Good timing for Canadiens

Defenseman Sheldon Souray scored with one second left in overtime, lifting the Montreal Canadiens to a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over the Sabres last night at Buffalo.

Saku Koivu, who tied the game eight minutes into the third period, also had an assist, and Cristobal Huet stopped 29 shots, including 23 over the final 45 minutes in dousing the NHL's most potent offense. Huet's best save came with a minute left in overtime, when he closed his pads in time to prevent Thomas Vanek's attempt to squeeze a shot through on a breakaway.

Jaroslav Spacek scored for the Sabres (18-3-2), who entered the game with a league-leading 101 goals, and were coming off two seven-goal games, including a 7-4 win over Toronto Wednesday.

Montreal won its third straight and improved to 5-1 in its past six while snapping a four-game skid against Buffalo.

Maple Leafs 7, Capitals 1 -- Toronto scored twice in the opening three minutes, then added three goals during a 60-second span of the second period and cruised past host Washington, which has lost five straight.

Toronto led, 2-1, before Bryan McCabe scored at 10:09 of the second period with the Maple Leafs on a two-man advantage. Jeff O'Neill scored another power-play goal 14 seconds later, and Hal Gill concluded the rapid-fire barrage against Capitals goaltender Brent Johnson at 11:09.

Darcy Tucker added his team-high 16th goal just over three minutes later for a 6-1 lead. Andrew Raycroft had 22 saves for the Maple Leafs, who went ahead for good on a Kyle Wellwood goal at 1:03 of the first. Ducks 4, Devils 2 -- Todd Marchant scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period while Anaheim was shorthanded and added an empty-netter, leading the host Ducks in a matchup of division leaders.

Dustin Penner and Samuel Pahlsson scored and Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 23 saves for the Ducks, who are off to their best start in franchise history (16-2-1-5).

Brian Gionta had a power-play goal and Patrik Elias also scored for the Devils, who got 33 saves from Martin Brodeur.

Stars 5, Kings 3 -- Defenseman Philippe Boucher scored three power-play goals for his first career hat trick to lead host Dallas to its fifth win in seven games.

Dallas surged to a 3-0 first-period lead on two man-advantage goals from Boucher and one from defenseman Sergei Zubov. Eric Lindros assisted on all three.

Senators 6, Panthers 4 -- Dany Heatley had three goals and Jason Spezza scored the winner for visiting Ottawa.

The Senators got their season-high fourth straight win and reached .500 for the first time since Oct. 28. It was Heatley's second hat trick of the season and he had an assist for a season-high 4 points.

Lightning 3, Thrashers 2 -- Martin St. Louis scored with 2:35 left in OT as host Tampa Bay overcame a two-goal deficit.

St. Louis picked up a loose puck behind the net before skating into the right circle and scoring the winner on a wrist shot. The Lightning forced overtime when Dan Boyle scored his second power-play goal of the game with 20.5 seconds left in the third period.

Oilers 5, Blackhawks 1 -- Petr Sykora had a goal and an assist to help host Edmonton extend its winning streak to a season-high five games.

Edmonton improved to 13-8-1 and 10-2 on home ice, and kept pace with Minnesota for first place in the Northwest Division. The Blackhawks, who lost all three games on a Western Canada swing, are 7-12-2.

Wild 4, Coyotes 0 -- Niklas Backstrom stopped 28 shots for his first NHL shutout and Minnesota scored three special-team goals at St. Paul.

Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Branko Radivojevic scored on the power play, Pascal Dupuis added one shorthanded, and Mark Parrish scored at even-strength for the Wild, who are 9-1-1 at home. The Coyotes lost for the third time in four games.

Islanders 3, Penguins 1 -- Miroslav Satan had a goal and assist, and Rick DiPietro stopped 35 shots to pace host New York.

Alexei Yashin and Sean Hill also scored for the Islanders, who are 5-1-1 in the last seven games. Evgeni Malkin spoiled DiPietro's shutout bid in the third period with his 11th goal.

Blues 3, Red Wings 2 -- Martin Rucinsky and Doug Weight scored in a shootout for St. Louis, which kept host Detroit winless in its last four games.

Petr Cajanek scored twice for St. Louis, which beat Detroit for only the third time in the last 16 games.

Flyers 3, Blue Jackets 2 -- Ken Hitchcock's debut as Columbus coach ended the same way as his tenure with Philadelphia: with a loss, the Blue Jackets' franchise record eighth straight. The Flyers snapped a club-record, six-game home losing streak and stopped a three-game overall skid.