Sabres stay sharp in shootout win

Daniel Briere scored the lone goal in the shootout, Ryan Miller made 36 saves, including six in overtime, and Brian Campbell had a goal and an assist Friday night in the Buffalo Sabres’ 4-3 win over the New York Rangers in Buffalo, N.Y.

Jochen Hecht and Chris Drury also scored for the Sabres, who won their second straight.

The Sabres swept the four-game season series from the Rangers, and became the fifth team in NHL history to accumulate at least 20 victories through 25 games, the first since Ottawa won 21 of its first 25 last season.

Three of the four games between the two teams went to overtime.

Michal Rozsival, Martin Straka and Michael Nylander scored for the Rangers, who lost their third straight, all in overtime.

After Briere deked New York goalie Kevin Weekes in the first round of the shootout, Miller blanked Nylander, Brendan Shanahan and Petr Prucha to win for the fourth time in his last six starts.

Flames 2, Blue Jackets 1: At Calgary, Alberta, Jarome Iginla and Chuck Kobasew scored third-period goals to lead the Flames to a come-from-behind victory over Columbus.

Blackhawks 5, Blues 2: At Chicago, Tuomo Ruutu scored his fifth goal in six games and Nikolai Khabibulin made 29 saves to lead the Blackhawks to a win over St. Louis.

Red Wings 3, Wild 0: At St. Paul, Minn., Dominik Hasek needed just 20 saves to record his 72nd career shutout in Detroit’s victory over the Wild.

Devils 5, Penguins 2: At East Rutherford, N.J., Jay Pandolfo scored the tie-breaking goal and the Devils snapped a four-game losing streak with a win over Pittsburgh.

Off the ice

Vancouver center Josh Green will be out at least two weeks after breaking his toe during practice Wednesday. … Vancouver recalled center Rick Rypien from Manitoba of the AHL. Rypien, a cousin of former NFL quarterback Mark Rypien (Shadle Park, Washington State University), has three goals and six points in 14 games in Manitoba this season.