BUFFALO, N.Y. — Ryan Miller made 27 saves in his final tuneup before the Olympics, and the Buffalo Sabres scored three second-period goals to beat the San Jose Sharks 3-1 on Saturday night.
Paul Gaustad, Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville scored to help Buffalo snap a six-game losing streak.
Evgeni Nabokov, also in his last game before joining the Russian Olympic squad, made 25 stops for the Sharks and had his NHL-record 11-game road winning streak snapped. Kent Huskins scored for San Jose.
The Sharks had the better chances early in the second period, but Buffalo broke a scoreless deadlock 5 1/2 minutes in when Gaustad charged the net and tucked in a pass from the left corner by Henrik Tallinder.
Vanek made it 2-0 just over 7 minutes later when took a lead pass in the slot, faked to his forehand to get Nabokov out of position, then went to his backhand to flip the puck in.
With 2 1/2 minutes remaining, Pominvile jammed at a puck along the right post and it deflected off defenseman Niclas Wallin and trickled in.
Huskins ended Miller's shutout bid 5 1/2 minutes into the final period, recovering an errant puck just outside his own blue line and wristing a shot from the left circle.
The Buffalo crowd chanted "USA! USA!" during the final minute as a tribute to Miller.
Notes
Buffalo is 12-1 against San Jose at home. … Gaustad snapped a 20-game stretch without a goal. … Nabokov last gave up three goals in a period of a road game on Nov. 27 in Edmonton, but the Sharks won that game in a shootout. His last road loss was Nov. 15 at Chicago. … Seven of San Jose's 12 regulation losses have been by at least three goals. … The Sharks ended their six-game road trip with a 4-2 record. They also went 4-2 during their other six-gamer in October.