Jimmy Howard made 27 saves, and the Detroit Red Wings stretched their winning streak to seven with a 4-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres Friday night. Jakub Kindl, Johan Franzen, and Valtteri Filppula scored first-period goals for Detroit (16-7-1), which last won seven in a row in March 2010. Pavel Datsyuk extended the lead to 4-1 by scoring into an empty net with 1:17 left. Howard was steady throughout. In the second period he robbed Jason Pominville, who was left alone in the slot. He then stopped Nathan Gerbe on a breakaway in the third. Jochen Hecht spoiled Howard's shutout bid with 6:13 remaining. Jhonas Enroth, making his ninth straight start in place of No. 1 goalie Ryan Miller, made 32 saves for the Sabres (13-11-1), who have lost three of four. Philadelphia 4, Anaheim 3: Philadelphia's Claude Giroux scored an overtime powerplay goal to complete a stunning Flyers rally for a close win over Anaheim and spoiling the comeback of Ducks' coach Bruce Boudreau. Giroux, left unmarked in the right faceoff circle, slapped a pass from Daniel Briere just inside the post and beyond the reach of Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller to complete a quartet of unanswered goals for the visitors. Keen to impress their new coach on home ice, the Ducks flew out of the blocks to build a 3-0 lead early in the second period on goals by Andrew Cogliano, Teemu Selanne and Andrew Gordon. “They came out pretty strong and obviously they've got pretty good players that can put the puck in the net,” Giroux told reporters. “They made a couple of mistakes at the end, and we kind of re-grouped as a team.” However, the home team began to run into penalty trouble, allowing Philadelphia to convert on three of nine powerplay opportunities, including two by 39-year-old winger Jaromir Jagr. “It was one of the things I was a little worried about. We had 111 minors coming in,” Boudreau said. “If you look at the teams that are successful, it's not the teams that are the most penalized teams. It's the teams that are the least penalized teams.” Scott Hartnell scored the equalizer with three minutes remaining, lifting a pass from Kimmo Timonen, who had three assists, high over the shoulder of Hiller from close range. The situation got worse for Anaheim when captain Ryan Getzlaf was first called for tripping 41 seconds into overtime and assessed an additional penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, giving the Flyers a one-man advantage for the remainder of the contest. Boudreau was fired by the Capitals Monday and hired by the Ducks two days later. Elsewhere: Minnesota 4, New Jersey 2; Chicago 5, NY Islanders 4 (SO); Colorado 3, St Louis 2 (SO); Edmonton 6, Columbus 3.
