NHL roundup
Sabres defeat Thrashers in clash of Eastern Conference’s best BUFFALO, N.Y. – Thomas Vanek had two goals and an assist, and Ryan Miller made 29 saves in the Buffalo Sabres’ 4-1 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday night in a battle between the top teams in the Eastern Conference.
Daniel Briere added a goal and an assist, and Jason Pominville also scored for the Sabres, who have won three straight and four of their last five.
Glen Metropolit scored for the Thrashers, who were denied in their second bid this month to win six straight games for the first time in franchise at history.
Miller was making his third straight start, and has allowed five goals in those games. He got help in the first period when Atlanta forward Jean-Pierre Vigier shot wide on a short-handed, breakaway attempt.
The Thrashers defeated Buffalo 5-4 in a shootout in October, snapping the Sabres’ NHL record-tying 10-game winning streak to start the season. The game also featured two of the three highest scoring teams in the league.
Lightning 3, Canadiens 1
TAMPA, Fla. – Vinny Prospal snapped a personal 20-game goal-scoring drought with a tiebreaking second-period goal, helping the Tampa Bay Lightning defeat the Montreal Canadiens.
Brad Richards and Filip Kuba also scored for the Lightning, who outshot Montreal 41-13. Tampa Bay was coming off a 4-3 loss Thursday to Philadelphia, which had lost 10 straight and has the NHL’s worst record.
The Canadiens’ record for fewest shots in a game is 12, coming twice against Ottawa on Jan. 26, 2006 and Dec. 27, 2002.
Montreal goalie Cristobal Huet made 38 saves. Alexander Perezhogin scored for the Canadiens.
Tampa Bay goalie Johan Holmqvist turned aside 12 shots.
Prospal gave the Lightning a 2-1 lead on his backhander from near the goal-line between the net and the boards with 13 minutes left in the second. It was his first goal since Nov. 15, which also came against Montreal. Kuba made it 3-1 on the power play at 7:07 of the third.
Rangers 4, Capitals 1
NEW YORK – Petr Prucha scored two goals to help the New York Rangers snap a seven-game losing skid and end a scoreless streak at 153:38 in a fight-filled win at Madison Square Garden.
The game featured two of the more fatigued squads in the NHL with the Rangers playing their eighth game in 15 days and the illness-ravaged Capitals playing for the fourth time in five nights.
Washington, with several players in uniform despite a stomach virus that’s swept trough their locker room, has lost four in a row and failed to generate much of an attack for most of the game.
Devils 2, Islanders 0
UNIONDALE, N.Y. – Martin Brodeur stopped 29 shots for his NHL-leading sixth shutout of the season and the 86th of his career, and Brian Rafalski’s unusual goal was all the Devils needed.
The Devils increased their Atlantic Division lead to six points over the Islanders.
Patrick Elias scored an empty-net power-play goal with 10.6 seconds left to complete the scoring.
Rick DiPietro was solid, turning aside 36 shots, but the Islanders have now been blanked for the last 138:12, allowing only three goals in that span.
DiPietro’s home shutout streak ended at 191:04 when New Jersey scored a fluke goal 5:21 into the game. Rafalski took a rising shot from the right point that defenseman Allan Rourke tried to bat away with his glove. Instead, Rourke whiffed and DiPietro lost sight of the puck as it got by him.
At the 3-minute mark of the second period, Brodeur became the eighth goalie in NHL history to play 50,000 minutes.
Senators 3, Leafs 2
TORONTO – Chris Phillips scored at 2:39 of overtime and the Ottawa Senators rallied for a victory over the rival Toronto Maple Leafs.
Ray Emery had a season-high 43 saves, and Dean McAmmond and Chris Kelly also scored for the Senators, who have won five straight.
Boyd Devereaux and Alex Steen scored for the Maple Leafs, who have lost five of six.
Coyotes 8, Sharks 0
GLENDALE, Ariz. – Curtis Joseph stopped 40 shots for his 437th win, tying Jacques Plante for fifth on the career victories list, and Phoenix beat San Jose.
Joseph, making his second consecutive start after sitting out four of the previous five, made 19 saves in the first period en route to his 48th career shutout.
Jeremy Roenick, who entered the night with one goal in 31 games, recorded a hat trick for the Coyotes, who are 8-2-1 in their last 11 home games and Shane Doan had a goal and four assists.
Zbynek Michalek and Ladislav Nagy each added a goal and an assist, and Mike Comrie and Travis Roche also scored for Phoenix, which beat San Jose for the second time in three nights.
Phoenix finished December 6-5-2, its second straight non-losing month after beginning the season 3-9-0.
The Sharks have lost four of five.