Biron Scores on Brother

Mathieu Biron finally got the best of his big brother.

The Florida defenseman became the first NHL player in 23 years to score against his brother, beating Martin Biron in the Panthers’ 2-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres at Sunrise, Fla., on Monday night.

Phil Esposito of the New York Rangers had been the last player to accomplish the feat, scoring on brother Tony of Chicago on Nov. 5, 1980.

“The Esposito brothers probably have been fighting for the last 23 years,” Martin Biron joked. “We’ll probably be fighting for the next 23 years, my brother and I.”

Mathieu Biron, who at 23 is three years younger than Martin, gave Florida a 2-0 lead late in the first period when he joined a two-on-one rush and tipped Stephen Weiss’ pass past his brother.

“I was happy,” Mathieu Biron said. “I knew it was going to come sooner or later. I’m glad he didn’t put me on the ice right after the goal. I didn’t know what was going on. It’s hard to explain.”

The Birons’ parents, Celine and Rejean, were in the crowd.

“In the summer they were nagging each other, with Mathieu saying that he would score on Martin,” Celine Biron said.

“It was good that it was a nice goal. It wouldn’t have been as nice if it was a cheap goal.”

The goal was Mathieu Biron’s first of the season and the sixth of his career, which began in 1999-00 with the New York Islanders. Martin Biron finished with 22 saves.

Weiss also scored for Florida, which won consecutive games for the first time this season.

Nashville 3, Colorado 2 -- Kimmo Timonen and Marek Zidlicky scored power-play goals to lead the Predators over the host Avalanche. Timonen added an assist, Rem Murray had a short-handed goal, and Tomas Vokoun made 34 saves to improve to 5-1-0 in his last six starts.

Milan Hejduk and Joe Sakic had third-period goals for Colorado, with Hejduk’s goal ending the Avalanche’s scoreless streak at 124 minutes, 31 seconds.

Dallas 5, Phoenix 2 -- Mike Modano, Jason Arnott and Jere Lehtinen scored power-play goals in the Stars’ victory over the visiting Coyotes. Steve Ott added his first goal of the season, Modano also had two assists, and Stu Barnes added an empty-net goal for the Stars, who were 1-6-2 in their previous nine games.

Washington 4, Detroit 1 -- Jaromir Jagr, Robert Lang and Dainius Zubrus combined for eight points to give the Capitals the victory over the host Red Wings.

Rastislav Stana stopped 38 shots for the win in his first NHL start.

Toronto 2, Vancouver 1 -- Ed Belfour passed Glenn Hall for fifth place on the career victory list, stopping 24 shots in the Maple Leafs’ victory at home. Belfour has 408 victories, 15 shy of Tony Esposito for fourth place. Patrick Roy is first with 551.