St.  Louis,  MO (SportsNetwork.com)  -  Brian  Elliott  came through  with  an 
outstanding  fill-in job for Ryan Miller, a 24-save effort that lifted the St. 
Louis Blues to a 2-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. 

Maxim Lapierre and Brenden Morrow each tallied goals, with the latter's coming 
with 1:52 left to play to help the Western Conference-leading Blues improve to 
13-3-1 since they acquired Miller, Buffalo's all-time leader in wins and games 
played by a goaltender, on Feb. 28. 

The  longtime  Sabre was  rested in  his first encounter  with his former club 
since the trade, with Elliott taking a shutout bid that was finally spoiled by 
Cody Hodgson with under a minute remaining. 

"I've  been around Brian (Elliott) for three years, this is the best I've ever 
seen  him play,"  St.  Louis  head coach  Ken  Hitchcock  said. "He's  playing 
terrific." 

With the result, St. Louis set a new franchise record with its 52nd win of the 
season. 

Nathan Lieuwen recorded 26 saves for Buffalo in a losing cause. 

"We  can  definitely look  at the mistakes  and see where  we can get better," 
Lieuwen  said.  "I definitely think we  could have taken this game in overtime 
and given them a run for their money." 

Lieuwen,  fresh  off earning his first  NHL win in Tuesday's shootout decision 
over  New Jersey, matched Elliott for much of the way, with the lone goal over 
the  first 58  minutes of  action  supplied by  Lapierre early  in the  second 
period. 

Camped  out  in the slot,  the Blues' center  fired a behind-the-net feed from 
Ryan Reaves 1:59 into the middle session for a 1-0 edge. 

The score remained that way until the game's final stages, when Morrow came up 
with  a  crucial late goal  by crashing  the net to  poke in the rebound after 
Lieuwen stopped Vladimir Sobotka in close. 

Buffalo responded swiftly, with Hodgson one-timing a cross-ice pass from Tyler 
Ennis past Elliott while stationed in the left circle with 55.1 seconds to go. 
The  Sabres got  off one more shot  in the final seconds, which Elliott turned 
aside. 

                                   Game Notes 

The Blues had  51 wins  in  1999-2000, the  only  season they  took home  the 
President's  Trophy ... Buffalo defenseman Jake McCabe made his NHL debut just 
one day after the 20-year-old Wisconsin product signed an entry-level contract 
with  the team. He became the 44th player to suit up for the club this season, 
a franchise record ... The Blues also played without leading scorer Alex Steen 
(upper body) and defenseman Barret Jackman (lower body), with blueliner Jordan 
Leopold  getting into  the lineup for the  first time since Feb. 8 ... Elliott 
improved  to 9-0-2  all-time  against  the Sabres  ...  Sabres forward  Marcus 
Foligno was injured on his first shift and did not return.