Five-Point Night for Satan as Sabres Beat Senators, 7-4

The Buffalo Sabres seem to score whenever Miroslav Satan is on the ice.

Satan scored three goals and added two assists Saturday night as the Sabres defeated the Ottawa Senators, 7-4, at Kanata, Canada.

“Everything we did seemed to end up in the net,” said Satan, who has figured in 11 of Buffalo’s last 15 goals. “I would like to see every game go like this.

“It’s a huge victory. We wanted to start the second half of the season like this.”

Satan opened the scoring on a breakaway 13:46 into the game to extend his points streak to six games.

Curtis Brown had a goal and two assists, and Michal Grosek, Erik Rasmussen and Stu Barnes also scored for the Sabres. Jason Woolley also had three assists.

Daniel Alfredsson had a goal and two assists for the Senators, and Vinnie Prospal, Patrick Traverse and Shaun Van Allen also scored.

“It’s not the way we want to finish off a home stretch before a long road trip,” Alfredsson said. “It was very frustrating. They have a really quick team.”

Ottawa goalie Ron Tugnutt had another rough outing, giving up five goals on 19 shots before being replaced by Patrick Lalime at the start of the third period with the Senators trailing, 5-3. Tugnutt was also pulled in his previous two starts.

Washington 3, Atlanta 0--Adam Oates had a goal and an assist and Olaf Kolzig made 20 saves at Washington for his second shutout against the Thrashers.

Oates assisted on Ulf Dahlen’s goal early in the first period, and then scored 20 seconds into the third to add insurance. Kolzig, who shut out Atlanta on Dec. 15, was rarely tested in earning his 12th victory.

The Capitals helped Kolzig by killing all eight of their penalties, the most times they’ve been short-handed this season. Atlanta managed only six power-play shots and was outshot, 28-20, for the game.

Philadelphia 6, Pittsburgh 2--Mikael Renberg had a goal and two assists and Mark Recchi’s score started a three-goal first period for the Flyers at Philadelphia.

Recchi’s 18th goal of the year, off a redirection past Penguin goalie Jean-Sebastian Aubin, was the first of three goals in a 3:32 span of the opening period.

John Vanbiesbrouck made 22 saves for the 350th victory of his career.

Philadelphia outshot Pittsburgh, 40-24, to extend its undefeated streak to six games (5-0-1), and its home unbeaten streak to 15 (12-0-3).

N.Y. Rangers 5, Toronto 3--Petr Nedved scored three goals to lead the Rangers at Toronto.

Nedved, centering a new line with fellow Czechs Radek Dvorak and Jan Hlavac, scored once in each period, including a power-play goal in the second.

The winner, with eight minutes left in the third, was a seeing-eye snap shot from near the right boards that eluded goalie Glenn Healy high on his blocker side.

Nashville 6, Chicago 3--Bill Houlder scored the go-ahead goal and Tom Fitzgerald added two goals for the Predators at Nashville.

With the score tied 16:07 into the second period and Eric Daze and Steve Sullivan in the penalty box, Houlder ripped a slap shot past Jocelyn Thibault from the right point.

Florida 4, San Jose 2--Pavel Bure scored two goals and added an assist to lead the Panthers at San Jose. Panther goalie Mike Vernon, in his third game since being acquired last month from the Sharks, stopped 35 shots against his former team.

Calgary 3, Tampa Bay 2--Phil Housley scored with 32 seconds to play in overtime and Jarome Iginia had two goals at Calgary.

New Jersey 4, Phoenix 3--Claude Lemieux scored two goals at East Rutherford, N.J., including the winner with 5:44 to play, as the Devils extended their unbeaten streak to eight games.

Scott Gomez, the NHL’s leading rookie scorer, and Patrik Elias scored for the Devils, who won their sixth in a row at home. The victory gave New Jersey sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference.

New Jersey, 6-0-2 in its last eight, dominated long stretches of the game. The Devils outshot the Coyotes, 42-16,

St. Louis 4, Vancouver 2--Pierre Turgeon scored two goals for the Blues at St. Louis.

It was Turgeon’s second-consecutive two-goal game. Turgeon, who has 21 goals, reached the 20-goal mark for the fourth consecutive season. He has 11 goals and 29 points in his last 18 games.

N.Y. Islanders 5, Boston 2--Dave Scatchard scored two goals 2:48 apart in the second period, and Kevin Weekes made 30 saves at Boston as the Islanders ended a five-game losing streak.

The Islanders, who have the worst record in the NHL, hadn’t won on the road since Nov. 28 at Boston. Three of New York’s 10 victories have come against the Bruins.