The surging Buffalo Sabres made Ted Nolan's return to Buffalo a disappointing one.

Ryan Miller made 29 saves and Maxim Afinogenov had a goal and an assist to give the Sabres a 3-1 win against the New York Islanders yesterday, spoiling Nolan's first appearance in Buffalo since leaving the organization after rejecting a one-year contract offer after the 1996-97 season.

Now the Islanders' coach, Nolan guided the Sabres for two years and was the NHL's coach of the year in 1997.

Paul Gaustad and Jochen Hecht also scored goals for Buffalo, which has won five of its past six games, its only loss during that stretch coming in overtime.

Other highlights

Wojtek Wolski scored two goals and Joe Sakic had three assists, helping the Colorado Avalanche defeat the host Nashville Predators, 5-3. Sakic moved into 10th place on the NHL's career point list -- past Paul Coffey -- with 1,534 points. ... Slava Kozlov scored two goals, including the winner 1:48 into overtime, lifting the visiting Atlanta Thrashers to a 3-2 win against the Ottawa Senators.