Sabres rattled in OT

Kovalev wins it for Canadiens

Alex Kovalev is getting his act together, and his team is improving as well.

Kovalev scored with 24.3 seconds left in overtime last night in Montreal to give the Canadiens a 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres.

Kovalev converted Montreal's second overtime power-play opportunity when he scored for the third game in a row following a 19-game drought. He beat Ryan Miller with a wrist shot from the right side.

Montreal won its second straight after a three-game losing streak.

Sergei Kostitsyn scored his second goal of the game 15:06 into the third to draw Montreal even for the third time.

Andrej Sekera, Derek Roy, and Clarke MacArthur scored for the Sabres, who won, 5-0, over Los Angeles Friday. The Sabres have lost three of five following a three-game winning streak.

Kostitsyn, who also scored on a five-on-three power play in the second to tie it at 1, beat Miller from the left edge of the crease to tie it at 3.

Roy extended his point streak to nine games when he opened the scoring with his 11th goal 9:10 in. Roy drove the right side and cut toward the slot, where he put a wrist shot past Jaroslav Halak.

Montreal winger Andrei Kostitsyn missed the game because of a lower body injury.

Maple Leafs 7, Penguins 3 - Nik Antropov had a goal and two assists and six other Toronto players scored in a rout of host Pittsburgh.

Pavel Kubina and Alexei Ponikarovsky each had a goal and an assist, Jonas Frogren scored his first NHL goal, and Tomas Kaberle had three assists as the Maple Leafs netted a season-best seven goals.

Petr Sykora scored twice and Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist for Pittsburgh, which allowed a season high for goals and lost for the fifth time in seven games.

Flyers 7, Capitals 1 - Scott Hartnell scored three goals, Jeff Carter added a pair, and Antero Niittymaki stopped a season-high 47 shots as host Philadelphia snapped Washington's five-game winning streak.

Joffrey Lupul added a goal and three assists and Simon Gagne also scored for the Flyers, unbeaten in regulation in their last 11 home games (9-0-2).

Senators 5, Stars 4 - Jason Smith scored 3:30 into overtime for host Ottawa, which had lost five of six and netted only five goals in its previous five games.

Red Wings 6, Kings 4 - Dan Cleary scored with 1:34 left to break a tie and lift host Detroit over Los Angeles.

Thrashers 4, Lightning 3 - Kari Lehtonen, out since October with a back injury, gave up goals on the first two shots he faced in his first game in seven weeks, but didn't let another puck get past him until late, stopping 36 shots in host Atlanta's win.

Blackhawks 3, Canucks 1 - Cristobal Huet made 30 saves as Chicago extended its winning streak to seven games with a victory in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Sharks 3, Rangers 2 - Evgeni Nabokov made 17 of his 32 saves in the frantic third period, and host San Jose recovered from rare back-to-back defeats with a victory over New York.

Predators 1, Islanders 0 - Pekka Rinne stopped 23 shots in earning his third shutout of the month, and Vernon Fiddler scored the lone goal as host Nashville prevailed.

Blues 4, Wild 2 - Roman Polak's first NHL goal was the winner and Manny Legace stopped 24 shots in his return to the lineup after being out four games with a concussion as host St. Louis beat Minnesota.

Coyotes 2, Blue Jackets 0 - Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 31 shots for his first shutout of the season as host Phoenix defeated Columbus.