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High-flying Sabres take top spot
2007-03-03
Dainius Zubrus was acquired at the trade deadline to help put the Buffalo Sabres over the top. He could only watch as the high-flying Sabres outlasted the Montreal Canadiens in an 8-5 win on Friday night to take over the top spot in the league with 91 points, passing idle Nashville. Zubrus was held without a point in his Sabres debut, but it didn't matter. Acquired from Washington in a trade deadline deal Tuesday, Zubrus was more impressed with Buffalo's high-octane offense than his own play. That offense leads the league in goals, and has scored five or more times in each of the past five games. "I didn't realize how fast this game can be," Zubrus said. "I talked to the coach before and he said we play at a high pace. They jump and they go to score goals. I think now I'll know a little bit more what to expect." Michael Ryan scored his first two NHL goals, Thomas Vanek also had two goals, and Derek Roy had a goal and three assists in the win. Dmitri Kalinin, Teppo Numminen and Drew Stafford also scored for the Sabres, who are 9-0-1 in their past 10 games at home. "It's unbelievable," said Ryan, recalled from AHL Rochester just over two weeks ago after a rash of Buffalo injuries. "I've never really been a part of anything like this." The high-scoring affair featured seven second-period goals, including four by the Canadiens, and five instances overall in which two goals were scored in 39 seconds or less. "I thought it was a good game ... great for the fans," said Roy, who tied a career high with four points. "We scored a goal and then they would come back and score another one. It seemed like the game would never end." In other NHL games Friday night, it was Carolina 3, Pittsburgh 2; Atlanta 4, Ottawa 2; Detroit 6, Chicago 2; Toronto 4, New Jersey 3 in a shootout; Columbus 3, Dallas 2 in a shooutout; and Anaheim 3, San Jose 1. Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller made 27 saves to win for the fourth time in the past five games. Tomas Plekanec scored twice and added an assist, and Michael Ryder, Radek Bonk and Mark Streit also scored for the Canadiens, who have lost two straight and three of four. Kalinin opened the scoring 1:20 into the game, and Ryan followed with his first career goal 20 seconds later, tapping in Adam Mair's feed from the goal line. "We needed a good start, but two minutes into the game we're down by two goals," Plekanec said. "You can't win a game like that, especially here." Ducks 3, Sharks 1 At Anaheim, Calif., Andy McDonald had two assists and Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 30 saves. McDonald set up a first-period goal by Chris Kunitz and a third-period insurance goal by Chris Pronger as the first-place Ducks increased their lead over the third-place Sharks to nine points in the Pacific Division. Dustin Penner also scored for the Ducks, who have won five of the seven meetings between the teams this season. Penner had a pair of goals in a 3-2 Anaheim win in San Jose on Monday. Maple Leafs 4, Devils 3, SO At East Rutherford, N.J., Yanic Perreault, Alex Steen and Jeff O'Neill scored in the shootout and Toronto denied Martin Brodeur his 40th win by rallying. Andrew Raycroft preserved the win by stopping Sergei Brylin on the Devils' fifth shootout attempt. The game had an ugly moment in the second period. Toronto defenseman Tomas Kaberle had to be taken off the ice on a stretcher after being hit in the head by an apparent late hit by Devils tough guy Cam Janssen. A Maple Leafs official said Kaberle was alert in the locker room and was later taken to a hospital for observation. Carlo Colaiacovo, Nik Antropov and Matt Stajan scored in a 2:51 span midway through the third period for Toronto. Jamie Langenbrunner, Jay Pandolfo and Brylin scored for the Devils, with Brylin tying the game at 3 on a power play with 1:09 left in regulation. Hurricanes 3, Penguins 2 At Raleigh, N.C., Scott Walker scored two goals, Cam Ward made 22 saves and Carolina got a much-needed victory. The loss spoiled a record-setting night for Pittsburgh second-year center Sidney Crosby, who became the youngest NHL player to reach 200 career points with a goal in the first period. The 19-year-old already was the youngest player to start the All-Star game since fan balloting began in 1986. Frantisek Kaberle also scored for the Hurricanes, who snapped a two-game losing streak to move in front of the Canadiens for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. Crosby leads the league with 98 points, well on his way to his second consecutive season with at least 100. Wayne Gretzky is the only other teenager to reach 200 points, reaching the mark shortly before his 20th birthday. Crosby won't be 20 until August. Thrashers 4, Senators 2 At Atlanta, Slava Kozlov scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period, and Eric Belanger had two goals to help Atlanta end a five-game home losing streak. Ottawa snapped a three-game winning streak and fell to 8-1-1 since a Feb. 7 loss at Buffalo. Dany Heatley, booed throughout the game by fans still upset over his trade request from the Thrashers in August 2005, kept up his torrid pace, scoring twice on the power play for his 39th and 40th goals of the season. The Thrashers began the night with just six points in nine home games since a Jan. 16 victory over Los Angeles. Blue Jackets 3, Stars 2, SO At Dallas, Fredrik Norrena stopped all three of Dallas' shootout attempts and Jason Chimera converted in the first round to send Columbus over the Stars. The Stars had been 6-3 in shootouts this season and 18-4 all-time in the tiebreaker. But Norrena denied Sergei Zubov, Mike Modano and Jussi Jokinen to give the Blue Jackets their third shootout win in eight tries this season. Chimera beat Dallas goalie Marty Turco for the only shootout conversion. Red Wings 6, Blackhawks 2 At Detroit, Robert Lang had a goal and three assists, and Nicklas Lidstrom got his 200th goal and two assists to lead Detroit. Mathieu Schneider, Valtteri Filppula, Jiri Hudler, and Johan Franzen got the other Detroit goals, and Pavel Datsyuk added three assists. Chris Osgood made 18 saves. Lang had his first multipoint game since Jan. 13. Lidstrom's goal was also the 100th of his career on the power play. Jason Williams scored both goals for Chicago, which has lost seven of its past eight.
Conklin shines in first start for Sabres (2007-03-20)Devils close on Eastern lead with late win over Sabres (2007-03-11)High-flying Sabres take top spot (2007-03-03)Smyth, Guerin, Bertuzzi all change teams (2007-02-27)Ovechkin leads Capitals past injury-hit Maple Leafs (2006-12-24)
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