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Victory propels Buffalo to top of league

Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Fredrik Norrena, left, defends the goal as Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, center, collides with the Dallas Stars' Mike Modano in the third period of their NHL game in Dallas on Friday. The Blue Jackets won, 3-2. PHOTO: AP

Michael Ryan scored the first two goals of his NHL career, Thomas Vanek also had two goals, and Derek Roy had a goal and three assists to help give the Buffalo Sabres an 8-5 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Friday night.

With the win, Buffalo took over the top spot in the league with 91 points.

Dmitri Kalinin, Teppo Numminen, Thomas Vanek and Drew Stafford also scored for the Sabres. Buffalo's offense has scored five or more times in each of the past five games.

Maple Leafs 4, Devils 3, SO

At East Rutherford, New Jersey, Yanic Perreault, Alex Steen and Jeff O'Neill scored in the shootout and Toronto denied Martin Brodeur his 40th win by rallying for a victory over New Jersey.

Andrew Raycroft preserved the win and helped the Maple Leafs snap a two-game losing streak by stopping Sergei Brylin on the Devils' fifth shootout attempt.

The game had an ugly moment in the second period when 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 the Devils' Cam Janssen. A Maple Leafs official said he was alert in the locker room and was later taken to hospital for observation.

Blue Jackets 3, Stars 2, SO

At Dallas, Fredrik Norrena stopped all three Dallas shootout attempts and Jason Chimera converted in the first round for Columbus.

The Stars had been 6-3 in shootouts this season and 18-4 overall in the tiebreaker, but Norrena denied Sergei Zubov, Mike Modano and Jussi Jokinen to give the Blue Jackets their third shootout win.

In other NHL action it was: Hurricanes 3, Penguins 2; Thrashers 4, Senators 2; Red Wings 6, Blackhawks 2; Ducks 3, Sharks 1.
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