopped

Matt Hunwick's point shot, but David Krejci was able to get open and go around the goaltender

with the rebound.

Miller quickly fired the puck against the boards and yelled at the referee stationed behind

the goal line.

Boston earned another power play just 27 seconds later, when Patrick Kaleta hit Milan

Lucic. The Sabres killed it, though the momentum clearly had shifted. The Bruins rode it to a

2-2 tie when Patrice Bergeron scored with 6:40 gone.

After the game, Sabres coach Lindy Ruff was furious with the turn of events.

"The call on McCormick wasn't a call," Ruff said. "Their own guy wiped the goaltender out.

And if Pat Kaleta hitting Lucic is a call, that's strange. Both of those. I thought we were

getting a power play on the McCormick play as he's hooked going to the net. Their own guy

wipes the goaltender out, and it's a pretty big swing of events for us.

"We didn't blow it," Ruff said with a raised voice and piercing glare. "Nobody blew it. You

think Pat Kaleta hitting Lucic was a penalty? Then [Mark] Recchi hitting [Tim] Kennedy [in

Game Three] was a penalty, is it not? Is it the same? Case closed," the coach concluded,

tossing the cap of his water bottle for emphasis.

The action in the overtimes was intense, with the sellout crowd standing throughout and

roaring passionately. There seemingly were as many grand scoring chances crammed into the OTs

as there were in the opening three games. Miller and Boston's Tuukka Rask were up to the

challenge.

Miller stopped Blake Wheeler on a breakaway, slid across the crease to stop Patrice

Bergeron and had Satan shaking his head with 3:50 left. The former Sabres forward corralled a

redirected puck in the slot and slid a backhand toward the open net. Miller dived to get his

glove on it.

Boston's Tuukka Rask caught a break with 15:33 left when Paul Gaustad's tip hit the

crossbar. The goalie then stopped chances by Adam Mair, Patrick Kaleta and Derek Roy as the

Sabres applied pressure.

Satan finally ended the drama with a move that surprised Miller. Michael Ryder carried the

puck into the right corner of the Buffalo zone, then fed a trailing Satan in the middle of the

ice. The former perennial scoring leader for the Sabres streaked in, cut back to the right and

slipped the puck past Miller in front of defenseman Tyler Myers.

"I figured since he got a pass from the corner and everybody in the rink was on that side

of the ice, there was no way he was going back that way," Miller said. "So I set my feet,

tried to steer him the other way and he just took a chance and went to the middle.

"A guy gets [right in the middle] in the slot, you try to take away the shooting option

first. He tried to make a move, and he moved back into where we should have had more people."

They would have had one more skater if Stafford's penalty hadn't occurred, making it a

gut-wrenching way to lose.

"When it's completely within your control, yeah, it's tough," Miller said.

The Sabres opened the scoring for the fourth straight game. It was a moment of sweet

redemption for Tim Kennedy. The rookie center was beaten by Mark Recchi for the winning goal

near the end of Game Three. It took him just 2:12 of the fourth game to ease the memory with a

goal.

The fans booed former Bruins defenseman Steve Montador when he gave the Sabres a 2-0 lead

with 6:59 gone in the second period. It was the last disappointing moment for the Black and

Gold faithful, who roared their way out to Causeway Street.

"We were dictating a little bit more in the overtime, but you have to score to win," Sabres

defenseman Henrik Tallinder said. "We had our opportunities. You have to put them away."