BUFFALO, N.Y. — Ryan Miller made 29 saves and Maxim Afinogenov had a goal and an assist to give the Buffalo Sabres a 3–1 win over the Islanders yesterday. spoiling the return of former Sabres coach Ted Nolan to Buffalo.

Paul Gaustad and Jochen Hecht also scored for the Sabres, who have won five of their last six. Buffalo beat the Islanders for the sixth consecutive time.

Jason Blake scored for the Islanders in the third period, snapping the team’s 186:31 scoreless streak, a new team record. New York has lost three straight, the first two by shutouts.

Nolan, the Islanders’ coach, guided the Sabres for two years, and was the NHL’s coach of the year in 1997. He left after rejecting Buffalo’s one-year contract offer following the 1996–97 season.

Miller won his fourth straight start, allowing six goals in those games. He made several big stops in the first period, including a diving block of Richard Park’s attempt from the left circle after Arron Asham rang a slap shot off the crossbar. He also robbed Randy Robitaile with a kick save on a point-blank attempt in the third, and made consecutive stops late on Chris Campoli and Blake from in close.

Buffalo opened the scoring on Gaustad’s power-play goal 8 minutes into the first period. Standing in front of the net, Gaustad knocked home a rebound past Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro for his sixth goal of the season.

The Sabres pushed their lead to 2-0 on Afinogenov’s 18th of the year at 11:27 of the second. On a 2-on-1, Afinogenov made a quick stop with the puck in the right circle before letting go a wrist shot. Blake spoiled Miller’s shutout bid with his team-leading 22nd goal at 8:19 of the third.