WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- The suddenly surging Buffalo Sabres pulled off their second win in 27 hours Sunday afternoon with a methodical 3-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets.

It wasn't necessarily pretty, but after sitting in dead last not just in the Eastern Conference but the entire NHL just a few of days ago, the Sabres (3-3-2) will definitely take what they can get.

Right winger Kyle Okposo paced the visitors with a pair of goals, his third and fourth of the young season, while Robin Lehner kicked out 37 of 38 shots. Captain Brian Gionta scored the game winner before the game was 13 minutes old while Nikolaj Ehlers had the lone marker for the Jets. The Jets (4-5) outshot the Sabres 38-28.

Gionta was impressed with his team's ability to hold off the Jets, who dominated most of the third period but were only able to muster a single goal at the 4:49 mark.

"We did a good job at closing that out. We sat back a little too much for our liking and gave them a little too much but you've got to respect them for coming hard. You knew that was going to happen," he said.

Gionta was also singing his goaltender's praises for bailing the Sabres out on a number of occasions.

"He played well. He's doing a great job of seeing the puck and finding the puck in traffic. He's making that first save and allowing us to get the rebounds and kick them out of there," he said.

Lehner said he felt good being back between the pipes for the first time in 10 days.

"I started to lose my breath a little bit in the end but that's to be expected after a week coming back after the flu," he said.

"That's a good team over there that's very fast. They are going to have their chances. But I think looking at yesterday and today's performance, we're playing smart and playing to what we are good at. That helps a lot."

Lehner also kept Patrik Laine, the Jets rookie phenom who was tied for the league goal scoring lead entering the game with six, off the scoreboard. In particular, he robbed the right winger from the slot midway through the third period.

"I didn't know that it was him shooting but I think it was a 3-on-2, if I'm not mistaken," Lehner. "He got into the middle and got the shot off. I felt my positioning was good today."

Michael Hutchinson got the start in the Jets net for the second consecutive game -- he posted a shutout against the Avalanche two nights ago -- the first time this season that Paul Maurice hasn't alternated his goalies. But after Okposo beat him high to the blocker side to give the Sabres a 3-0 lead, Maurice got out his hook and put Connor Hellebuyck in net.

Ehlers said he felt his team played well for 60 minutes but they simply didn't get the bounces. In particular, he missed out on a golden opportunity to bring the Jets within one goal in the final minute but couldn't bat the puck out of mid-air when Lehner was out of his crease.

"I was pretty close. I was looking at the puck (coming down), I wasn't looking at my stick. Most times I would have put that in the net. We would have had another 35 seconds to get the last one," he said.

The Jets pulled Hellebuyck with more than three minutes to go in the third period, including for part of a power play, but were unable to beat Lehner.

Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said he liked his team's energy right from the opening face-off and even though Okposo didn't open the scoring until the game was nearly 11 minutes old, he felt his troops were generated the majority of chances.

"That's different for us from earlier in the season, the way we came out, this game in particular, and get a lead on the road. It's been key for us," he said.

Maurice, meanwhile, felt his team was slow out of the gate but he wasn't about to blame the 2 p.m. start time.

"(Lehner) played well. It was a tough game to get pucks to the net. We couldn't get a handle on them, There were a lot of pucks laying around and we didn't get that second chance," he said.

The Jets host Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on Tuesday, the same night the Sabres visit the Minnesota Wild.

NOTES: RW Drew Stafford, C Marko Danno and D Tyler Myers, who was a last-minute scratch with a lower-body injury, were the three scratches for the Jets. ... LW Evander Kane, LW Nicolas Deslauriers and D Casey Nelson were scratched for Buffalo. ... The Sabres won both games against the Jets last season, 4-2 in Winnipeg in January and 3-2 at home in March. ... Winnipeg is expected to be among the NHL's top sellers of merchandise once again this season thanks to its Heritage Classic jerseys. The Jets were No. 1 in their first year back in 2011-12 and among the top few two years ago thanks to fans buying away white jerseys for the "White Out" in the playoffs. ... Winnipeg rookie Patrik Laine has the second-highest shooting percentage -- 24 percent -- of all first-year players.