Drury hat trick lifts Sabres

Chris Drury had his first career three-goal game and added an assist to help the Sabres win their fifth consecutive game, a 7-4 decision over the New York Rangers in Buffalo last night.

Buffalo, which reached the Eastern Conference finals last season, is off to its best start since winning its first eight games of the 1975-76 season.

The game was played despite the region still recovering from a crippling snowstorm that began Thursday night. Nearly 350,000 households are still without power in Buffalo and its surrounding suburbs.

The power outage didn't seem to affect the crowd, as there were few no-shows.

Daniel Briere had a goal and two assists, and Ales Kotalik, Maxim Afinogenov, and Jochen Hecht each scored.

Maple Leafs 5, Flames 4 -- Mats Sundin scored his 500th NHL goal, beating goalie Miikka Kiprusoff with a long shot 50 seconds into overtime to complete a hat trick and give host Toronto the victory.

Sundin added an assist for the Maple Leafs, who have played four straight overtime games. Darcy Tucker and Alex Steen also scored for the Maple Leafs, who rallied after blowing a two-goal lead.

After Toronto defenseman Hal Gill turned the puck over in his own end, Calgary's Daymond Langkow tied it at 4 at 7:15 of the third.

Senators 3, Canadiens 2 -- Antoine Vermette and Mike Fisher scored in the shootout to help visiting Ottawa end a three-game losing streak.

After Vermette opened the shootout with a backhand between Cristobal Huet's pads, Fisher beat the Montreal goalie on Ottawa's third attempt to seal the win.

Montreal's Sergei Samsonov tied it at 2 with 3:23 left in the third.

Thrashers 4, Capitals 3 -- Ilya Kovalchuk scored in overtime to end his longest goal drought to start the season, and Atlanta spoiled ``Alex Ovechkin Tribute Night" in Washington.

Kovalchuk's winner came on a breakaway 3:02 into the extra period. Scott Mellanby scored twice for Atlanta, and Kovalchuk assisted on the second, 2:10 into the third period. That put the visitors ahead, 3-2, but Ovechkin -- presented with his Calder Trophy during a five-minute pregame ceremony -- assisted on Dainius Zubrus's tying goal with 5:40 remaining in regulation.

Devils 3, Flyers 2 -- Brian Gionta broke a tie early in the third period and Martin Brodeur made 25 saves to lead New Jersey at East Rutherford, N.J.

Zach Parise and Jamie Langenbrunner also scored for the Devils and Brian Rafalski had three assists. Mike Knuble scored twice for the Flyers.

Lightning 4, Panthers 1 -- Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis scored power-play goals to help host Tampa Bay stop a three-game losing streak.

Hurricanes 5, Penguins 1 -- Scott Walker scored two goals and Eric Staal added his third of the season to power Carolina at Pittsburgh.

Blues 4, Blackhawks 3 -- Radek Dvorak scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period and added an assist to help St. Louis stop visiting Chicago.

Wild 5, Blue Jackets 0 -- Brian Rolston scored two goals and had an assist as host Minnesota (5-0-0) remained unbeaten.

Predators 4, Coyotes 1 -- Scott Hartnell and Paul Kariya each scored a goal to lift host Nashville to its first win of the season.

Oilers 4, Avalanche 3 -- Petr Sykora and Ryan Smyth each scored twice and goalie Dwayne Roloson (39 saves) earned his 100th career win for visiting Edmonton.

Stars 4, Kings 1 -- At Los Angeles, Brenden Morrow scored twice on power plays and Stephane Robidas had three assists to help Dallas start the season 4-0.