Sabres win despite Kessel's 2 goals

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) _ Mark Mowers can scarcely imagine what rookie Bruins teammate Phil Kessel has gone through a month after having surgery for testicular cancer. <br/><br/>One thing's for sure, Mowers

Thursday, January 18th 2007, 6:22 am

By: News On 6

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) _ Mark Mowers can scarcely imagine what rookie Bruins teammate Phil Kessel has gone through a month after having surgery for testicular cancer.

One thing's for sure, Mowers is proud of the way Kessel has responded.

Boston's 6-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night aside, what mattered most was the poise the 19-year-old Kessel showed in scoring two goals in only his fifth game back.

``The last few games since he's been back, he's been a little timid, but rightfully so,'' Mowers said. ``I don't know how I'd come back from something like that. But we all knew he had it in his game.''

Kessel's performance, which marked his first two-goal and multipoint game of his NHL career, also wasn't lost on the Sabres.

``It's remarkable,'' Thomas Vanek said of his fellow University of Minnesota alum. ``I'm happy for him. He's a tremendous player. It's an unfortunate thing that happened. But he recovered well and it seems like he's dealing with it just fine out there.''

Brian Campbell and Maxim Afinogenov scored 4 minutes apart in the third period and Daniel Paille had two goals, including an empty-netter, in helping the Sabres snap a season-worst 0-2-1 skid. Buffalo also ended a three-game home losing streak and bounced back after a 3-2 shootout loss at Boston on Monday.

It was an important win for an Eastern Conference-leading Sabres team that was not accustomed to losing and had been uncharacteristically sloppy of late.

``We need that win,'' Campbell said. ``It's getting back to normal, but it's not where we need to be yet.''

In the other NHL games Wednesday night, it was: Detroit 5, Nashville 3; Dallas 4, Calgary 2; and Colorado 4, Phoenix 3.

Kessel almost single-handedly put a scare into the Sabres.

He opened the scoring 10 minutes in, capitalizing on a breakaway after Buffalo's Dmitri Kalinin twice whiffed in attempting to pass the puck out of his own zone. Kessel then scored his seventh goal of the year, tying it at 3 in the opening minute of the third by one-timing in Marc Savard's pass.

It was a breakout performance that came days after Kessel was selected to play in the NHL's YoungStars game, which showcases the league's top first- and second-year stars during the All-Star game festivities in Dallas next week.

The 2006 first-round draft pick, who missed 11 games and had not produced a point since he returned, declined to talk to reporters afterward. However, his teammates and coach Dave Lewis were certainly excited.

``It's nice to see him rewarded for what he's gone through,'' Lewis said. ``It's probably his best game since coming back.''

Glen Murray also scored for the Bruins, who dropped to 2-6-1 in the last nine games and have lost five straight on the road.

Vanek and Derek Roy also scored for the Sabres, whose six-goal outing was their best in 11 games _ dating to a 6-3 win over Washington on Dec. 26.

Sabres co-captain Daniel Briere had two assists to give him a career-high 38 this season.

Red Wings 5, Predators 3

Henrik Zetterberg had a two goals and an assist, and Pavel Datsyuk added four assists to lift host Detroit to its fifth straight win. Nicklas Lidstrom, Jiri Hudler and Tomas Holmstrom also scored for the Red Wings.

Greg Zanon got his first NHL goal, and Jordin Tootoo and Dan Hamhuis also scored for Nashville, which snapped a six-game winning streak.

Stars 4, Flames 2

At Dallas, All-Star goalie Marty Turco matched a franchise record with his 160th victory, stopping 18 shots and assisting on a goal.

Joel Lundqvist's first career goal snapped a 1-1 tie with 13 1/2 minutes left in the second period. About 2 minutes later, Turco assisted on Stu Barnes' goal that gave Dallas a 3-1 lead. The injury-riddled Stars also got two goals from Jere Lehtinen.

Kristian Huselius and Stephane Yelle had goals for Calgary, which lost its second straight after a five-game winning streak.

Avalanche 4, Coyotes 3

Paul Stastny scored two goals and Tyler Arnason added three assists as Colorado ended Phoenix's six-game road winning streak.

Milan Hejduk had a goal and two assists and Joe Sakic added two assists for the Avalanche, winners of seven straight over Phoenix.

Georges Laraque, Michael Zigomanis and Shane Doan scored for Phoenix, and Curtis Joseph finished with 28 saves.

Andrew Brunette also scored for Colorado, and Peter Budaj stopped 26 shots to improve to 4-0 in his career against Phoenix.