The Colorado Avalanche have now won eight of their last 11 games after outlasting the Buffalo Sabres 5-4 in a shootout on Wednesday night. Though Colorado has been playing well lately, they entered in 11th place in the Western Conference. To have a shot at securing a top eight seed and a place in the postseason, Colorado can't afford losses. The win over red-hot Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller is certainly huge. The win gives the Avs 80 points and pushes them to 38-30-4 overall. Buffalo falls to 33-29-9.

The teams took turns scoring on each other all night. The first period ended 2-2, and the second and third periods were each 1-1.

Buffalo grabbed a 4-3 lead just two minutes into the third period when Alexander Sulzer scored his first goal of the season. Jamie McGinn would answer for Colorado with his second goal of the night and 19th of the season.

After a scoreless overtime session, Peter Mueller beat Ryan Miller on 20-foot wristshot to cement the win for the Avalanche.

For more coverage, visit our Avalanche blog Mile High Hockey and our Sabres blog Die By The Blade.