Stafford breaks drought in Sabres’ win

Right winger Drew Stafford scored his first goal since early November to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 4-2 victory over the Boston Bruins.

Stafford scored the game-winning goal on a wraparound with 5:41 remaining.

Defenseman Tyler Myers, center Brian Flynn and left winger Marcus Foligno also scored for the Sabres (9-23-3).

Left winger Brad Marchand scored both of Boston’s (23-10-2) goals.

In another game, right-winger Daniel Afredssson’s second goal of the game, with 3:57 left in overtime and on the power play, gave the Detroit Red Wings a 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames.

The win snapped Detroit’s six-game winless streak (0-4-2) and five-game home losing streak.

Alfredsson also had an assist and center Joakim Andersson also scored for Detroit.

Meanwhile, Claude Giroux scored his second goal with 1:38 left to snap a tie and the Philadelphia Flyers rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4 for their eighth straight win at home.

Rookie defenseman Olli Maatta scored on a penalty shot and had two assists, and four other Pittsburgh Penguins scored in a 5-2 win over the Minnesota Wild.

Left winger Joffrey Lupul scored the decisive goal in a shootout and the Toronto Maple Leafs edged the Phoenix Coyotes 2-1.

Roundup

With a backup goalie in net, the Tampa Bay Lightning came through with four goals, helping Anders Lindback to a victory against his former team as the Lightning beat the Nashville Predators 4-2 at Tampa Bay Times Forum.

Defenseman Tom Gilbert and winger Tomas Kopecky scored goals 51 seconds apart late in the third period to give the Florida Panthers a 4-2 win over the Ottawa Senators.

Alexander Steen scored two goals in the first 7:55 of the game about 10 hours after signing a three-year contract extension to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 5-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens.

In a great bounce-back performance after struggling in his previous eight starts, Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen looked like his old self, stopping 27 of 28 shots as the Stars handed the Vancouver Canucks a 4-1 defeat.

Centre Maxime Talbot scored a short-handed goal late in second period and the Colorado Avalanche held on to beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-2.

Goaltender Martin Jones earned his seventh consecutive victory with a 31 save performance, and wingers Tyler Toffoli, Dwight King and Jeff Carter each bagged a goal and an assist as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the San Jose Sharks 4-1.