NEW YORK — Ryan Miller vividly recalls the walk he took last year after the crushing end to the Buffalo Sabres' season.
The Sabres were in position to steal the Eastern Conference title from the top-seeded Carolina Hurricanes. Buffalo led Game 7 on the road in the third period before things fell apart.
Miller and the Sabres returned to hockey's final four Sunday and are ready to take the step they tripped over a year ago.
"It feels pretty good to be back where we feel we belong," Miller said.
Chris Drury had a goal and assist in the Sabres' four-goal second period that erased an early deficit and sent Buffalo to a 5-4 victory Sunday over the New York Rangers in Game 6 of the conference semifinal series. Miller preserved the win with 32 saves, including 11 in a frantic third period.
"I remember walking out of Carolina's rink talking to my dad, shaking my head and saying, 'I was 20 minutes away from a chance,"' Miller said. "It stuck with me the whole year. I want that chance again and I think everybody in this room appreciates it more that we got so close."
The only ones now standing in the way of the Presidents' Trophy-winning Sabres are the Ottawa Senators, Buffalo's Northeast Division-rival. These teams know each other well and probably won't need much time to rekindle hostilities.
A late-February brawl in a game between the teams led to 100 penalty minutes. It was sparked by a hit on Drury.
"We definitely have some history with Ottawa and we're going to have to go out and play our best hockey, so far, to have a chance to win that series," Miller said.
Dmitri Kalinin, Jason Pominville and Jochen Hecht joined Drury in Buffalo's latest offensive onslaught that lasted 9:46 and sent the Rangers reeling.
Michael Nylander gave New York a 1-0 lead in the first period, Paul Mara tied it in the second, and Jaromir Jagr scored his 72nd career postseason goal in the third to bring New York within 4-3.
Hecht tipped in his second of the game — and the playoffs — with 5:10 left. Daniel Briere, co-captain with Drury, had three assists.
"Odd-man rushes," Jagr lamented. "We said that all series long. We just can't give it to them. We didn't lose it, we just gave it to them. They are a great team but they aren't better."
Nylander added his second of the game with the Rangers' third power-play goal of the game to make it 5-4 with 2:59 remaining. It just wasn't enough against the NHL's highest-scoring team.
Henrik Lundqvist stopped 24 shots for New York, which dropped its first home game in the playoffs (4-1) and had a nine-game Madison Square Garden winning streak snapped.
Stanley Cup playoffs
Sunday's results
Sabres 5, Rangers 4
Buffalo wins series 4-2
Today's game
Red Wings at Sharks, 8 p.m.
Detroit leads series 3-2