RALEIGH, N.C. - After reaching several milestones the past few seasons in losses, Ron Francis was able to enjoy his latest accomplishment during a win.
The Carolina captain tied Marcel Dionne for fourth on the all-time points list with a goal, and the Hurricanes finally solved Buffalo's Mika Noronen, beating the Sabres 2-1 Monday night.
"The guys are working hard, and it's nice to get it in a game that helps us win," Francis said when asked about tying Marcel Dionne with 1,771 points. "That's the most special part about it."
Carolina won its second in a row at the start of a seven-game homestand and improved to 4-2 under new coach Peter Laviolette. All of the wins have been by 2-1 scores.
"It's a great number, isn't it?" Francis said of the 2-1 scores. "I was actually getting excited when we had two goals halfway through the second, thinking we might get three or four tonight. In the end, 2-1 was good enough again."
Meanwhile, the Sabres had their three-game unbeaten streak snapped.
Noronen had beaten Carolina 5-0 and 3-1 in the past five weeks with some spectacular goaltending. But Francis scored his goal early in the second period, and Bret Hedican added one later to erase a one-goal Buffalo lead.
Francis, in his 23rd season, chipped in a loose puck in traffic after a shot from Jeff O'Neill bounced high in the air in front of the Buffalo net.
"It was a big goal for our team and a big goal for him," O'Neill said. "It seems like I've said it 100 times, but he's in some company that's unbelievable for the rest of the guys in this locker room.
"And somehow I always seem to snivel in some kind of assist or goal on his milestones. Somehow I get my ugly face into the action, but it's been fun the last five or six years seeing him climb up the ladder."
The goal was also the 542nd of his career, passing Stan Mikita for 21st place.
STARS 2, FLYERS 2: Pierre Turgeon scored a power-play goal with 16:42 left in regulation and host Dallas rallied from a two-goal deficit. Turgeon's deflection of Richard Matvichuk's shot beat goaltender Robert Esche to tie the score.
Sergei Zubov had a power-play goal in the second period and Marty Turco had 26 saves for the Stars, 6-1-2 in past nine games.
Mike Comrie scored his first goal for the Flyers, and Esche stopped 20 shots for Philadelphia. The Flyers are 2-2-3-3 in past 10.
Kim Johnsson scored a second-period goal for Philadelphia in Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock's first game in Dallas since he was fired by the Stars on Jan.25, 2002. The Stars won the Stanley Cup with Hitchcock behind the bench in 1999.
RANGERS 3, COYOTES 2 (OT): Tom Poti scored one minute into overtime, capping a late comeback, and New York kept Phoenix winless in its new arena. Bobby Holik and Mark Messier had the Rangers' other goals.
Messier and Eric Lindros had two assists each, helping the Rangers to their first win in Arizona since Nov.26, 1996, the Coyotes' first season after leaving Winnipeg. The Rangers, who didn't visit last season, were 0-3-2 since then.
WILD 2, FLAMES 2: Richard Park scored on a penalty shot in the third period to rally visiting Minnesota. The penalty shot was awarded when Calgary defenseman Jordan Leopold gloved a loose puck and threw it out of the crease during a goal-mouth scramble.
CANUCKS 3, AVALANCHE 2: Mike Keane scored with 4:35 left, helping Dan Cloutier and visiting Vancouver. Cloutier had 34 saves for Northwest Division-leading Vancouver, which rallied from a 2-0 deficit. David Aebischer had 24 saves for Colorado, which got two first-period goals from Steve Konowalchuk.
BRUINS 3, CAPITALS 1: Hal Gill scored his first goal in nearly 11 months, and Felix Potvin made 28 saves for his first victory in seven weeks for the visitors. The Bruins were 0-4-2 since a 3-2 victory at Ottawa on Dec. 13 and had just one victory in 12 games (1-6-5). The Capitals have lost two in a row, failing twice to earn the franchise's 1,000th victory.
ISLANDERS 3, DEVILS 1: Mark Parrish scored two goals to lead New York. The Islanders won their fifth straight overall, their seventh consecutive at home, and their third in a row over the Stanley Cup champion Devils. Parrish scored twice for the second straight game and has a three-game goal streak, one short of his career high.
BLUES 3, BLUE JACKETS 2: Ryan Johnson scored the winner with 3:44 left, and Doug Weight added a goal and an assist for St. Louis. Keith Tkachuk also had a goal for the Blues, playing the first of 16 games in 34 days. St. Louis was winless in four (0-2-2). Columbus lost its fifth in a row at home. Blues goaltender Chris Osgood was injured early after being struck in the leg by a puck shot by teammate Bryce Salvador. Osgood was helped off and replaced by Brent Johnson.
PENGUINS 1, BLACKHAWKS 0: Sebastien Caron stopped 30 shots in his first shutout in nearly a year, and Tomas Surovy scored the only goal. The Penguins, who went into the game last in the standings, stretched Chicago's road winless streak to 12 games (0-11-0-1) a night after the Blackhawks beat the Red Wings 3-0 at home.
MAPLE LEAFS 4, PANTHERS 4: Owen Nolan scored two third-period goals to help visiting Toronto. Darcy Tucker and Nik Antropov also scored for Toronto, which had its franchise-record 16-game point streak snapped by the Islanders on Saturday.
CANADIENS 2, THRASHERS 1: Jose Theodore made 28 saves to lift visiting Montreal. Atlanta survived a scare when Ilya Kovalchuk was helped off the ice with an injury late in the first period, but he returned shortly after. Theodore denied two chances by Kovalchuk, one by J.P. Vigier and one by Shawn McEachern in the final five minutes.
SENATORS-PANTHERS TRADE: Ottawa traded defenseman Wade Brookbank to Florida for future considerations. Brookbank was placed on waivers so he can be reassigned in the organization.
ISLANDERS: Goalie Rick DiPietro was sent to Bridgeport of the AHL at his own request. DiPietro, the first goalie to be chosen No.1 in the NHL draft, has played only 27 minutes in 10 games.
