Sabres Beat Stars to the Punch in Rematch

The Buffalo Sabres erased whatever emotional hangover was lingering from their Stanley Cup finals loss.

Buffalo avenged its championship loss to Dallas by beating the Stars, 3-1, Wednesday night in their only meeting this season. The Sabres’ first road win in seven tries sent Dallas into its first three-game losing streak since April 1998.

With both teams struggling, the rematch lacked the intensity of a budding rivalry.

Things turned ugly for a few minutes midway through the third period when Buffalo goalie Martin Biron jabbed his glove at Dallas forward Jamie Langenbrunner after making a save. Langenbrunner countered with a punch into Biron’s facemask and a brawl ensued.

The brawl was a byproduct of the Stars’ frustration more than the Sabres proving a point. Dallas had just watched a 1-0 lead turn into a 3-1 deficit on a short-handed score by Dixon Ward, then Biron gloved the Stars’ only shot on that power play.

New York Rangers 3, New York Islanders 3--Defenseman Zdeno Chara scored his first goal of the season with 3:29 left in regulation as the visiting Islanders gained their first point in three games with a tie against the Rangers.

Islander goalie Wade Flaherty made 33 saves to give his team its first point against the Rangers in eight meetings (0-7-1). The Islanders last beat their rivals on April 4, 1998.

Atlanta 4, Tampa Bay 1--Kevin Dean scored the first short-handed goal in Thrasher history, Damian Rhodes turned away 25 shots and Atlanta defeated the visiting Lightning.

The Lightning, which won, 2-1, over defending Stanley Cup champion Dallas in its previous game, couldn’t take advantage of nine power-play chances. Tampa Bay went ahead, 1-0, in the first period only when Atlanta had two men in the box.

New Jersey 3, Montreal 2--Scott Stevens scored on a slap shot with 7:33 to play and the Devils rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat the slumping Canadiens at East Rutherford, N.J.

Petr Sykora also scored in the third period as the Devils won their fifth in a row at home and extended the Canadiens’ winless streak to six games (0-5-1).

Toronto 6, Carolina 0--Mike Johnson scored goals 19 seconds apart and Mats Sundin returned from a nine-game absence to add the 300th of his career as the Maple Leafs beat the Hurricanes at Raleigh, N.C.

The Northeast Division-leading Maple Leafs won their fifth in a row and are unbeaten in their last six. The Hurricanes fell to 0-2 in their new arena.

Washington 3, Ottawa 1--Rookie Glen Metropolit, playing in his second NHL game, had two goals and an assist as the Capitals halted a six-game winless streak with a victory over the Senators at Washington.

Peter Bondra added a goal for the Capitals and Adam Oates assisted on both of Metropolit’s scores.

Calgary 5, Nashville 4--Tommy Albelin capped Calgary’s wild comeback by scoring with four seconds left in overtime, giving the Flames the victory over the visiting Predators.

Albelin, in the high slot, turned and batted a bouncing puck out of the air past goalie Mike Dunham to give Calgary it first home victory this season.

Colorado 5, St. Louis 0--Marc Denis stopped 37 shots for his first career shutout and Milan Hejduk had two goals and an assist as the Avalanche ended a three-game losing streak with a victory over the visiting Blues.

Hejduk has nine goals in 10 games after scoring only one in his first four games. Joe Sakic added a goal and an assist, and Alex Tanguay and Sandis Ozolinsh had two assists apiece for the Avalanche.

Edmonton 2, Florida 2--Rem Murray scored twice as the Oilers and the Panthers played to a tie at Edmonton.

The Oilers are unbeaten in their last three games. Pavel Bure and Ray Whitney scored for the Panthers.

San Jose 6, Phoenix 3--Vincent Damphousse scored two goals and Owen Nolan scored his 10th goal of the season as the Sharks defeated the visiting Coyotes, despite being outshot, 40-20.