BUFFALO, N.Y. — Not long after the Sabres were cheered off the ice, defenseman Craig Rivet's thoughts quickly went to the those affected by a horrific plane crash.

On a night when hockey was most decidedly secondary, Rivet had three assists against his former team in Buffalo's dramatic 6-5 shootout win over San Jose Friday.

But that did little to ease the emotions weighing on a community left reeling a day after 50 people died when a commuter plane struck a house just outside of town.

"Obviously, it's been a real tough day for all of Buffalo," Rivet said. "Tonight, I'm proud of our guys."

In a game that began with a moment of silence and ended with a standing ovation, the Sabres provided their fans a small diversion. Jason Pominville snapped a 17-game goal drought by deflecting in Rivet's point shot to force overtime with 4 seconds left. Buffalo then pulled out the win on Derek Roy's deciding shootout goal.

"We needed it for our fans," said coach Lindy Ruff, who lives in the area where Continental Connection Flight 3407 went down in Clarence. "A lot of good things happened in the game and I'd like to leave it at that."

Pominville, Roy and Ales Kotalik each had a goal and an assist in a game the Sabres rallied to win after squandering a 4-1 lead. Jaroslav Spacek and Adam Mair also scored for the Sabres who, with 64 points, are tied with Florida for seventh place in the tightly contested Eastern Conference playoff race.

The Sharks couldn't help but be affected by the news of the crash that dominated headlines and television broadcasts throughout the day.

"The community is in mourning right now," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "It was an entertaining game. Anybody who came here probably got their mind off very serious issues."