Sabres 3, Hurricanes 2: Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff scored his second goal of the contest with 44 seconds remaining in the third period to snap a tie as host Buffalo ended a four-game losing streak in its return from the Olympic break.

After Alexander Semin forged a 2-2 deadlock by beating a screened Ryan Miller (36 saves) with four minutes left in the third, the Sabres answered as Ehrhoff wristed a shot on goal that caromed off the stick of Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk and into the net.

Tyler Ennis also tallied and Miller joined Drew Stafford by notching a pair of assists for the Sabres, who posted their first win since Jan. 30 despite being outshot by a 38-18 margin.

Captain Eric Staal scored and Cam Ward turned aside 15 shots in his first start since Dec. 31 for the Hurricanes, who fell to 8-2-2 in their last 12 meetings with Buffalo. Carolina remained three points behind idle Detroit for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Buffalo drew first blood at 5:54 of the second period as Ehrhoff's shot during a power play trickled past a screened Ward, but Staal capped an odd-man rush by beating Miller between the pads nearly 11 minutes later. Ennis gave the Sabres a 2-1 advantage with 7:47 remaining in the third, poking home a loose puck in front.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Buffalo GM Tim Murray told reporters that re-signing Miller is "realistic, but it's not the route we're looking at right now. The route we're looking at is to get value." ... Stafford has scored six goals and set up five others over his last eight games. Ehrhoff has collected three tallies and four assists in that same span. ... Ward returned from a lower-body injury for Carolina while Buffalo welcomed back LW Matt Moulson and C Cody McCormick from upper-body ailments and D Tyler Myers from a lower-body injury. ... The contest originally was scheduled to be played Jan. 7 but was postponed after a blizzard blasted western New York.