Briere, Sabres tee off on Flyers
Daniel Briere had a goal and two assists, Chris Drury, Derek Roy, and Jason Pominville each added a goal and an assist, and the Sabres had three power-play goals for the second straight game in a 6-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers last night in Buffalo.
The Sabres took over sole possession of the top spot in the NHL with 85 points -- 2 ahead of idle Nashville -- and secured 40 wins in just their 60th game, the fastest to that mark in the team's 36-season history.
Lightning 3, Panthers 2 -- Martin St. Louis scored the tying goal and then tallied in the shootout, helping host Tampa Bay beat Florida.
Ryan Craig also scored for the Southeast Division-leading Lightning, who have won 15 of 19. Tampa Bay took the shootout, 2-1, and is 11-3 in games that have been decided after regulation.
Canucks 3, Ducks 2 -- Dany Sabourin stopped 38 shots for his first NHL victory, Daniel Sedin scored on a power play 2:19 into overtime, and Vancouver prevailed at Anaheim, Calif., in a matchup of division leaders.
Vancouver improved to 35-18-3 under Alain Vigneault, tying Tom Renney's record for most wins by a Canucks coach in his first season with the team, and Brendan Morrison played in his 483d consecutive game since joining the Canucks, breaking Trevor Linden's franchise record.
Canadiens 5, Capitals 3 -- Chris Higgins and Michael Ryder each scored two goals and rookie goalie Jaroslav Halak won his second straight start as Montreal beat visiting Washington.
Higgins ended a 16-game goal-scoring drought with a pair of power-play strikes in the first but he left in the third period with an upper-body injury. Ryder's second goal was the Canadiens' 16th shorthanded strike of the season, breaking the team record set in 1995-96.
Devils 2, Rangers 1 -- Zach Parise scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period and Martin Brodeur made 35 saves for host New Jersey.
Thrashers 3, Hurricanes 1 -- Ilya Kovalchuk, Marian Hossa, and Eric Boulton scored third-period goals for visiting Atlanta.
Wild 2, Stars 1 -- Niklas Backstrom stopped all three shots he faced in the shootout and Mikko Koivu scored on a backhander to the top right corner to lead host Minnesota.
Senators 4, Oilers 3 -- Mike Comrie and Dean McAmmond scored in the shootout to help host Ottawa give Bryan Murray his 600th NHL victory; he's the fifth coach to reach the mark, joining Scotty Bowman, Al Arbour, Dick Irvin, and Pat Quinn, and he did it in 1,199 games.
Blues 5, Blue Jackets 4 -- Lee Stempniak and Doug Weight scored and Manny Legace stopped both of visiting Columbus's shootout attempts to give St. Louis the win.
Avalanche 4, Flames 3 -- Paul Stastny had two goals and an assist, and Peter Budaj stopped 33 shots -- including 16 in the third period -- as Colorado won in Denver.
