Matt Ellis scored a pair to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 4-2 win over Boston in the NHL on Saturday, snapping the Bruins’ 10-game winning streak and handing them their first home loss since late October.
Thomas Vanek had his team-leading 26th goal, and Paul Gaustad also scored for the Sabres.
Phil Kessel scored his team-leading 24th for Boston, and Shawn Thornton had the other goal but the Bruins missed shots at three open nets in their third home loss of the season and first since Oct. 23. It was the Bruins’ longest winning streak since 1973.
PHOTO: AP
FLAMES 3, PREDATORS 2
At Nashville, Tennessee, Todd Bertuzzi scored with 23.4 seconds remaining to lead Calgary to a fifth straight win.
Nashville’s loss was its fourth in a row. Jerred Smithson and captain Jason Arnott scored for the Predators.
Curits Glencross and Daymond Langkow earned the equalizers for the Flames. Bertuzzi capitalized on a turnover by Nashville defenseman Dan Hamhuis deep in the Predators’ zone and snapped a shot by goaltender Dan Ellis.
PANTHERS 6, PENGUINS 1
At Pittsburgh, Nathan Horton scored twice as Florida snapped a four-game losing streak by sending Pittsburgh to a fourth straight loss.
Ville Peltonen, Bryan McCabe, Richard Zednik and Michael Frolik also scored for Florida, which pulled to within three points of the Penguins for eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings.
Ruslan Fedotenko scored for Pittsburgh, which has lost 10 of 14 and five straight at home. Florida goalie Craig Anderson stopped 29 shots.
CAPITALS 2, RANGERS 1
At Washington, Alex Ovechkin’s tiebreaking short-handed goal with a half-minute left in the second period lifted Washington past the New York Rangers, extending the Capitals’ winning streak to a season-high six games.
Defenseman Mike Green scored on a power play, and Jose Theodore made 21 saves. The Capitals are an Eastern Conference-leading 17-1-1 at home this season.
The Southeast Division-leading Capitals have won 11 of 12 overall to move up to No. 2 in the East. Ovechkin has 13 goals in that span.
New York’s Petr Prucha scored for the second game in a row.
HURRICANES 3, LIGHTNING 2
At Tampa, Florida, Joni Pitkanen and Justin Williams each had a goal and an assist, and Carolina rallied from an early two-goal deficit and beat Tampa Bay.
Chad LaRose also scored for the Hurricanes, who have won three straight and seven of 10.
The Lightning got goals from Ryan Craig and Vinny Prospal. Tampa Bay has lost three in a row and 20 of 25.
Tampa Bay defenseman Andrej Meszaros left in the final minute of the second after being cut on the face by Anton Babchuk’s shot.
BLUES 5, BLUE JACKETS 2
At St Louis, Keith Tkachuk scored the go-ahead goal against Steve Mason in the second period on one of St Louis’ four power-play goals and B.J. Crombeen had a short-handed goal for the Blues.
The Blues won for only the third time in 13 games and ended Columbus’ four-game winning streak, while beating the Blue Jackets for the fifth straight time overall.
Fredrik Modin had a goal and an assist and Rick Nash had two assists for the Blue Jackets, held to 22 shots after averaging 29 during the winning streak.
MAPLE LEAFS 3, SENATORS 1
At Toronto, Alexei Ponikarovsky’s go-ahead goal midway through the third period lifted Toronto over Ottawa.
Jason Blake extended the lead to 3-1 with 4:09 left. Dominic Moore also scored for the Maple Leafs.
Daniel Alfredsson had the goal for the Senators, who failed to build momentum following their 3-2 victory on Tuesday at Edmonton that ended a 12-game road winless streak.
In other games, it was:
• Red Wings 3, Wild 2, SO
• Oilers 4, Stars 1
• Sharks 5, Islanders 3
• Kings 2, Flyers 1, SO
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