Thomas Vanek scored the winner in his 500th NHL game as the Buffalo Sabres edged divisional rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 in a fast-paced and sometimes frenetic encounter at the First Niagara Center Friday. The Austrian winger marked his milestone with two goals, including what proved to be the decisive score with four minutes remaining in the third period, to fire the Sabres into a tie with the Maple Leafs for second place in the Northeast. Vanek was sent in on a breakaway by Derek Roy, who was also playing his 500th game, and calmly slapped a shot through the legs of Maple Leafs goalie James Reimer. There was no sign of the drama to come after the teams were goalless following an uneventful first period, but they then combined for six goals in the second period following a number of powerplays. Toronto's Joffrey Lupul and Dion Phaneuf scored goals either side of a powerplay effort by Buffalo's Drew Stafford to put the Maple Leafs 2-1 up. However, the Sabres struck back with a goal from Vanek and powerplay scores by Tyler Ennis and Andrej Sekera to open up a 4-2 advantage as Phaneuf was ejected for hitting Zack Kassian from behind into the boards. Toronto's Nikolai Kulemin then scored on a penalty shot midway through the third period to cut the lead to 4-3 but Vanek scored the clincher and the Sabres hung on despite Mikhail Grabovski pulling the Maple Leafs to within one goal to set-up a tense finale. Devils 6, Stars 3: Zach Parise made sure the night the New Jersey Devils honored former captain Scott Niedermayer ended on a winning note by scoring a goal and setting up three others in a 6-3 victory over the Dallas Stars. David Clarkson, rookie Adam Henrique, Ilya Kovalchuk, Petr Sykora and Patrik Elias also scored as the Devils won their third straight and snapped the Stars' and rookie goaltender Richard Backman's three-game winning streak. Johan Hedberg finished with 33 saves for the Devils. Senators 6, Penguins 6: The Ottawa Senators were in the right frame of mind as they headed to the dressing room after a big second period. Jason Spezza had two goals and two assists, and Jared Cowen also had four points to lead Ottawa to a win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Daniel Alfredsson scored his 398th NHL goal and added two assists, and Erik Karlsson also had three points. In other games it was: Blackhawks 4, Ducks 1; Panthers 3, Flames 2.
