BUFFALO, N.Y. - J.P. Dumont and Adam Mair scored in the second to lift the Sabres to a 2-1 victory over the Canadiens on Wednesday.
Martin Biron had 24 saves for the Sabres, who climbed within six points of the Islanders for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.
Each team has six games remaining.
The Sabres have points in seven of eight games (4-1-0-3). Montreal lost in regulation for just the second time in 15 games (11-2-1-1).
Michael Ryder scored for Montreal, which could have clinched a playoff spot by earning one point. The Canadiens are seventh in the East, two points behind the Devils.
Dumont gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead 6:07 into the second with his 20th goal. After corralling a pass from Daniel Briere in the left circle, Dumont's hard wrist shot went into the top right corner.
Less than four minutes later, Mair made it 2-0 with his sixth goal. Standing in front of the Montreal net, Mair blocked defenseman Jeff Jillson's shot from the right point.
The puck dropped right onto Mair's stick, and he quickly turned around and his shot beat Mathieu Garon along the ice.
FLAMES 4, COYOTES 0: Jarome Iginla scored his 39th and Roman Turek earned his second straight shutout for visiting Calgary, which ended a two-game losing streak. Turek, who beat St. Louis 3-0 on March 14, had 22 saves.
The Flames scored twice in the first 3:45 of the third to make it 4-0. Iginla raced through the neutral zone, squeezed between defenseman Radoslav Suchy and the boards and beat Brent Johnson 41 seconds in. Martin Gelinas added a power-play goal 3:04 later after officials decided his glove deflection of a slap shot by Denis Gauthier was low enough to count.
THRASHERS 3, CAPITALS 2: Daniel Tjarnqvist scored on a 55-foot shot with 7:24 left for host Atlanta, which tied a franchise record with its 31st victory.
Washington tied it 9:26 into the third when Brian Willsie knocked in a rebound. But three minutes later, Tjarnqvist flipped a shot from just inside the blue line that got by Matthew Yeats, who was screened by Ilya Kovalchuk.
BLUE JACKETS 2, WILD 0: Rick Nash scored his 39th and Marc Denis stopped 20 shots for host Columbus. Aaron Johnson made it 1-0 with 7:57 left in the second by putting in a rebound of Andrew Cassels' point-blank shot.
Nash scored from a hard angle at the right boards with two seconds left in the second. Goaltender Dwayne Roloson was tight to the near post, but he mishandled the puck with his glove and pulled the puck into the net.
Flyers star to play tonight
VOORHEES, N.J. - Flyers center Jeremy Roenick decided to return a game ahead of schedule after his recovery from a broken jaw and concussion.
Roenick said he will play tonight at home against the Islanders. He was hit by a shot by Rangers defenseman Boris Mironov on Feb. 12, and the injuries threatened his career. He most likely will wear a protective cage for about a month.
"I figured it was enough time to heal. It's been six weeks now," Roenick said. "Six weeks was the parameter. And I knew going in that the playoffs were about two months away, so I had a good chance of coming back."
Roenick said he isn't concerned about being a target.
"You don't want to go out and kind of be standoffish or protective," he said. "You want to go in there and really test it."
Also, Mark Recchi missed practice and could be out tonight after his throat was cut by a skate Tuesday against Carolina. He received 19 stitches, but the cut reopened early in practice.
AVALANCHE: Defenseman Brett Clark was recalled from AHL Hershey to replace John-Michael Liles, who has a bruised knee. Liles was hurt during the Avalanche's tie with Chicago on Tuesday and is day to day.
BLACKHAWKS: Goaltender Michael Leighton was sent to AHL Norfolk . In 34 games, he went 6-18-8 with a 2.99 goals-against average.
