Pens rattle Sabres to take share of top spot
NEW YORK: Evgeni Malkin and Petr Sykora had a goal and an assist each to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 4-1 road win over the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday.
Jarkko Ruutu and Colby Armstrong also scored to earn the Penguins a share of top spot in the Atlantic Division with the New Jersey Devils.
Pittsburgh netminder Ty Conklin played a big role in the victory, stopping 36 shots.
"He (Malkin) has been fantastic," defenseman Sergei Gonchar told reporters. "But I don't know where we would be without Conklin."
Ruutu broke a 59-game drought with his second-period goal and Sykora scored two minutes later to spark the Penguins to a 2-0 lead.
"I haven't been happy with not scoring this year, it's been tough," said Ruutu, who recorded his first regular-season goal since March 2007.
"But I don't really pay too much attention to details like that."
Thomas Vanek trimmed the lead to 2-1, collecting Buffalo's only goal on the powerplay 14:45 into the period.
But Malkin, who assisted on Sykora's goal, and Armstrong put the game out of reach. The goal and assist boosted Malkin's points streak to eight games.
The Dallas Stars handed the NHL-leading Detroit Red Wings a sixth consecutive loss, winning 1-0 on Niklas Hagman's third-period goal. Dallas netminder Marty Turco stopped 28 shots for the shutout victory.
Finland's Teemu Selanne became the Anaheim Ducks' all-time scoring leader when he assisted on Ryan Carter's second-period goal in the Ducks' 4-2 home win over the Calgary Flames.
Marian Gaborik's goal with five seconds left in overtime lifted the Minnesota Wild to a 5-4 home win over the Nashville Predators.
The Chicago Blackhawks won their third consecutive game, defeating the Colorado Avalanche 2-1.
Agencies
(China Daily 02/19/2008 page24)
