NHL ROUNDUP | Wednesday's games

Sabres 4, Devils 3
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Jochen Hecht scored twice in leading Buffalo over New Jersey in a meeting of the Eastern Conference's top two teams. Rookie Daniel Paille and Ales Kotalik also scored, while Ryan Miller stopped 28 shots to help the Sabres extended their lead atop the East standings to seven points over the Devils, as well as idle Pittsburgh and Ottawa. The Sabres (49-20-7) also moved into a tie for first place in the NHL with Nashville, and inched to within one victory of their second consecutive 50-win season. Scott Gomez, Paul Martin and Zach Parise scored for the Devils (45-24-8), who were coming off a 3-2 victory at the New York Islanders on Tuesday. Martin Brodeur stopped 19 shots and remains three wins short of matching Bernie Parent's single-season record for victories. Brodeur has 44 wins, tied with Vancouver's Roberto Luongo, for the NHL lead.
Panthers 3, Thrashers 2, SO
SUNRISE, Fla. -- Jozef Stumpel scored the tying goal in the third period and notched the winner in the shootout for Florida. Bryan Allen also scored for the Panthers, who are hanging on to slim playoff hopes. Florida is in 12th place in the Eastern Conference and trails eighth-place Montreal by six points with five games left. The victory was only Florida's fourth in 18 overtimes this season. The Panthers' 14 overtime losses are tied for the most in the league with the Los Angeles Kings. Vyacheslav Kozlov scored twice for Atlanta, which increased its Southeast Division lead to three points over idle Tampa Bay. Both teams have five games remaining.
Flyers 5, Hurricanes 1
PHILADELPHIA -- Martin Biron stopped a penalty shot among his 23 saves for Philadelphia. The Flyers got two goals from Jeff Carter, and one each from Derian Hatcher, Mike Knuble and Braydon Coburn for only their ninth home win this season. Ray Whitney scored his 30th goal for the Hurricanes.
Ducks 3, Blackhawks 1
CHICAGO -- Rookie Dustin Penner scored two goals and Ilya Bryzgalov made 20 saves to lead Anaheim. Corey Perry set up both of Penner's goals. George Parros also scored for the Ducks. Radim Vrbata scored for Chicago.
Associated Press
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