Sabres 1, Flyers 0
Reigning Vezina Trophy winner Ryan Miller turned aside all 35 shots he faced and Patrick Kaleta scored nearly six minutes into the third period as the Buffalo Sabres skated to a 1-0 road triumph over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.
Defenseman Marc-Andre Gragnani and Paul Gaustad recorded assists for seventh-seeded Buffalo, which has won 10 of its last 13 contests (10-1-2).
After two scoreless periods, Kaleta opened the scoring just 5:56 into the third period. Gragnani wired a shot from the left point which was kicked out by Sergei Bobrovsky. The rebound went directly to Kaleta, who neatly batted it past the Russian rookie for his second career postseason goal.
Miller made the modest offense stand up to secure his 23rd career shutout. The Olympic netminder turned aside 10 shots in the first period, 16 in the second and nine in the third.
Bobrovsky finished with 24 saves for Atlantic Division champion Philadelphia, which played without stud defenseman Chris Pronger. The veteran blue-liner has missed the team's last 17 contests with a hand injury.
The Flyers will look to rebound on Saturday when the teams meet for Game 2 of the series.