Senators cut the Sabres down to size

Peter Schaefer broke a third-period tie, helping the struggling Ottawa Senators beat the Sabres, 4-2, last night in Buffalo.

Chris Neil, Jason Spezza, and Chris Phillips also scored for the Senators, who snapped a two-game losing streak and won for only the second time in nine games.

Daniel Briere and Thomas Vanek scored for the Sabres, who had their four-game winning streak snapped. Buffalo (15-2-0-1) lost for only the second time in regulation.

Flyers 7, Ducks 4 -- Peter Forsberg returned to the Philadelphia lineup with a goal and an assist, and the Flyers scored on five of 11 shots against Jean-Sebastien Giguere to beat host Anaheim, snapping a franchise record-tying six-game losing streak.

Sami Kapanen scored the first of his two goals during Philadelphia's first-period barrage, which drove Giguere (10-0-4 entering the game) to the bench with 3:34 left in the period. The Ducks outshot the Flyers, 41-16, but lost at home in regulation for the first time.

Canadiens 3, Lightning 1 -- Defenseman Sheldon Souray scored a pair of power-play goals, helping Montreal edge host Tampa Bay.

Souray opened the scoring 2:35 in, then gave Montreal a 2-1 lead late in the second. He has three two-goal games this season.

Hurricanes 2, Rangers 1 -- Rod Brind'Amour scored with 6:05 left in the third period to lift host Carolina.

Cam Ward stopped 23 shots, bouncing back from a poor performance two nights earlier in which he allowed six goals in a 7-4 loss to the Sabres. Craig Adams also scored for the Hurricanes.

Sharks 4, Avalanche 3 -- Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau scored power-play goals 17 seconds apart in the third period and Evgeni Nabokov stopped 40 shots to spark San Jose at Denver.

The teams combined for five goals in an 8:18 span of the third.

Islanders 3, Stars 0 -- Rick DiPietro stopped 35 shots for his first shutout of the season leading visiting New York.

Predators 5, Blue Jackets 4 -- David Legwand had two goals and an assist as visiting Nashville spoiled the debut of Columbus interim coach Gary Agnew.