BUFFALO, New York: Nathan Gerbe and Tyler Ennis scored 1:50 apart in the second period as the Buffalo Sabres opened ground in the tight Eastern Conference playoff race with an 8-2 rout of the Atlanta Thrashers Saturday. Rob Niedermayer scored twice and Ryan Miller (30-21-7) made 28 saves – and stopped Evander Kane's penalty shot – to become the eighth NHL goalie with six consecutive 30-win seasons. Mark Mancari had a goal and two assists, and Tyler Myers had three assists for eighth-place Buffalo, which moved two points ahead of idle Carolina. Alexander Burmistrov and Chris Thorburn scored for the Thrashers, who dropped six points behind the Sabres with three weeks left in the season. Flyers 3, Stars 2, SO: At Dallas, Ville Leino scored in the sixth round of the shootout as Philadelphia clinched a playoff spot by beating Dallas. Blue Jackets 5, Wild 4: At St. Paul, Minnesota, Antoine Vermette scored at 4:26 of overtime, lifting Columbus over Minnesota. Maple Leafs 5, Bruins 2: At Toronto, Nazem Kadri scored his first NHL goal, and Joey Crabb added a goal and two assists as Toronto hammered slumping Boston. Senators 3, Lightning 2, OT: At Ottawa, Jason Spezza scored goal 3:28 into OT to cap Ottawa's comeback win over Tampa Bay. Islanders 4, Panthers 3, SO: At Sunrise, Florida, Frans Nielsen and P.A. Parenteau scored in the shootout and rookie Michael Grabner netted his 30th goal in the New York Islanders' win at Florida. Predators 3, Red Wings 1: At Nashville, Jonathon Blum scored a power-play goal at 8:12 of the third period as Nashville won for the fourth time in five games. Ducks 2, Kings 1, OT: At Los Angeles, Corey Perry scored his 37th goal 1:32 into overtime and Ray Emery made 31 saves in his second straight victory as Anaheim beat Los Angeles in the 100th Freeway Faceoff. Sharks 5, Blues 3: At San Jose, California, Joe Pavelski had two goals and an assist as San Jose topped St. Louis but might have lost a top scorer to an injury. Avalanche 3, Oilers 2, SO: At Edmonton, Alberta, Ryan Stoa scored the shootout winner as Colorado edged Edmonton to break a 10-game losing streak. Stoa scored the only goal of the shootout on a pretty backhand past goalie Nikolai Khabibulin.
