Maxim Afinogenov pumped in a goal and assist, Ryan Miller stopped 29 shots, and the Buffalo Sabres beat the New York Islanders 3-0 on Thursday to win their 10th straight game and match the best start ever in the NHL.
Afinogenov set up Ales Kotalik's first-period goal and scored one in the second. Miller did the rest for the Sabres, who tied the 1993-1994 Toronto Maple Leafs, the only other NHL team to jump out 10-0.
The Sabres can break the record at home against Atlanta today. Buffalo, which fell one win shy of the Stanley Cup finals last season, has a team-record 15 consecutive regular-season victories.
PHOTO: AFP
By the time Jason Pominville stretched the lead to 3-0 early in the third period, the sparse crowd of 8,861 at Nassau Coliseum had already grown frustrated with the home team. Boos and groans were easily heard, as were the many saves that thumped off Miller's pads and blocker.
Flyers 3, Thrashers 2, SO
At Philadelphia, Peter Forsberg and Simon Gagne each scored in a shootout, lifting Philadelphia over Atlanta, making Flyers coach John Stevens a winner in his NHL coaching debut.
After Johan Hedberg had 29 saves in regulation and overtime for the Thrashers, he was pulled for Kari Lehtonen. The Flyers jumped all over the goalie change, with Gagne and Forsberg scoring on the Flyers' first two shots.
Vyacheslav Kozlov had the only shootout goal for Atlanta on its first shot. No one else could slip one past steady Antero Niittymaki, who had 27 saves.
Devils 2, Panthers 0
At East Rutherford, New Jersey, Martin Brodeur tied Hall of Famer Jacques Plante for fourth place on the NHL shutout list with 82 and New Jersey snapped a three-game losing streak with a win over Florida.
Zach Parise and Patrik Elias scored power-play goals to support Brodeur's 29-save effort. The win came a day after the Devils held a team meeting after the defensive-minded club give up 15 goals in the three games.
Brodeur probably had to make about six good saves in posting his second shutout of the season. His best was a sprawling stop midway through the first period on a rebound attempt along the ice by Ville Peltonen. Brodeur also stopped Gary Roberts in close on two stuff attempts during the first of the Panthers' two power plays.
Canadiens 3, Bruins 2
At Boston, Andrei Markov scored the tiebreaking goal with 1.2 seconds left, giving Montreal a victory over Boston and prompting a shower of garbage from Bruins fans that convinced officials to wave off the final two ticks of the clock.
Cristobal Huet stopped 34 shots for Montreal, which has won eight of nine against its longtime rival, including the last six in a row. Michael Ryder and Chris Higgins also scored for the Canadiens.
Senators 7, Maple Leafs 2
At Ottawa, Dany Heatley extended his goals streak to four games with his fourth career hat trick and Jason Spezza and Joe Corvo each had five points, leading Ottawa over Toronto.
Heatley, who became Ottawa's first 50-goal scorer last season, got his first goal of the game early in the second as the Senators scored twice within 17 seconds to take a 3-0 lead. He scored two goals 1:17 apart late in the second, both set up by Spezza and Corvo, to help Ottawa extend its lead to 6-2.
Corvo, Spezza, Mike Fisher and Antoine Vermette all scored for Ottawa. Bates Battaglia and Jeff O'Neill netted goals for Toronto.
In other games it was:
* Lightning 5, Hurricanes 1
* Predators 4, Sharks 3
* Coyotes 6, Oilers 2
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but