Marc-Andre Fleury made 34 saves to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to their 12th straight victory, 5-2 over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.
Alex Goligoski and Michael Rupp scored 4 minutes, 34 seconds apart in the third period to seal a victory. Dustin Jeffrey and Arron Asham both scored first period goals for Pittsburgh, while Matt Cooke scored into an empty net.
Sidney Crosby set up Goligoski’s goal to extend his point streak to 18 games — one short of matching a career best.
The Penguins (21-8-2) maintained their lead atop the NHL standings and matched a -franchise-best by winning their seventh consecutive road game.
Fleury extended his career-best win streak to 11 and hasn’t given up more than two goals in his past nine games.
BLUE JACKETS 3, RANGER 1
In Columbus, Ohio, Rick Nash scored twice in a late 3-minute span and Steve Mason stopped 32 shots as Columbus topped New York.
Nash, who set the Blue Jackets record by playing in his 544th game, had his fourth multigoal game of the season.
Antoine Vermette also scored for Columbus.
Marc Staal had the lone goal for the Rangers, who got 20 saves from Henrik Lundqvist.
RED WINGS 4, DEVILS 1
In Newark, New Jersey, Tomas Holmstrom and Danny Cleary scored on Detroit’s first two shots against Martin Brodeur as the Red Wings beat slumping New Jersey.
Chris Osgood had 33 saves in posting his 399th career win. His bid for his first shutout since November last year ended in the opening minute of the third -period when Patrik Elias scored on a power-play.
Pavel Datsyuk added a goal and two assists, while Henrik Zetterberg had a goal and an assist as Detroit won for the second time in two nights.
The Devils suffered their -season-high fifth straight loss.
FLYERS 2, BRUINS 1, OT
In Boston, Mike Richards scored with three seconds left in overtime to lead Philadelphia over Boston.
Brian Boucher stopped 35 shots for the Flyers in their first trip to Boston since coming back from a 3-0 deficit in Game 7 of last season’s Eastern Conference semi-finals. James van Riemsdyk also scored for Philadelphia.
Nathan Horton scored a goal and Thomas made 32 saves for the Bruins, who haven’t lost in regulation in six games.
THRASHERS 5, ISLANDERS 4
In Uniondale, New York, Bryan Little’s goal with 8 minutes, 25 seconds left lifted Atlanta to victory over lowly New York.
Defenseman Johnny Oduya had his first two goals of the season, while Alex Burmistrov and Chris Stewart also scored for Atlanta, who got 25 saves from Chris Mason.
New York, which led 2-0 early on, dropped to 5-17-5 and has a league-low 15 points.
Rob Schremp, Matt Martin, Matt Moulson and Blake Comeau had goals for the Islanders.
In Saturday’s other action, it was:
‧ Avalanche 3, Capitals 2
‧ Coyotes 5, Stars 2
‧ Predators 3, Panthers 0
‧ Hurricanes 2, Blues 1, SO
‧ Maple Leafs 3, Canadiens 1
‧ Sharks 2, Blackhawks 1, OT
‧ Wild 3, Kings 2, OT
‧ Lightning 5, Canucks 4, OT
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Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
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