The Phoenix Coyotes were finally stopped by a hot goalie.
"Their goaltender came up huge," Phoenix center Jeremy Roenick said after Mikhail Shtalenkov made 45 saves to lead Edmonton to a 4-3 victory over the Coyotes on Wednesday night. "He's the reason why they won the game. Period."The Oilers stopped the NHL's hottest team despite being outshot 48-22, bringing an end to the Coyotes' eight-game winning streak and 14-game unbeaten streak (12-0-2).
The Pacific Division leaders hadn't lost since Oct. 22 in Dallas.
"By and large, I thought we played a whale of a game," Phoenix coach Jim Schoenfeld said. "I thought their goaltender played a great game. That's going to happen with the number of good goaltenders in the league."
Kelly Buchberger and Rem Murray scored 1:35 apart in the third period for the Oilers against the Coyotes, who allowed an opponent to score more than two goals for the first time in 18 games. The 17-game streak was one short of the modern NHL record of 18 held by the 1959-60 Montreal Canadiens.
SABRES 2, PANTHERS 1: Dixon Ward scored his team-leading 10th goal and Dominik Hasek continued his mastery at home with 27 saves as Buffalo defeated Florida.
Ward, who leads the NHL in shooting percentage, scored the game-winner at 12:01 of the second period when he connected on a rebound of his own shot to beat Panthers goalie Kirk McLean.
Hasek has started the last 39 home games for the Sabres and has a 23-8-8 record and a 1.56 goals-against average. He also has seven shutouts in that span.
HURRICANES 4, CANADIENS 1: Ray Sheppard and Keith Primeau scored 5 1/2 minutes apart as Carolina won its fourth straight. Sheppard's game-winner came with 4:19 left in the second period, while Primeau scored his team-leading 12th goal 1:09 into the third period just seconds after Hurricanes goalie Trevor Kidd made several key saves.
RANGERS 3, ISLANDERS 2: Mike Richter stopped 25 shots as the Rangers won their third straight game. Mike Knuble, Petr Nedved and Wayne Gretzky scored for the Rangers, who snapped a three-game losing streak at Nassau Coliseum since a 5-2 victory on Feb. 8, 1997.
MAPLE LEAFS 3, KINGS 1: Sergei Berezin scored twice to lead Toronto to its seventh straight home victory.
Berezin, with his first goal in 12 games, deflected Sylvain Cote's point shot with 9:52 left in the third for the game-winner -- his second power-play goal of the night.
STARS 3, SHARKS 0: Ed Belfour stopped 26 shots for his second straight shutout, becoming the leader among active goalies with 42 career shutouts, as Dallas won at San Jose.
AVALANCHE 4, RED WINGS 2: Rookie Chris Drury broke a tie game early in the third period as Colorado beat visiting Detroit, ending the Red Wings' winning streak at five.