TORONTO // The Buffalo Sabres kept their slim play-off hopes alive with a 3-1 road victory over Toronto on Wednesday, and handed the Maple Leafs goaltender Curtis Joseph a share of an unwelcome milestone. Joseph, 41, tied Gump Worsley's NHL record for the most career losses with 452. At the other end, his Sabres counterpart Ryan Miller made 32 saves in the win. Thomas Vanek fired past Joseph in the third period for his 38th goal of the season as the Sabres pulled within four points of the New York Rangers for the eighth and final play-off spot in the Eastern Conference.
"We can't get too excited, bounce around too much," Miller said. "We've just got to go out and play. If we can win out, I think we can feel decent about the effort we put in the last few weeks here." With two games remaining, Buffalo (39-32-9) would need the Rangers to lose their last two games while hoping the ninth-place Florida Panthers do not score three points in their last two. Long out of play-off contention, the Maple Leafs (33-35-13) were coming off a win against the New Jersey Devils in which the goalie Martin Gerber had 47 saves, but dropped their third game in four contests.
Meanwhile, the Columbus Blue Jackets clinched their first place in the play-offs with a 4-3 shoot-out win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday. Columbus, which entered the NHL in the 2000-01 season, is the last active team in the league to qualify for the post-season. Columbus' Fedor Tyutin scored the lone shoot-out goal after Rick Nash scored with 5:30 left to level the score and send the game into extra time. "I don't know if it's quite sunk in yet," said Nash, whose side are sixth in the Western Conference.
* Reuters
