Biron Saves the Sabres, 2-1

Maybe life without the Dominator won’t be so bad for Buffalo, after all.

Martin Biron is 3-0 since taking over for the injured Dominik Hasek following Saturday night’s 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders at Buffalo.

Brian Holzinger and Miroslav Satan scored for the Sabres, who, with the rookie Biron, have won five of their last six games and four in a row at home after starting the season 0-5-2.

“I wasn’t part of the slump, but you feel it when you’re four or five games below .500,” said Biron, who made 24 saves and improved to 5-1. “Everybody’s been playing well lately. Guys are skating well and we’re playing solid defense.”

Mats Lindgren scored the only goal for the Islanders, who have won only one of their last six and entered the game with a league-low 23 goals.

Florida 6, Calgary 3--Goaltender Trevor Kidd made 30 saves against his old team at Calgary as the Panthers ended a four-game winless streak.

In his first start against his former team, Kidd, who improved to 6-2-2, was at his best in the first period, making several spectacular saves as the Panthers took a 3-1 lead despite being outshot, 12-6.

Ottawa 2, Montreal 1--Marian Hossa and rookie Mike Fisher scored and Ron Tugnutt stopped 23 shots as the Senators extended the Canadiens’ winless streak to eight at Kanata, Ontario.

The Canadiens have scored 11 goals during the streak.

Tampa Bay 7, Pittsburgh 4--Sergey Gusev, Vincent Lecavalier and Fredrik Modin scored in the third period as the Lighting scored six consecutive goals over the final two periods in Pittsburgh, extending the Penguins’ winless streak to eight.

The Penguins are 0-6-2 in the stretch and are 0-3-2 at home this season. The winless streak ties their worst stretch in Kevin Constantine’s three seasons as coach.

New Jersey 3, Toronto 3--Scott Gomez scored with 8:41 left in the third period to lift the Devils to a tie with the Maple Leafs at East Rutherford, N.J.

Gomez, who also assisted on the Devils’ other two goals, tied the game when he pounced on a rebound off a Brendan Morrison shot and pushed the puck past Toronto goalie Curtis Joseph.

Boston 4, Atlanta 2--Byron Dafoe made 21 saves in his season debut and Dave Andreychuk scored twice to lead the Bruins to their sixth consecutive victory, a two-goal victory over the Thrashers at Boston.

Darren Van Impe broke a 1-1 tie when he rebounded a Steve Heinze shot on a power play and beat goaltender Damian Rhodes at 18:13 of the second period.

San Jose 2, Dallas 1--Mike Vernon made 32 saves and Jeff Friesen and Ron Sutter scored goals to lead the Sharks over the Stars at San Jose.

Jamie Langenbrunner scored for the Stars, who have lost four of five.

Vernon, third among active goaltenders in career victories with 349, last won on Oct. 2. He’s been on the bench most of the year as Steve Shields has been effective enough to lead the NHL with nine victories and a .939 save percentage.