BOSTON — A night after he let in five goals, Buffalo’s Ryan Miller had another rough outing on Saturday, giving up three goals in the Bruins’ first 16 shots as Boston scored a 3-1 win at TD Banknorth Garden.

The second, Chuck Kobasew’s first of the season, was nothing more than a flukey bounce off a skate that fluttered past the Sabres goalie.

Kobasew came down the right wing, and let loose with a soft wrister that bounced off the skate of Teppo Numminen. The puck trickled high over the shoulder of Miller.

A few minutes later, Marc Savard converted on a long rebound of a Phil Kessel shot. It was Savard’s sixth of the season.

The Bruins should have added another in the third, already leading 3-1 as Kessel and Marc Savard hovered around the net. A loose puck was sitting between Miller’s legs as a referee blew the whistle.

As the whistle went off, Milan Lucic tipped the puck for what should have been another goal, but the play was already dead.

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It’s obvious the Sabres didn’t want Drew Stafford, who was a healthy scratch on Friday, out of the lineup too long. Stafford was back in the lineup on Saturday, playing on an energy line with Paul Gaustad and Patrick Kaleta.

To make room for Stafford, the Sabres gave Daniel Paille a seat in the press box alongside Andrew Peters.

Paille’s scratch was a little surprising considering he’s registered points in three of his last six games. Paille is also a plus-3 on the season.

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Tim Connolly scored his first goal of the season, although the centerman was reluctant to shoot. He came in over the blue line and fed a nice pass to Jason Pominville, who returned the favor with a feed into the slot. Connolly drilled a one-timer over Manny Fernandez’s glove hand to give the Sabres their only lead of the night at 1-0.

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Chalk up another penalty drawn by Kaleta and his pesky play.

Just after the Bruins had taken a 2-1 lead, Kaleta and monster Zdeno Chara got tangled up near the Boston blue line. Kaleta did his best to facewash the 6-foot-9 defenseman, and although Chara kept his composure and simply pushed the winger away while looking to the referees, Milan Lucic followed with a late hit on Kaleta and drew a two-minute penalty for interference in the process.

The Sabres failed to convert on the chance, though.

Contact sports editor Tim Schmitt at 282-2311, ext. 2266.