Tomas Plekanec scored three powerplay goals to help the Montreal Canadians move top in the Northeast Division with a 6-2 crushing of the Buffalo Sabres.

Alex Kovalev added four assists and Mark Streit had a goal and two assists for the Canadiens while Andrei Kastsitsyn and Siarhei Kastsitsyn also scored goals.

Rookie netminder Carey Price stopped 31 shots.

Plekanec scored his opening goal 84 seconds into the game. He completed his first hat-trick with two goals in the second period, also getting an assist. Montreal were three for three on the powerplay.

Thomas Vanek and Tim Connolly scored Buffalo's goals.

Joe Pavelski scored within the first 100 seconds while Devin Setoguchi scored twice to give the San Jose Sharks a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings 3-2. It was San Jose's fourth consecutive road win.

Dan Boyle's powerplay goal 2:02 into overtime gave the Tampa Bay Lightning's a 3-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Cristobal Huet had 18 saves in his first Washington start to help the Capitals shut out the New Jersey Devils 4-0, scoring three goals in the third period against Martin Brodeur.

Mike Green, Viktor Kozlov, Alexander Semin and Donald Brashear scored the Capitals' goals.

The Minnesota Wild defeated the Florida Panthers for a sixth consecutive game, with a 3-2 victory.

Reuters