Belfour Gets Win

Ed Belfour finally made history in one of the wildest games of the season.

Belfour moved into sole possession of second place on the NHL’s all-time wins list, and Matt Stajan scored twice in the Maple Leafs’ 9-6 victory over the New York Islanders at Toronto on Monday.

Belfour had lost five straight starts since moving into a tie with Terry Sawchuk on Nov. 28 for second place. But the 40-year-old goalie won his 448th -- despite giving up four goals in the first period and six goals on 33 shots.

Patrick Roy is the wins leader with 551.

“It seemed like it took forever,” Belfour said. “It took nine goals, but I’m real thankful and honored.”

Belfour never thought it would happen like this.

“It was penalty after penalty, five-on-threes, the refs were giving me a heart attack,” he said.

Alex Ponikarovsky, Ken Klee, Mariusz Czerkawski, Jeff O’Neill, Mats Sundin, Kyle Wellwood and Darcy Tucker also had goals for the Maple Leafs, who scored four goals in a wild first period.

Buffalo 2, Philadelphia 1 -- Maxim Afinogenov scored for the Sabres in an extra shootout round, extending their road winning streak to nine at Philadelphia.

Afinogenov slipped one past Antero Niittymaki for the Sabres in the fourth round, and Mike Knuble’s chance to tie was off the mark, giving the Sabres their seventh straight win overall.

Minnesota 2, Dallas 1 -- Marian Gaborik scored the winning goal midway through the third period for the Wild at St. Paul, Minn.

The goal came less than four minutes after Todd White tied it for Minnesota. Jere Lehtinen scored for the Stars, who played the fifth of six consecutive road games.

Edmonton 5, Calgary 4 -- Fernando Pisani’s goal with 44 seconds remaining in the third period lifted the Oilers at home.

Igor Ulanov and Shawn Horcoff had two goals each, and Horcoff added an assist in his 300th NHL game for Edmonton, which has won three in a row.