Ryan Miller finally made his long anticipated return to Buffalo, but it was his younger, unheralded counterpart that stole the show.

Goaltender Linus Ullmark made 35 saves and Rasmus Ristolainen scored his second goal of the afternoon with just 17 seconds remaining as the Buffalo Sabres knocked off the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 to spoil Miller’s first game back in Buffalo.

Traded from Buffalo to St. Louis in February 27, 2014 as the Sabres expedited the rebuild process, the organization played a small video tribute to Miller during the game’s first television timeout and the crowd responded with a resounding standing ovation. Miller stopped 19 of Buffalo’s 22 shots in his first time facing his old team.

Jamie McGinn and Ristolainen scored for Buffalo, both assisted on by Jack Eichel as the Sabres built a 2-0 lead in the second period.

The assists were the first two of Eichel’s career.

Henrik Sedin got one back for Vancouver in the second and Chris Higgins tied it at 10:15 of the third.

With under a minute left Tyler Ennis had what’s sure to be a memorable rush down the ice, controlling possession and weaving through multiple defenders before the puck eventually ended on Ristolainen’s stick and his wrist shot beat Miller.

The Sabres are back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Florida to face Tampa Bay. It’s their fourth and final meeting against the Lightning this season.

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