BUFFALO, N.Y. — A crazy bounce off the glass allowed Derek Roy to score into an unattended net 4:02 into overtime, and the Sabres overcame a three-goal deficit for the second straight outing to beat the Atlanta Thrashers 4-3 on Friday night.
Jochen Hecht had two goals and an assist, Tim Connolly had a goal and assist, and Ryan Miller stopped 32 shots on the day he was selected to the U.S. Olympic team.
Buffalo was coming off a 4-3 win over Pittsburgh on Tuesday night in which it also erased a 3-0 deficit. The Sabres became the first team to win consecutive games when trailing by three or more goals since Dallas did it in January 2006 in beating Anaheim 4-3 in a shootout and Detroit 6-3.
Ilya Kovalchuk, registering his 600th career point, Bryan Little and Evander Kane scored for the Thrashers, 0-5-2 in their past seven games.
Roy's goal came on what began as an innocent play. Skating up the left wing, Sabres rookie defenseman Tyler Myers got to the Thrashers' blue line and dumped the puck in high along the boards. Goalie Johan Hedberg anticipated the play, and immediately left his crease to go behind the net in a bid to play the puck. The puck, however, took a strange carom off the glass and bounced directly into the slot, where Roy swept it into the wide-open net.
The Sabres ended a six-game winless streak (0-1-5) against the Thrashers, beating Atlanta for the first time since a 10-1 win Jan. 18, 2008.
After spotting Atlanta a three-goal edge with 3:31 left in the second period, the Sabres rallied back when Hecht scored 40 seconds later during a scramble in front of the Thrashers net.
Connolly converted Hecht's pass into the slot to score 2:19 into third period and cut the Thrashers lead to 3-2.
Hecht then was credited with the tying goal 1:56 later. Adam Mair took the initial shot from the left circle which Johan Hedberg failed to handle, and the puck somehow squirted in through his legs.
It was a significant turnaround for a Buffalo offense that managed just seven shots through the first 27 minutes.
Credit Miller for keeping the game close. One of three goalies selected to Team USA hours prior to the start of the game, stopped the first 21 shots he faced before Kovalchuk opened the scoring by converting a rebound midway through the second period.
NOTES: The Thrashers are in the midst of a seven-game trip that concludes with games at Long Island on Saturday and at Pittsburgh on Tuesday. ... With Miller's selection to the U.S. team, the Sabres have five players scheduled to play in Vancouver: D Henrik Tallinder (Sweden), D Toni Lydman (Finland), D Andrej Sekera (Slovakia) and minor-league F Philip Gogulla (Germany). And then there's coach Lindy Ruff, a Canadian team assistant. ... Sabres F Nathan Gerbe was activated off injured reserve and returned to Portland of the AHL on Thursday. ... Sabres C Derek Roy returned after missing two games because of an eye injury.