Sabres Spoil Nolan's Buffalo Homecoming

Ted Nolan's homecoming was bittersweet. <br/><br/>Buffalo fans clearly had fond memories of one of the most beloved coaches in Sabres history. Unfortunately for Nolan, that didn't help his current

Tuesday, January 2nd 2007, 6:26 am

By: News On 6

Ted Nolan's homecoming was bittersweet.

Buffalo fans clearly had fond memories of one of the most beloved coaches in Sabres history. Unfortunately for Nolan, that didn't help his current team.

Ryan Miller made 29 saves, and Maxim Afinogenov had a goal and an assist to give Buffalo a 3-1 win over the New York Islanders on Monday, spoiling Nolan's first appearance in Buffalo since he left the organization after rejecting a one-year contract offer following the 1996-97 season.

``When they're chanting 'Teddy!' in the hotel hallways at 4:30 in the morning, you have to figure he was pretty popular,'' New York goalie Rick DiPietro said.

But that popularity only went so far, as evidenced by one fan in the capacity crowd who held a sign that said, ``We wish you well Teddy ... just not tonight.''

In other NHL games Monday, it was: Phoenix 3, Washington 2; Atlanta 3, Ottawa 2 in overtime; Colorado 5, Nashville 3; and Toronto 5, Boston 1.

Nolan is one of two Sabres' coaches to win the Jack Adams Trophy as the NHL's top coach. Current coach Lindy Ruff won it last summer.

``It's always nice to come back here,'' Nolan said. ``Buffalo's always been a special place to me and I'll always remember those two years.''

It would have been nicer if the Islanders hadn't lost their third straight _ the first two by shutouts _ and four of their last six.

They did snap the team-record scoreless streak at 186:31 when Jason Blake got his team-leading 22nd goal at 8:19 of the third.

``We're going through a tough thing right now,'' Islanders captain Alexei Yashin said. ``Some nights the puck doesn't go in, and other nights it will. We have to play consistently and support each other.''

Ruff shrugged off the return.

``We are so far removed,'' he said. ``We didn't talk about it.''

His team, meanwhile, is back on track after losing consecutive games for the first time earlier this month. Buffalo has now won five of its last six games, with the loss coming in overtime against St. Louis.

``We've got a little roll going,'' said Paul Gaustad, who opened the scoring with a power-play goal 8 minutes into the first period. ``We're eliminating the turnovers and the chances that we're giving the other team.''

Jochen Hecht also scored for the Sabres, who beat the Islanders for the sixth consecutive time and finished their four-game homestand with four victories by a combined score of 17-6.

``We wanted to have a good homestand here because every game is important,'' Miller said. ``We wanted to make a statement, and we did a good job.''

Miller won his fourth straight start, allowing six goals in those games. He made several big stops in the first period, including a diving block of Richard Park's attempt from the left circle after Arron Asham rang a slap shot off the crossbar. He also robbed Randy Robitaille with a kick save on a point-blank attempt in the third, and made consecutive stops late on Chris Campoli and Blake from in close.

``Ryan gives us a chance to win every night,'' Gaustad said. ``He's solid, and one of those goaltenders who is always in the right place at the right time.''

Thrashers 3, Senators 2, OT

At Ottawa, Slava Kozlov beat Ray Emery with a backhander between the legs on a breakaway 1:48 into overtime to give Atlanta the victory over Ottawa.

Thrashers leading scorer Marian Hossa got his third assist of the game on Kozlov's winner. He also set up second-period goals by Ilya Kovalchuk and Kozlov to end his former team's four-game winning streak.

Kari Lehtonen stopped 33 shots in the Thrashers' sixth win in seven games.

Daniel Alfredsson and Tom Preissing scored power-play goals for Ottawa.

Coyotes 3, Capitals 2

At Washington, Owen Nolan had a goal and an assist in the Coyotes' three-goal first period, and Phoenix earned its third straight win by beating struggling Washington.

The Coyotes got man-advantage goals from Nolan and Shane Doan sandwiched around Keith Ballard's even-strength score. Mikael Tellqvist made 30 saves for Phoenix, which has won four of its last five after struggling throughout the early season.

Brian Pothier and Brian Sutherby scored for Washington.

Avalanche 5, Predators 3

At Nashville, Tenn., Wojtek Wolski scored two goals and Joe Sakic added three assists to help Colorado defeat Nashville and snap a three-game losing streak.

Milan Hejduk, Andrew Brunette and Ossi Vaananen scored for Colorado, and Peter Budaj made 26 saves.

Jason Arnott scored a pair of goals, one on the power play, for Nashville, which also got a score from Alexander Radulov.

Maple Leafs 5, Bruins 1

At Toronto, Mats Sundin scored twice and added an assist to lead the Maple Leafs to just their fifth victory in 17 games.

Kris Newbury scored his first career NHL goal, and Hal Gill and Jeff O'Neill also scored for Toronto.

Zdeno Chara scored for the Bruins, netting a rebound in the first as he was being checked to the ice. Boston had won four of its last six games.