Buffalo, NY – Ondrej Pavelec stopped 29-of-30 shots and Andrew Ladd netted the winner early in the second period to send Winnipeg past Buffalo, 2-1, at First Niagara Center.
"Pavelec was outstanding in this game, he really helped us win," Jets coach Claude Noel said.
Bryan Little added the other score for the Jets, who halted a three-game losing skid while kicking off a five-game road trip.
Ryan Miller made 26 saves and Jason Pominville picked up the lone score for the Sabres, who dropped the final two of a three-game homestand.
"I'm not going to stand here and make excuses for this," said Buffalo head coach Lindy Ruff. "I have a hard time explaining the way we've been playing this year."
Ladd made it 2-0 with 5:46 played in the second period, capitalizing off a turnover and scoring with a wrister from the left circle.
Pominville's rising wrister from the left wing off a 3-on-1 rush put the Sabres on the board just 22 seconds from the conclusion of the stanza, but the hosts came up empty despite several quality chances in the final period.
Miller was pulled for an extra skater with 1:43 to play, and though Jets forward Evander Kane missed high and wide with an open chance, the failure didn't come back to haunt the victors.
Little beat Miller from the low slot just 60 seconds after the opening faceoff, and the Buffalo netminder had to contort himself on several more occasions during Winnipeg breakaways to keep it a one-goal margin after 20 minutes.
Game Notes
Winnipeg won three of four from the Sabres last season ... Buffalo's last home loss in regulation to the Jets/Thrashers was Oct. 17, 2009 ... The Sabres suffered their first back-to-back regulation home defeats since Feb. 11-14, 2012 ... The Jets head to Carolina on Thursday.
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