Martin Biron made 30 saves in winning his 13th straight start and the Buffalo Sabres withstood Pittsburgh's late rally to beat the Penguins 4-3 Saturday.
Maxim Afinogenov had a goal and two assists for the Sabres, who have won six straight and 10 of 11.
It was 10th loss in 11 games for the Penguins, whose 8-18-7 record is the worst in the Eastern Conference. Buffalo swept the home-and-home series that started Friday night in Pittsburgh with a 4-3 overtime victory.
PHOTO: AP
The Penguins played without owner-captain Mario Lemieux, who had a recurrence of his irregular heartbeat and stayed home. Lemieux played Friday after sitting out four games with the same problem.
Biron became the first NHL goalie to win 13 consecutive starts since Detroit's Chris Osgood in the 1995-1996 season.
Hurricanes 4, Devils 1
At Raleigh, North Carolina, Chad Larose scored his first NHL goal 1:59 into the third period and Eric Staal added his 22nd of the season 19 seconds later to lead Carolina over New Jersey.
Rod Brind'Amour scored Carolina's first goal on a power play in the first period, his 13th of the season.
Islanders 5, Avalanche 4
At Uniondale, New York, Chris Campoli's third-period goal helped New York hold off Colorado.
Rick DiPietro stopped 31 shots for his 12th victory.
Colorado got two goals from Marek Svatos, and one each from John-Michael Liles and Alex Tanguay. David Aebischer started and allowed all five goals on 19 shots. He was pulled in the third period.
Thrashers 2, Panthers 1
At Atlanta, Ilya Kovalchuk and Jim Slater scored 17 seconds apart in the third period and Atlanta handed Florida its 13th consecutive road loss.
Michael Garnett made 27 saves for Atlanta.
Nathan Horton gave the Panthers the lead at 15:36 of the second period.
Senators 8, Maple Leafs 2
At Ottawa, Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and Wade Redden each had a goal and two assists and Ottawa scored six power-play goals in beating Toronto.
Linemate Dany Heatley added a goal and an assist, and Bryan Smolinski, Antoine Vermette and Chris Kelly also each had a goal and an assist. Dominik Hasek made 27 saves as the Senators outshot Toronto 43-29.
Maple Leafs right wing Mariusz Czerkawski opened the scoring with his first of the season. Defenseman Bryan McCabe got his 11th in the third period.
Red Wings 6, Lightning 3
At Tampa, Florida, Chris Osgood made 28 saves and Pavel Datsyuk had two goals and an assist to help Detroit defeat Tampa Bay.
Osgood has never lost to the Lightning, going 15-0 in his career against the defending Stanley Cup champions.
Mikael Samuelsson and Datsyuk scored 35 seconds apart early in the third to give Detroit a 5-3 lead.
Brendan Shanahan extended the Detroit advantage to 6-3 with 10:29 left. Detroit also got goals from Johan Franzen and Jason Woolley.
Rob DiMaio, Dave Andreychuk and Ryan Craig scored for Tampa Bay.
Flyers 5, Blues 2
At St. Louis, Mike Knuble and R.J. Umberger each scored twice and Philadelphia peppered St. Louis goalie Jason Bacashihua in his first NHL start.
Philadelphia scored on three of its first nine shots in the second period to break the game open.
Peter Forsberg and Jon Sim had two assists for the Flyers, who have won three of four despite being riddled with injuries. The Blues, who also lost star forward Keith Tkachuk with a broken hand on Friday, have allowed five goals in losses on consecutive nights.
Aaron Downey scored his first goal of the season and Scott Young had a power-play goal for the Blues, last in the NHL with 16 points.
Wild 4, Canadiens 3, OT
At St. Paul, Minnesota, Kurtis Foster's one-timer with a second left on a 4-on-3 power play and 1:47 remaining in overtime lifted Minnesota past Montreal.
Brian Rolston had two goals and two assists for the Wild.
Michael Ryder's 15th goal of the season made it 3-2 early in the third period for the Canadiens.
Cristobal Huet made 24 saves in his first game of the season for Montreal, which got goals from Andrei Markov and Richard Zednik.
Dwayne Roloson ended a six-start losing streak and stopped 30 shots for Minnesota. Todd White also had a goal for the Wild.
Flames 3, Bruins 0
At Calgary, Alberta, Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 26 shots in his fifth shutout of the season for Calgary.
Defenseman Dion Phaneuf, Tony Amonte and Stephane Yelle scored for the Flames.
Oilers 5, Canucks 4, OT
At Vancouver, British Columbia, Mike Peca scored 4:08 into overtime and Edmonton stopped Vancouver's four-game winning streak.
Shawn Horcoff sent the game into extra time when he tied it up with 7:27 left in regulation.
Marty Reasoner, with the Oilers' third power-play goal of the night, cut the deficit to 4-3 just 3 minutes into the period.
Ales Hemsky and Ryan Smyth also scored for the Oilers, who improved to 18-11-4.
Todd Bertuzzi scored twice for the Canucks.
Kings 4, Coyotes 1
At Los Angeles, Phoenix fell to Los Angeles just hours after Wayne Gretzky stepped down as coach.
Craig Conroy ended a 13-game goal drought during a power play and set up set up goals by Pavol Demitra and Joe Corvo in the victory.
Gretzky's associate coach Rick Tocchet ran the club.
Michael Cammalleri also scored and Lubomir Visnovsky had two assists for the Kings.
Mathieu Garon finished with 25 saves.
Phoenix's Brian Boucher, in his season debut, stopped 33 shots.
Wayne Gretzky took an indefinite leave as coach of the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday to return to Brantford, Ontario to be with his mother, who has lung cancer.
"We respect and support Wayne's decision," Coyotes general manager Michael Barnett said in a statement.
Associate coach Rick Tocchet assumed head coaching duties until Gretzky returns.
In his first season as coach, Gretzky -- also the Coyotes' managing partner -- has led Phoenix to a 16-14-2 record. The Coyotes are tied for third place in the Pacific Division.
Gretzky cited his mother's illness as a reason why he didn't resume his role as the head of the Canadian national team during the World Championship in Austria earlier this year. He said then that her condition was improving.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
The sacred flame for the Paris Olympics was lit yesterday in Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the ancient Games, in a ceremony inspired by antiquity and marked by messages of hope amid multiple global crises. “In ancient times, the Olympic Games brought together the Greek city states, even — and in particular — during times of war and conflict,” International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said. “Today, the Olympic Games are the only event that brings the entire world together in peaceful competition. Then as now, the Olympic athletes are sending this powerful message — yes, it is possible to compete fiercely