Spacek powers Sabres past Capitals

Jaroslav Spacek scored two power-play goals, Brian Campbell had a goal and three assists, and the Sabres beat the Washington Capitals, 7-3, last night in Buffalo.

Ryan Miller, coming off a 6-0 win over Atlanta, had 23 saves for Buffalo. It was his fourth straight decision over the Capitals.

Maxim Afinogenov and Derek Roy each added a goal and an assist, and Jason Pominville and Adam Mair also scored for the Sabres, who have won two straight after dropping their first two games of the season.

Mike Green and Michael Nylander each had a goal and an assist, and Alex Ovechkin also scored for Washington, which lost its second straight after opening the season 3-0.

Washington goalie Brent Johnson finished with 46 saves in a losing effort.

Down, 1-0, Buffalo scored four times on seven shots in a 4:32 span late in the second period to take command, with Spacek beginning the rally on a power play at 14:51. It was his third goal of the season.

Avalanche 5, Blue Jackets 1 - Joe Sakic got his 15th career hat trick and host Colorado beat Columbus.

The 38-year-old team captain scored twice in the third period, helping the Avalanche pull away. He scored a power-play goal 1:21 into the final frame, and then added his fourth goal of the season with 9:22 left when he beat Blue Jackets goalie Pascal Leclaire with a shot from the right circle.

Milan Hejduk had two goals and an assist, and Peter Budaj had 24 saves for Colorado.

Flyers 3, Islanders 1 - Jeff Carter and Sami Kapanen each scored, and Martin Biron made 29 saves to lead host Philadelphia past New York.

Jason Smith scored an empty-net goal for the Flyers with seconds left in the game.

After scoring 14 goals on their three-game road trip, including four from All-Star acquisition Daniel Briere, the Flyers went scoreless on five shots in the first period.

Senators 3, Rangers 1 - Dany Heatley and surging Ottawa took care of host New York in record-setting time.

Heatley scored the first of Ottawa's three goals in a team-record 52 seconds of the middle period, and Martin Gerber made 36 saves to lift the Senators over the Rangers.

Chris Phillips and Patrick Eaves followed Heatley by scoring in an overpowering minute for the Senators.

Flames 7, Predators 4 - Kristian Huselius scored two goals, and Flames captain Jarome Iginla had a goal and an assist to help Calgary beat host Nashville.

The teams traded first period power-play goals. Daymond Langkow scored for the Flames, and Alexander Radulov answered for the Predators.

The first period gave way to a wild second period in which the teams combined for six goals, one of which was a shorthanded goal from Calgary's Matthew Lombardi.

Blackhawks 2, Stars 1 - Jason Williams scored a power-play goal 43 seconds into overtime to give host Chicago the victory over Dallas.

Williams beat Tobias Stephan on a high shot from 40 feet out, with Chicago rookie Jonathan Toews cutting across the crease. Stephan was screened on the shot.

Chicago's Robert Lang deflected in Toews's shot with 1.5 seconds left in the third period to tie it 1, ruining Stephan's shutout bid in his first NHL game. Lang connected on a five-on-three power play, with Chicago goalie Patrick Lalime pulled for an extra attacker.

Panthers 6, Lightning 4 - Olli Jokinen had a goal and two assists to tie Scott Mellanby for Florida's career scoring lead in the Panthers' victory over Tampa Bay in Sunrise, Fla.

Jokinen, in his seventh season with the Panthers, has 156 goals and 198 assists for 354 points with the team.

Nathan Horton, Ruslan Salei, Stephen Weiss, Richard Zednik and Jozef Stumpel also scored for the Panthers, who handed Tampa Bay its first loss of the season.

Hurricanes 3, Canadiens 1 - Cory Stillman and Matt Cullen scored power-play goals and Carolina spoiled Montreal's home opener.

Cam Ward made 23 saves for Carolina, which has won three straight road games in Canada since losing the opener of its current six-game trip. Ward improved to 4-0-1 in five starts.

Penguins 6, Maple Leafs 4 - Sidney Crosby scored his first two goals of the season, including the winner with 5:22 left in the third period, to lead Pittsburgh's wild victory in Toronto.

On the deciding goal, Crosby banged a loose puck into an empty net after goalie Vesa Toskala stopped Darryl Sydor's point shot on a power play only to have the puck trickle behind him to Crosby. It was the lone power-play goal of the night.

Devils 6, Thrashers 5 - Patrik Elias scored two goals, including a power-play one with 27 seconds left to help visiting New Jersey beat winless Atlanta.

Ilya Kovalchuk's second goal of the game with 3:20 left in the third period tied the game, 5-5. Garnet Exelby was then called for a holding penalty, allowing the Devils to play with a man-advantage.