BUFFALO, New York, 19 December 2005 — Martin Biron made 30 saves in winning his 13th straight start and the Buffalo Sabres withstood Pittsburgh’s late rally to beat the Penguins 4-3 Saturday.

Maxim Afinogenov had a goal and two assists for the Sabres, who have won six straight and 10 of 11. It was 10th loss in 11 games for the Penguins, whose 8-18-7 record is the worst in the Eastern Conference. Buffalo swept the home-and-home series that started Friday night in Pittsburgh with a 4-3 overtime victory.

The Penguins played without owner-captain Mario Lemieux, who had a recurrence of his irregular heartbeat and stayed home. Lemieux played Friday after sitting out four games with the same problem.

Hurricanes 4 Devils 1: At Raleigh, North Carolina, Chad Larose scored his first NHL goal 1:59 into the third period and Eric Staal added his 22nd of the season 19 seconds later to lead Carolina over New Jersey. Rod Brind’Amor scored Carolina’s first goal on a power play in the first period, his 13th of the season.

Islanders 5 Avalanche 4: At Uniondale, New York, Chris Campoli’s third-period goal helped New York hold off Colorado. The Islanders, who also got goals from Jeffrey Hamilton, Arron Asham, Miroslav Satan and Mark Parrish, matched a season-high for offensive output at home. Rick DiPietro stopped 31 shots for his 12th victory.

Thrashers 2 Panthers 1: At Atlanta, Ilya Kovalchuk and Jim Slater scored 17 seconds apart in the third period and Atlanta handed Florida its 13th consecutive road loss. The Panthers, who have won just three of 22 road games, extended their franchise-worst streak.

Senators 8 Maple Leafs 2: At Ottawa, Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and Wade Redden each had a goal and two assists and Ottawa scored six power-play goals in beating Toronto. Linemate Dany Heatley added a goal and an assist, and Bryan Smolinski, Antoine Vermette and Chris Kelly also each had a goal and an assist.

Red Wings 6 Lightning 3: At Tampa, Florida, Chris Osgood made 28 saves and Pavel Datsyuk had two goals and an assist to help Detroit defeat Tampa Bay. Osgood has never lost to the Lightning, going 15-0 in his career against the defending Stanley Cup champions. He stopped Vinny Prospal on a breakaway with 4 minutes left in the second. Brendan Shanahan extended the Detroit advantage to 6-3 with 10:29 left.

Flyers 5 Blues 2: At St. Louis, Mike Knuble and R.J. Umberger each scored twice and Philadelphia peppered St. Louis goalie Jason Bacashihua in his first NHL start. Philadelphia scored on three of its first nine shots in the second period to break the game open. Peter Forsberg and Jon Sim had two assists for the Flyers, who have won three of four despite being riddled with injuries.

Predators 7 Blue Jackets 3: At Nashville, Tennessee, Jordin Tootoo netted his first goal of the season, and Nashville scored a team-record six times in the second period to beat Columbus. Tootoo, Kris Beech, Marek Zidlicky, Steve Sullivan, Yanic Perreault, and Jerred Smithson’s all scored in the middle period to set the Predators mark for goals in a frame.

Darcy Hordichuk scored Nashville’s final goal in the third.