Red Wings whip Sabres for 15th straight home victory

DETROIT — Home ice has never been more of an advantage to the Red Wings than it has over the last 2? months.

Jimmy Howard and Henrik Zetterberg led Detroit to its 15th straight victory at home, breaking a franchise record set in 1965 with a 5-0 victory against the Buffalo Sabres on Monday.

The Red Wings have the longest single-season winning streak by an NHL team at home since 1976 when Philadelphia won 20 in a row to match a league mark set by Boston during the 1929-30 season, according to STATS, LLC.

Detroit is 18-2-1 overall at home — where it hasn't lost since Nov. 3, 2011 — after posting a lackluster 21-14-6 mark in the Motor City last season.

Howard said the team could only enjoy the feat until boarding a plane later in the night.

"We have to start thinking about Dallas," Howard said after making 27 saves for his fifth shutout and NHL-high 27th victory. "We haven't done as well as we want on the road."

The Red Wings, who are 11-13 on the road, play at Dallas on Tuesday night and visit Phoenix before returning home to play Columbus on Saturday.

"We got booed sometimes last season here and that was pretty embarrassing," Red Wings forward Drew Miller said. "We've really made playing at home better one of our goals this season and so far, so good."

Zetterberg scored the first of Detroit's three goals in the opening period, Todd Bertuzzi had a goal and two assists and Pavel Datsyuk set up three straight scores to give him 700 career points.

Howard stopped a flurry of shots late in the opening period, including Drew Stafford's shot that went off his mask, and responded well to one of the rare offensive surges from Buffalo.

Howard was handed a three-goal cushion when Franzen and Lidstrom scored in a 1:32 span off assists from Datsyuk.

The Sabres have lost a franchise-record nine straight road games in regulation and Ryan Miller doesn't think a magical move from the front office could make a difference.

"There's not ever going to be a trade in the history of the NHL that's going to change something like this," Miller said.

The standout goaltender was benched early in the second after giving up goals to Zetterberg, Bertuzzi, Johan Franzen, Nicklas Lidstrom and Darren Helm.

Bruins 3, Panthers 2 (SO)

In Sunrise, Florida, Patrice Bergeron scored two goals and David Krejci scored the winner in the shootout and Boston beat Florida.

Bergeron scored two goals for the Bruins, and Tuukka Rask stopped 38 shots.

Jason Garrison and Shawn Matthias scored goals for Florida, and Scott Clemmensen made 33 saves.

Blues 1, Stars 0

In St. Louis, Jaroslav Halak made 22 saves for his third shutout of the season and T.J. Oshie scored midway through the third period and the surging Blues blanked Dallas.

St. Louis has earned 13 out of a possible 14 points this month (6-0-1) and is tied with the New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks atop the NHL standings with 60 points.

Jets 2, Senators 0

In Ottawa, Chris Mason made 25 saves for his second shutout and Winnipeg ended a three-game losing streak with a victory over the Senators.

Predators 3, Islanders 1

In Uniondale, New York, Sergei Kostitsyn and Matt Halischuk scored on Nashville's first two shots against Islanders goalie Kevin Poulin, and the surging Predators rolled to a victory over New York.

Coyotes 6, Avalanche 1

In Glendale, Arizona, Shane Doan and Boyd Gordon scored two goals apiece and Phoenix returned from an 0-3 road trip to rout Colorado.

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