The Enquirer and wire reports

BUFFALO, N.Y. - Taylor Pyatt scored twice and the Buffalo Sabres snapped their 12-game winless streak with a 5-4 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday.

Miroslav Satan, Vaclav Varada and James Patrick also scored, while Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller was shaky, stopping 17 shots to earn his first NHL victory.

The win came a month to the day since Buffalo's last victory, ending an 0-9-2-1 streak, which matched a franchise record.

The win didn't come easily as the Sabres almost squandered a three-goal third-period lead when David Vyborny and Lasse Pirjeta scored 2:39 apart to make it 5-4 with 3:22 remaining. Columbus, however, failed to manage a shot the rest of the way despite pulling its goalie in the final minute.

Ray Whitney scored a short-handed goal and Derrick Walser also scored for the Blue Jackets, who have just one win in eight road games. The loss was also Columbus' first against Buffalo in its three-year history, ending a 3-0-1 string.

The game was the Sabres' first since the NHL gave conditional approval Wednesday to Buffalo businessman Mark Hamister and Todd Berman's joint bid to purchase the financially troubled team.

The two must now await NHL board of governor approval which, if all goes well, is expected to come early next year.

Hamister received a standing ovation when he was introduced and pictured on the center-ice video scoreboard, shaking hands with fans in the stands during a first-period break.

Penguins 3, Thrashers 1

ATLANTA - Alexei Kovalev scored the go-ahead goal with 5:51 left and Pittsburgh earned its 14th straight victory over Atlanta.

Wayne Primeau added an empty-netter for the Penguins with 49.5 seconds remaining.

Pittsburgh's first two goals came with the man advantage, and Mario Lemieux had assists on both, raising his NHL-leading point total to 38. He also has a league-high 24 power-play points.

The Penguins, who snapped a seven-game winless streak, have scored nine of their past 10 goals on the power play.

AHL

MIGHTY DUCKS WIN: Nick Smith scored two goals to lead the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks to a 4-3 victory over the Lowell Lock Monsters in American Hockey League play at Tsongas Arena.

Cory Pecker and Brendan Yarema also scored for the Ducks, who halted a three-game winless streak (0-1-1-1) and won for the first time in five tries in Lowell (1-4-0-0).

Tony Martensson had two assists to extend his point streak to five games, helping the Ducks to just their second road win of the season (2-3-2-0).

Brett Lysak, Mike Watt and Brad DeFauw scored goals for the Lock Monsters, who are 1-4-0-0 in their last five games and 2-7-0-0 in their last nine.

Ducks goalie Jean-Francois Damphousse made 27 saves in the win. Former Cyclone Jean-Marc Pelletier stopped 27 shots for Lowell.

Mighty Ducks	2	2	0	-4
Lowell	1	2	0	-3

First Period: 1. Cin, Pecker 2 (Martensson, Valicevic), 5:27. 2. Cin, N. Smith 4 (Popovic), 7:53 (shg). 3. Low, Lysak 3 (Tselios, Westlund), 16:27 (ppg).

Second Period: 4. Cin, N. Smith 5 (Martensson, DeWolf), 4:47 (ppg). 5. Low, Watt 4 (Kurka, Bayda), 9:13. 6. Cin, Yarema 3 (Podhradsky, DeWolf), 12:18 (ppg). 7. Low, DeFauw 5 (Tselios, Westlund), 17:54 (ppg).

Shots on goal: Cin 14-13-4=31; Lowell 15-9-6=30. Power-play opportunities: Cin 2-for-4; Lowell 2-for-7. Goaltenders: Cin, Damphousse (30 shots, 27 saves; record 3-3-1); Lowell, Pelletier (58:40; 31 shots, 27 saves; record 5-6-0). A: 4,561. Records: Cin 6-6-3-2; Lowell 6-1-1-0.

College

MIAMI, UAF TIE: The No.11-ranked Miami RedHawks (11-3-1, 6-1-1 CCHA) and Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks (3-6-2, 2-5-2 CCHA) played to a 2-2 tie at Goggin Arena. They play again tonight in Oxford.