Senators at Top of Game in 3-1 Victory Over Sabres

While the Stanley Cup playoffs are a long way away, the Ottawa Senators played as if they were just around the corner.

Shawn McEachern had two goals and an assist, and Patrick Lalime stopped 21 shots Tuesday night as the Senators defeated the Buffalo Sabres, 3-1, at Kanata, Canada.

McEachern, who assisted on Alexei Yashin’s go-ahead goal with 16 seconds to play in the second period, scored the game-tying goal in the first and iced the victory by hitting an empty net with eight seconds remaining.

“Games within our conference--especially against Toronto and Buffalo--are so important,” McEachern said. “At the end of the season, these games are huge. You just don’t realize it until the end of the season, but you really have to win them all year long.”

The victory gave Ottawa sole possession of first place in the Northeast Division. The Senators also moved two points ahead of the idle Toronto Maple Leafs for the best record in the Eastern Conference.

“Every time you play a team in your division, it’s a four-point game, and you don’t want to lose those,” Lalime said. “The standings are so tight now that every game is big. It’s nice to come out on top.”

Yashin scored his seventh goal to put the Senators ahead, 2-1, when he put a rebound of McEachern’s shot behind Buffalo’s Dominik Hasek.

San Jose 4, Minnesota 1--Steve Shields stopped 27 shots at San Jose and won for the first time since losing his starting job.

Tony Granato and Vincent Damphousse scored less than two minutes apart in the second period for the Sharks, who spent the game straining to break free of the Wild’s trap defense. Jeff Friesen and Owen Nolan added late third-period goals.

Despite enduring a frustrating night of missed chances and sometimes lethargic skating, the Sharks (15-5-2-0) improved on the best start in franchise history and won for the seventh time in 10 home games.

Nashville 6, Calgary 1--Scott Walker got three assists in the Predators’ second consecutive four-goal first period and Tomas Vokoun made 36 saves for the Predators at Nashville.

“Scott’s playing unbelievable,” Vokoun said of Walker. “He is a very smart player. He plays very simple but very effective hockey, and I think that’s all that matters.”

Nashville has scored 13 goals in its last two games after being shut out in consecutive games.

Boston 3, Pittsburgh 1--Jason Allison scored the winner midway through the second period and Peter Skudra of the Bruins made 17 saves against his old team at Boston.

It was Boston’s first home victory in six games.