SUNRISE, Fla. – Thomas Vanek scored a power-play goal in the first minute of the second period and Ryan Miller stopped 32 shots in the Buffalo Sabres’ 1-0 victory over the Florida Panthers.

It was Buffalo’s second victory in two nights after they went into the All-Star break having lost 12 of 14.

Florida fell for the 11th time in 15 home games despite getting 40 saves from All-Star goalie Tomas Vokoun. The Panthers went 10 minutes, 13 seconds without a shot in a span of the first and second periods.

The shutout was Miller’s second of the season. He beat Atlanta 6-0 on Oct. 11.

Miller’s best save came early in the third period when he stuck out his right leg to stop Stephen Weiss’ tip-in attempt off a pass from Nathan Horton.

Vanek scored the lone goal 40 seconds into the middle period while Florida’s Richard Zednik served a stick-holding penalty called with one second left in the first. Jason Pominville fired a slap shot from the point, and Vanek one-timed the rebound past Vokoun.

Buffalo almost added to the lead four minutes later when Ales Kotalik whizzed a wrist shot off a faceoff past Vokoun, but the puck bounced off the right post. Sabres center Derek Roy also hit the post on a power play with about two minutes left in the third period.

Notes: Florida captain and leading scorer Olli Jokinen missed the last two periods because of flu-like symptoms. … D Branislav Mezei (finger) and C Jozef Stumpel (shoulder) returned after missing the previous nine and seven games, respectively. … Florida C Stephen Weiss played in his 300th NHL game. … Buffalo C Tim Connolly missed his eighth game because of a groin injury.

AP-ES-01-30-08 2208EST

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