Thrashers End Sabres’ Winning Streak at 10

Goalie Ryan Miller and the Buffalo Sabres were finally reminded how disappointing losing can feel.

Then again, it had been a while.

Vyacheslav Kozlov scored the lone shootout goal and the upstart Atlanta Thrashers put an end to the Sabres’ bid for an NHL-record start with a 5-4 victory Saturday night at Buffalo, N.Y. The loss ended Buffalo’s season-opening winning streak at 10 games, the Sabres having to settle for sharing the league record for best start to a season set by Toronto in 1993.

“I haven’t felt like this in a while. I’m a little ticked off,” Miller said. “It would have been fun to be on our own, a little piece of history.... Every night’s not going to go your way.”

This one almost did. The Sabres lost despite rallying four times from one-goal deficits, including Jochen Hecht’s forcing overtime with a goal with 1 minute 44 seconds left.

The Thrashers held firm thanks to a strong performance by goalie Kari Lehtonen, who stopped 32 shots and then denied all three of Buffalo’s shootout attempts. And Kozlov secured the win, the former Sabres player beating Miller with a snap shot just inside the left post.

The loss -- the Sabres’ first in the regular season since a 4-2 defeat to Philadelphia on April 7 -- also ended their 15-game winning streak over two seasons, two short of the NHL record set by Pittsburgh in 1993.

Pittsburgh 8, Philadelphia 2 -- Sidney Crosby had his first hat trick, Maxime Talbot scored two goals and the Penguins won at Philadelphia, their fourth consecutive victory. Evgeni Malkin scored in his fifth straight game for Pittsburgh.

New Jersey 1, Columbus 0 -- Martin Brodeur stopped 22 shots for his second straight shutout and Zach Parise provided the winner late in the second period to lead the Devils at East Rutherford, N.J.

Toronto 5, Montreal 4 -- Kyle Wellwood scored in the shootout to lift the Maple Leafs at Montreal, breaking a three-game losing streak. Tomas Kaberle got his first career hat trick for Toronto.

Carolina 5, Tampa Bay 4 -- Eric Staal and Scott Walker each scored two goals, and the Hurricanes set a franchise record with three scores in 43 seconds at Raleigh, N.C.

N.Y. Islanders 4, Florida 3 -- Andy Hilbert scored in the 10th round of the shootout for the Islanders at Uniondale, N.Y.

Boston 2, Ottawa 1 -- Zdeno Chara scored the winning goal in his first game against his former team, lifting the host Bruins over the Senators.

Detroit 3, St. Louis 2 -- The visiting Red Wings got two goals from Tomas Holmstrom off of setups from Pavel Datsyuk.

N.Y. Rangers 7, Phoenix 3 -- Martin Straka had two goals and an assist, and linemate Jaromir Jagr had a goal and three assists at Glendale, Ariz.

Edmonton 4, Washington 0 -- Ryan Smyth had a goal and an assist for the Oilers at Edmonton, Canada.

Nashville 3, Calgary 2 -- Jason Arnott, J.P. Dumont and Shea Weber had goals for the Predators at Calgary, Canada.

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The Buffalo Sabres, who tied the NHL mark of 10 consecutive season-opening wins Thursday, had that streak ended Saturday by Atlanta. Other teams to open the season with seven or more victories, and how they finished:

*--* W TEAM YEAR FINISH 10 Toronto Maple Leafs 1993-94 44-22-11; L, conference finals 8 Nashville Predators 2005-06 49-25-8; L, first round 8 Buffalo Sabres 1975-76 46-21-13; L, second round 8 Toronto Maple Leafs 1934-35 30-14-4; L, Stanley Cup finals 7 Pittsburgh Penguins 1994-95* 29-16-3; L, second round 7 Pittsburgh Penguins 1986-87 36-34-10; no postseason 7 Quebec Nordiques 1985-86 43-31-6; L, first round 7 Edmonton Oilers 1983-84 57-18-5; W, Stanley Cup title

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Sources: Associated Press, www.sportsencyclopedia.com

*Regular season shortened by lockout.