SCOREBOARD
Saturday, Dec. 29
Buffalo at Pittsburgh (7:30 p.m. EST). The Sabres visit the Penguins in a preview of their Jan. 1 outdoor matchup in Buffalo.
STARS
Thursday
-Sergei Gonchar, Penguins, tallied in overtime to help Pittsburgh rally past Washington 4-3.
-Valtteri Filppula, Red Wings, scored two goals for the second straight game in Detroit’s 4-2 win over Colorado.
-Joffrey Lupul, Flyers, scored twice in Philadelphia’s 4-1 victory over Toronto.
-Nathan Horton, Panthers, scored twice to push Florida past Atlanta 5-3.
-Niklas Backstrom, Wild, made 46 saves to lead Minnesota past Phoenix 3-2.
YOUNG STARS
s without a goal since Nov. 5-6.
MILESTONES
Jason Spezza scored a power-play goal for his 300th NHL point, leading Ottawa to a 5-2 win over the New York Islanders on Thursday. Spezza earned his milestone point in his 277th regular-season game with his 13th goal of the season in the second. He added his 301st point with an assist 1:43 later. … Nashville edged Columbus 4-3 to mark the 300th win for both the Predators and Barry Trotz, marking the 18th time a coach has won 300 games with an NHL team.
RED DECEMBER
Valtteri Filppula scored two goals for the second straight game and Dominik Hasek made 22 saves in Detroit’s 4-2 win over Colorado on Thursday. It was the Red Wings’ 11th win in December and their 13th victory in 15 games.
PROVIDING A SPARK
Doug Weight scored a tiebreaking goal with 3:39 left to lift Anaheim over Edmonton 2-1 on Thursday. The Ducks (19-15-5) improved to 4-0-1 since Scott Neidermayer returned. The playoff MVP had been contemplating retirement. The Oilers (16-19-3) suffered their fourth straight loss.
NO SUPPORT
Wade Dubielewicz, the Islanders’ rarely used backup, made 32 saves in just his third start of the season, a 5-2 loss to Ottawa on Thursday. Dubielewicz has allowed 17 goals in his three starts, while the Islanders have only scored three over that span. New York had a three-game winning streak snapped.
STREAKS
Mike Richards picked up an assist in Philadelphia’s 4-1 win over Toronto to stretch his point streak at home to 16 games, tying a team record set by Bobby Clarke in the 1975-76 season. … Martin Gerber stopped 24 shots to help Ottawa extend its winning streak to three with a 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders. The Senators have won nine of 11 (9-1-1).
SNAPPED
Nathan Horton scored two goals for the first time since last March 27 to help Florida upend the Thrashers 5-3 on Thursday and end an 11-game losing streak in Atlanta. The Panthers had gone 0-10-1 at Philips Arena since November 2003. … Philadelphia snapped a six-game slide with a 4-1 win over Toronto. The Flyers also snapped a six-game winless string against the Maple Leafs (0-5-1). … Jan Hlavac broke a 17-game goal drought in the final minute of Tampa Bay’s 5-2 loss to Montreal. … Vancouver downed Calgary 5-3 to hand the Flames their first regulation loss in December (7-1-4). Calgary was looking to tie a franchise record with its seventh straight road win.
STRONG IN DEFEAT
Ilya Kovalchuk scored his league-leading 30th and 31st goals in Atlanta’s 5-3 loss to Florida on Thursday. In his last 21 games, Kovalchuk has scored 17 of his 28 points off goals.
OUT
Joe Sakic will undergo hernia surgery Friday, and the Colorado captain will be out of action for up to three months. Sakic has been out since Nov. 30, missing 12 games. Before sitting out against San Jose on Nov. 30, Sakic had played in 232 consecutive games – dating to Jan. 6, 2004. Sakic, in his 19th NHL season, ranks eighth on the league’s career points list with 1,611.
SPEAKING
“We have over 80 games, so I knew it was going to come sometime. It is a goal I will remember all my life. I haven’t thought about it that much, but I knew it was going to come.” – Nashville’s Ville Koistinen, after his first NHL goal lifted the Predators over Columbus 4-3 on Thursday.