Canadiens rally late for third win in row

Niklas Sundstrom scored with just under three minutes remaining to lift the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-2 win over the Sabres in Buffalo last night.

Sundstrom deflected Steve Begin's shot from the right point, beating Buffalo goalie Martin Biron.

Alexander Perezhogin and Michael Ryder also scored for the Canadiens, who won their third straight.

Rory Fitzpatrick and Adam Mair scored for Buffalo, which lost for the fourth time in five games.

Stars 9, Blackhawks 1 -- Stu Barnes capped a hat trick with a shorthanded goal and Jason Arnott scored twice and had an assist, leading Dallas past visiting Chicago.

Dallas, which hadn't scored more than three times in a period this season, had four goals in each of the first two periods. The game was so lopsided that when the Stars scored their sixth goal, the Blackhawks had taken six shots -- none of them going in.

Niko Kapanen scored with 2:52 left, giving the Stars their most goals since Feb. 1, 1995.

Canucks 5, Blue Jackets 3 -- Anson Carter had a goal and two assists, lifting host Vancouver.

Carter, who came within inches of matching his scoring totals from the first 13 games when he hit the post, netted the eventual winning goal 2:23 into the third. He one-timed Daniel Sedin's pass into the high slot past Marc Denis.

Henrik Sedin scored on a three-way passing play started by Carter to put Vancouver ahead, 3-2, with 1:33 left in the second period. He also had an assist.

Defensemen Sami Salo and Mattias Ohlund both had power-play goals, and Markus Naslund scored into an empty net, as the Canucks remained perfect in seven home games this season.

Oilers 7, Blues 2 -- Jarrett Stoll had his first career two-goal game and added two assists to help visiting Edmonton win its fifth straight and hand St. Louis its seventh consecutive loss.

Stoll scored his first goal just 1:45 in, on the Oilers' first shot, to give Edmonton the lead for good. Ryan Smyth also had two goals, including one on a penalty shot in the second period.

Washington 3, Atlanta 2 -- Alex Ovechkin scored the only shootout goal, lifting host Washington over Atlanta.

The Thrashers' Ilya Kovalchuk shot wide left, Marian Hossa fired wide right, and Capitals goalie Olaf Kolzig gobbled up Peter Bondra's attempt.