Afinogenov, Satan Turn Trick for Sabres

Maxim Afinogenov had his first three-goal game in the NHL and Miroslav Satan posted his fifth hat trick to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 7-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night at Buffalo, N.Y.

It was the first time the Sabres had two players with hat tricks in the same game since Alexander Mogilny and Yuri Khmylev did it against the New York Rangers exactly 11 years earlier.

Buffalo had its highest scoring game since beating Atlanta, 8-0, on Nov. 8, 2001. The Sabres also registered a season-high 42 shots, breaking the previous mark of 40 set against the Capitals four days earlier.

Colorado 2, Calgary 1 -- David Aebischer made 30 saves and Steve Moore’s first career goal was the game-decider at Calgary, Canada.

Moore’s goal put the Avalanche ahead, 2-0, at 17:07 of the first period as he neatly converted a two-on-one rush. Moore’s first goal came in his 36th NHL game.

Peter Worrell also scored for Colorado, which won for only the second time in nine games (2-3-4) and moved into a second-place tie with the Flames in the Northwest Division.

Vancouver 4, Chicago 3 -- Todd Bertuzzi scored a power-play goal at 4:33 of overtime to lift the Canucks at Chicago.

Michael Leighton stopped Markus Naslund’s shot from the top of the right circle, but Bertuzzi grabbed the rebound and scored.

Vancouver improved to 21-9-6-2 and is 7-2-3 in its last 12 games. Chicago has dropped three of four games and remains near the bottom of the Western Conference with 29 points.

Montreal 1, Dallas 1 -- Niklas Sundstrom’s goal with one minute left in regulation gave the Canadiens the tie at Dallas.

Brenden Morrow gave the Stars a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 15:36 of the second period.

San Jose 1, Columbus 0 -- Alyn McCauley scored with 4:59 left and Evgeni Nabokov made 26 saves for the Sharks at Columbus, Ohio.

It was Nabokov’s fourth shutout this season. The Sharks are 5-0-1-0 in their last six games.

Marc Denis stopped 28 shots for Columbus, which has lost six in a row at home. The Blue Jackets are 0-6-1-1 in their last eight games at Nationwide Arena.

Detroit 6, Atlanta 5 -- Henrik Zetterberg scored his second goal of the game 2:24 into overtime at Detroit. He beat goaltender Pasi Nurminen with a high shot from the bottom of the left circle.

Atlanta tied the score with 7:02 left when Daniel Tjarnqvist’s shot from the point deflected in off the stick of defenseman Jiri Fischer.

Florida 2, Tampa Bay 2 -- Roberto Luongo made 40 saves, including two on Vincent Lecavalier late in regulation, to help the Panthers get the tie at Tampa, Fla.

Luongo stopped a backhander by Lecavalier from the slot with four minutes left in regulation, and then made a glove save on Lecavalier’s shot from in close with 3:13 left.

New York Islanders 6, Pittsburgh 1 -- Former King Jason Blake had two goals and two assists, and rookie Trent Hunter had his third two-goal game, leading the streaking Islanders at Pittsburgh.

The Islanders closed out their most successful December in 20 years by winning their sixth in a row. They had a 10-4-0-1 record during the month.