PITTSBURGH (AP) -Pittsburgh star Sidney Crosby badly sprained an ankle while ramming into the boards in the first period, and the Andre Roy-led Tampa Bay Lightning took advantage of his absence for a 3-0 victory over the Penguins on Friday night.
Crosby was diagnosed with a high ankle sprain, an injury to the large ligament that connects the two biggest bones in the lower leg, the tibia and fibula. The injury is more serious than the traditional twisted ankle and can sideline an athlete for a month or more.
Roy, a Pittsburgh castoff, had a goal and two assists to figure in all three goals as the Lightning won for only the third time in 12 games (3-7-2). Tampa Bay had been an NHL-worst 5-14-3 on the road.
Sabres 10, Thrashers 1
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – Drew Stafford and Derek Roy had hat tricks and Buffalo ended a 10-game winless skid.
Thomas Vanek, Jochen Hecht and Ales Kotalik each had a goal and two assists for the Sabres, who got off to a fast start with four goals in the first period. Stafford added two assists for a career-high five points.
Colin Stuart scored for Atlanta, which was playing 24 hours after losing in a shootout to Montreal. The loss, coupled with Carolina’s win over Edmonton, dropped the Thrashers out of first place in the Southeast Division.
Buffalo came within two games of tying a franchise-record 12-game winless stretch set in 1991 and matched in 2002.
Hurricanes 7, Oilers 2
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – All-Star Eric Staal scored three goals, one on a penalty shot, and Carolina snapped its season-worst four-game losing streak.
Rod Brind’Amour had a goal and two assists, Sergei Samsonov and Chad LaRose both had a goal and an assist and Tim Gleason also scored for Carolina, which broke it open with five third-period goals.
Andrew Cogliano had a goal and an assist, and Patrick Thoresen scored for the Oilers, who lost their third straight and were skating in Raleigh for the first time since the Hurricanes beat them in Game 7 of the 2006 Stanley Cup finals.
Blackhawks 2, Avalanche 1, SO
DENVER (AP) – Robert Lang and Patrick Kane scored in a shootout to lift the Chicago Blackhawks to a 2-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night.
Milan Hejduk scored the only shootout goal for Colorado, which had its three-game winning streak end.
Kane scored for the Blackhawks in regulation, and Patrick Lalime had 22 saves.
Andrew Brunette scored his ninth goal of the year and goalie Jose Theodore had 22 saves in his seventh straight start.
The Avalanche played without center Paul Stastny, who will miss at least two weeks after having an appendectomy Thursday. Stastny was selected to represent the Avalanche in the All-Star Game in Atlanta on Jan. 27 but will not play.
Flames 6, Kings 1
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) – Daymond Langkow scored three goals to help Calgary move into first place in its division.
Langkow scored once in each period, finishing the third hat trick of his career by deflecting Adrian Aucoin’s slapshot 2:03 into the third period, drawing a shower of caps onto the ice.
Craig Conroy, Stephane Yelle, and Matthew Lombardi also scored for Calgary, which has picked up points in 11 of its last 12 home games.
Ducks 4, Wild 2.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Todd Bertuzzi scored twice and Ryan Getzlaf had three assists.
Corey Perry scored his 26th goal, and the Ducks won their season-high seventh straight game after surviving a second-period surge by the Wild. Since luring defenseman Scott Niedermayer out of semiretirement and trading for veteran center Doug Weight, Anaheim is 12-2-2.
Chris Pronger also scored for the Ducks, who led 3-0 until Minnesota’s Nick Schultz and Mikko Koivu scored 14 seconds apart in the second period. But the Bertuzzi-Getzlaf-Perry line has been unstoppable lately. Bertuzzi worked his way in the slot and, on an assist from Perry, scored midway through the third.
Panthers 2, Devils 1
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – Radek Dvorak and David Booth scored early in the third period.
Backup goalie Craig Anderson made 31 saves and the Panthers ended a three-game losing streak and gave Jacques Martin his 500th coaching victory.
Travis Zajac scored for the Devils, who had won their past six home games against the Panthers.
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