Belfour Shines as Dallas Tops Detroit

Ed Belfour made 24 saves to lead the Dallas Stars to a 3-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night at Detroit--the Stars’ third consecutive victory over the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions this season.

Pat Verbeek, Jere Lehtinen and Brett Hull scored goals for the Stars, who began a four-game trip by extending their unbeaten streak to 4-0-2. Dallas took its second consecutive victory at Detroit after winning only once in its previous 20 games, including playoffs, at Joe Louis Arena.

The Stars, who have one game remaining against the Red Wings, clinched the season series over Detroit for only the second time in seven seasons. They’ve outscored the Red Wings, 11-4, in three meetings this season.

The Red Wings had won six consecutive home games since a 5-1 loss to the Stars on Nov. 13.

Ottawa 5, Carolina 1--Alexei Yashin had two goals and three assists to lead the Senators at Kanata, Canada.

Ottawa’s captain and top scorer set a club record for points in a period with a goal and three assists in the second. It was the first time an Ottawa player has scored five points on home ice for the modern-era Senators and was the third five-point night of Yashin’s six-year career.

Shawn McEachern contributed a goal and two assists for the Senators, who ended a three-game losing streak.

Buffalo 4, Montreal 2--The Sabres waited almost five minutes for their first shot of the third period, but Curtis Brown made it count as he scored the winner at Buffalo.

Dixon Ward added a short-handed goal with four minutes to play as the Sabres came from behind to beat the slumping Canadiens for the fourth time in the last five games between the teams.

Brian Holzinger and Vaclav Varada also scored for the Sabres, who took over first place in the Northeast Division by a point over the idle Toronto Maples Leafs with a 16-5-5 record.

Edmonton 4, Tampa Bay 1--Bill Guerin and Todd Marchant each had a goal and an assist at Tampa, Fla., as the Oilers ended a seven-game winless streak.

The victory lifted the Oilers into sole possession of first place in the Northwest Division, giving Edmonton a two-point advantage over the idle Colorado Avalanche.

Karl Dykhuis scored the only goal for the Lightning, which has lost its last eight home games.

Calgary 5, New Jersey 2--Cory Stillman scored twice and Theo Fleury had a goal and two assists at East Rutherford, N.J., as the Flames stopped the Devils’ eight-game unbeaten streak.

The loss was the first for the Devils after a 6-0-2 streak. The Flames completed a 3-1-1 trip with the victory.

Stillman scored the first and last goals for Calgary, giving him 12 for the season.

Around the NHL

Captain Joe Sakic of the Colorado Avalanche will be sidelined for a week to 10 days. He sprained a shoulder in Thursday’s 2-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. Left wing Warren Rychel broke his left hand in the first period of the game at Vancouver. The team did not say how many games Rychel would be sidelined. . . . The Dallas Stars activated defenseman Shawn Chambers from injured reserve to play against the Detroit Red Wings and also put left wing Brent Severyn on injured reserve because of a strained lower back.