BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Buffalo found another way to frustrate lowly Atlanta. One night after shutting out the Thrashers out, the Sabres let them get close.

Wayne Primeau scored two goals and assisted on another by Stu Barnes, and Buffalo withstood a late Atlanta rally for a 4-3 victory Saturday night.

The expansion Thrashers trailed 4-1 and scored twice in the last three minutes but lost for the sixth time in seven games.

"We put ourselves behind all the time, and that makes it tough," said Thrashers coach Curt Fraser, whose team has allowed the first goal in 14 of its 18 games.

Rookie wing Maxim Afinogenov added two assists for Buffalo after notching two goals and an assist in a 4-0 victory Friday.

It was the first multi-goal game for Primeau.

"He did a lot out there," Barnes said. "He made some great screens in front."

Primeau and Barnes put Buffalo up 3-0, but Matt Johnson cut the lead to 3-1 midway through the second.

"I had the chance to stand in front of the net on power plays," said Primeau, who scored both of his goals on deflections, one during with a man advantage. "It's something I look forward to: standing in front of the net and deflecting the shots or screening the goalie."

Brian Holzinger gave Buffalo a 4-1 lead with 5:20 left, but Atlanta's Ray Ferraro and Gord Murphy gave the Sabres some anxious moments when they scored 21 seconds apart in the final 2:52 to make it close. Ferraro scored on the power play, and both goals came with an extra attacker.

"This should set us up for a pretty good run," said Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff, whose team plays nine of its next 11 games at home.

The Thrashers gave the Sabres eight power plays, two of which resulted in goals.

"We were shorthanded for 11 minutes (10:03) in the first period," Fraser said. "That's a pretty tough way to play a hockey game."

Murphy's goal brought Atlanta within a goal with 2:31 to play, and the Thrashers kept goalie Scott Langkow out for an extra skater to keep the pressure on Buffalo rookie goalie Martin Biron.

Biron, who posted his first NHL shutout Friday, made 24 saves, including 13 in the second period, and stopped a breakaway by Johan Garpenlov early in the second. Biron is 8-3-0 and has won seven games since taking over for injured Dominik Hasek.

The Thrashers played without rookie center Patrik Stefan, who sustained a minor concussion in the first period Friday.

Thrashers defensemen Darryl Shannon and David Harlock both took runs in the first period at Miroslav Satan, Buffalo's leading goal scorer.

Shannon, a former Sabre, caught Satan in the jaw with a shoulder and drew a penalty for interference; Harlock knocked Satan down with a clean hit.

"We just wanted to play physical," Johnson said. "We're not as fortunate to be as skilled as the Sabres, so we have to make up for it in other ways."

The Sabres scored twice in the first period. Primeau tipped James Patrick's blast from the right point past Scott Langkow's glove at 13:16.

Primeau's deflection of defenseman Alexei Zhitnik's shot put Buffalo up 2-0, with two seconds left on Nelson Emerson's five-minute major penalty for slashing Geoff Sanderson. Primeau batted the puck down and between Langkow's pads.

Sanderson sustained an ear injury on the slash and did not return.

Barnes scored on the power play for a 3-0 lead at 4:52 of the second period, taking a deflection from Primeau and knocking in his own rebound.

Johnson worked a give-and-go with Garpenlov across the red line and tapped in a second pass from the wing at 8:52. Johnson, who had never scored more than two goals in a season, has two in the last three games.

Holzinger scored his third with assists from Vaclav Varada and Barnes to make it 4-1.