NHL ROUNDUP : Late Goal Gives Canadiens a 2-2 Tie With the Sabres

In recent years the Buffalo Sabres have looked great on paper, but not too sharp on the ice.

However, under first-year Coach Rick Dudley, they are beginning to look good on the ice, too.

Although they haven’t played in many important games for sometime, they responded willingly in a showdown with Montreal Friday night at Buffalo.

But they allowed Shayne Corson to get free and he scored with just two seconds left in regulation to get the Canadiens a 2-2 tie.

The Canadiens had pulled goaltender Brian Hayward for an extra attacker when the Sabres iced the puck with five seconds remaining. The puck just missed going into the open net.

The Canadiens won the ensuing faceoff and defenseman Chris Chelios found Corson open near the side of the net. Corson scored his 14th goal.

The Sabres, with Pierre Turgeon scoring his 18th goal, then setting up Rick Vaive for his 14th, dominated the early play.

With a 22-9-5 record, the Sabres are nearing the midway point of the season with a four-point lead in the Adams Division over the Canadiens. Buffalo has the best record in the NHL.

“We just wanted to leave the message that we’re still around,” Canadien Coach Pat Burns said. “The Sabres are the hot team.”

New Jersey 5, Philadelphia 4--Kirk Muller scored at 1:18 of overtime at Philadelphia to lift the surprising Devils.

The Devils, now 2-0-1 this season at the Spectrum, moved within one point of the first-place Flyers and New York Rangers in the Patrick Division.

The loss was the third straight for the Flyers, who dropped to 16-16-4 in their last home game until Jan. 11. They begin a seven-game road trip tonight in Montreal. New Jersey also got back to the .500 mark with a 16-16-3 record.

“A win like this can give us a big lift,” Coach John Cunniff said. “It would be a nice Christmas present if we could win tomorrow night and move into first place.”

Toronto 5, Chicago 3--Tom Fergus and Ed Olczyk scored 18 seconds apart in the third period at Chicago.

The Maple Leafs had just killed off a four-minute power-play when Fergus took a pass from Daniel Marois, when around Dave Manson and beat Jacques Cloutier with a 20-foot wrist shot at 5:34.

Olczyk, a former Blackhawk, then beat Cloutier from the left circle for a 4-2 lead. The loss ended Cloutier’s eight-game winning streak at Chicago Stadium.