Hurricanes storm to fifth straight win

Anton Babchuk scored with 6:01 remaining and the Carolina Hurricanes won their season-high fifth straight game, beating the Ottawa Senators, 2-1, last night in a matchup of two of the NHL's hottest teams.

Rod Brind'Amour tied it for Carolina at 3:15 of the third and added an assist. The Hurricanes matched a club record with their ninth straight win at home, a mark set during their run to the Stanley Cup in 2005-06.

Ryan Shannon scored for the Senators, who were denied their season-high sixth straight win.

Penguins 2, Flames 0 - Marc-Andre Fleury made 31 saves for his fourth shutout of the season to lift host Pittsburgh.

Defensemen Kris Letang and Hal Gill scored, and Evgeni Malkin had two assists, giving him a career-high 107 points and extending his NHL scoring lead to 11 points.

Blackhawks 6, Sharks 5 - Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews scored in a shootout, and Chicago goalie Nikolai Khabibulin turned away a final attempt by San Jose to give the Blackhawks a victory at home.

San Jose's Joe Thornton powered past Brent Seabrook and beat Nikolai Khabibulin to tie it at 5 with 2:08 left in regulation.

The Blackhawks had a 4-1 lead in the second period before the Sharks rallied.

Sabres 5, Panthers 3 - Jason Pominville had a goal and two assists during a 2:07 span of the third period, leading host Buffalo to a comeback victory.

Tim Connolly scored the go-ahead goal to cap the surge and added an assist for a Buffalo team that overcame a 3-1 deficit and won for only the second time in eight games (2-5-1).

Ducks 7, Avalanche 2 - Corey Perry scored two goals, Andrew Ebbett had a goal and two assists and visiting Anaheim tightened its hold on a playoff spot, moving into seventh place in the Western Conference playoff race.

Wild 6, Islanders 2 - Marian Gaborik had two goals and two assists, Andrew Brunette and Owen Nolan each scored once and set up two others, and Minnesota beat New York to snap a five-game road losing streak.