BUFFALO, N.Y. – Ryan Miller stopped 35 shots and Paul Gaustad scored the lone goal, lifting the Buffalo Sabres to a 1-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night.

Gaustad broke a scoreless tie 9 minutes into the third, converting Daniel Paille’s pass from behind the net. Miller registered his third shutout of the season, helping Buffalo improve to 8-0-2 in its past 10 games and move into seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings, a point ahead of the idle New York Rangers.

Vesa Toskala was sharp in stopping 19 shots for the Maple Leafs, but was caught leaning the wrong way when Gaustad beat him on the short side while parked at the right post. Toskala didn’t get much help either on the goal, as Paille eluded forward Nikolai Antropov with a nifty move behind the net.

Toronto had a two-game win streak snapped.

Miller stopped 12 shots in the second period, including seven during a 21/2-minute stretch, part of which came during a Maple Leafs’ power play. His best series of stops came when he foiled Pavel Kubina’s blast from inside the blue line, and then recovered in time to foil Matt Stajan’s chance from the slot.

Miller also got a big assist from defenseman Henrik Tallinder with 1:47 left. That’s when Darcy Tucker’s shot from the right circle got behind Miller, but Tallinder swept it from danger.

The Sabres won despite being the more tired team, playing their sixth game in nine days, including a 5-1 win at Ottawa on Tuesday.

The Leafs, by comparison, had been off since a 3-2 overtime win over Detroit on Saturday afternoon.

The Sabres have done a remarkable job in bouncing back from a 1-7-5 slump that landed the defending Presidents’ Trophy winners in 14th place in the East as recently as Jan. 23.

In registering his seventh career shutout, Miller improved to 8-0-1 in his past nine starts, a stretch in which he’s allowed only 15 goals.

Toskala was sharp in the third period, particularly 5 minutes in, when he kicked out his pad at the last second to stop Tim Connolly, who redirected Derek Roy’s shot from the left circle.

Notes: Leafs LW Alexei Ponikarovsky returned after missing seven games with a dislocated shoulder. … The Sabres are in the midst of playing 14 games during a 25-day stretch that ends against Montreal on Feb. 29. … The Leafs returned home to Toronto to face the New York Islanders on Thursday, kicking off a five-game homestand, their longest of the season.

AP-ES-02-13-08 2211EST