ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- The Buffalo Sabres are looking anything but tired as the longest road trip in franchise history nears an end.
Taylor Pyatt scored twice and Daniel Briere had three assists for the Sabres, who scored four unanswered goals in the third period to rally for a 5-2 triumph over the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
The Sabres split the first four games of a team-record six-game road trip that concludes Sunday at Colorado. They turned a dismal trek into a successful one with a third-period surge against the Ducks.
"If you look around the league, you won't find many teams that have won three road games," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. "I think our guys have really hunkered down and done a good job on the road."
"We wanted to go home from this road trip with three wins," Buffalo left wing Chris Drury said. "The guys play off each other. We talk about the chemistry."
Buffalo had trouble against Anaheim's Jean-Sebastien Giguere in the first two periods but beat him at will in the third, scoring four goals in a span of 13 minutes.
Defenseman Dimitri Kalinin scored a power-play goal to forge a 2-2 tie at 3:41 and Pyatt gave the Sabres the lead for good 4:24 later. Briere had assists on both goals and has six in eight games this season.
"To come back in the third period is important," Pyatt said. "It's good to catch them off guard a little bit, but you've got to give us credit. We got goals from guys you wouldn't expect. It's a really a big win for us."
Adam Mair and J.P. Dumont scored in the final eight minutes as the Sabres extended their unbeaten streak against the Ducks to eight games (6-0-2).
"That team outworked us, it's inexcusable," Anaheim captain Steve Rucchin said. "We're going to have to take a stand and show what we're made of. No team should have happen to them what happened in our own building."
"It's disappointing," Anaheim coach Mike Babcock said. "We wanted to come out energized. It's very disappointing, every disconcerting. This game is not that hard. You've got to manage the puck. We turned the puck over and every time we did they put the puck in the net."
Petr Sykora and rookie Joffrey Lupul scored for Anaheim, which has not defeated Buffalo since January 1, 1999. The Ducks have not won a home game against the Sabres since January 10, 1997.
Anaheim has lost six of its first eight games after making it to the Stanley Cup Finals last season. The Ducks had a players-only meeting following their latest loss.
"The players are not spending their energy at the right time," Babcock said. "Preparation should be before the game, not after the game."
"Coach Babcock keeps telling us what to do. He's going to get blue in the face," Rucchin said. "We play when it's convenient for us. We've got to start acting like professionals and doing what is asked of us. It's time that we start holding ourselves accountable."
Pyatt scored off an assist from Briere less than four minutes into the game, but the Sabres were severely outplayed in the second period as they were outshot, 17-6.
Lupul, Anaheim's first-round draft pick, scored his first NHL goal to tie at 2:32 of the second period. Sykora made it 2-1 on the power play with 4:09 remaining.
The Sabres took advantage of a power play after Ducks center Samuel Pahlsson was called for holding. Briere shot wide on a wraparound and Kalinin scored into a wide-open net as Giguere lost sight of the puck at 3:41.
Pyatt secured his second consecutive two-goal game just 4:23 later. His first shot was stopped by Giguere, but Anaheim's Sergei Fedorov seemed to deflect the puck into the net as he attempted to clear it.
Mair beat Giguere with a slap shot just under four minutes later after defenseman Todd Simpson was unable to clear the rebound off Drury's wrist shot. Drury recorded an assist on the play and has a seven-game point streak.
