Dany Heatley

The New York Rangers finally figured out the Buffalo Sabres. Mike Dunham made 27 saves for his second consecutive shutout and Eric Lindros had two assists to lead the Rangers to a 3-0 victory over the Sabres on Wednesday night at New York. Dunham has five shutouts this season and 16 in his career. The Rangers, who were 0-2-1 against the last-place Sabres, moved to within four points of the New York Islanders for the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Philadelphia Flyer enforcer Donald Brashear was charged with drunken driving. The forward is scheduled to appear in Waterford Township (N.J.) Municipal Court on Jan. 8 to face charges of driving under the influence, careless driving and refusing to take a Breathalyzer test. Waterford Police Chief John Bekisz told the Courier Post of Cherry Hill, N.J., that police stopped Brashear about 3 a.m.

*--* Year Player Team 2004 Joe Sakic Colorado 2003 Dany Heatley Atlanta 2002 Eric Daze Chicago 2001 Bill Guerin Boston 2000 Pavel Bure Florida 1999 Wayne Gretzky N.Y. Rangers 1998 Teemu Selanne Ducks 1997 Mark Recchi Montreal 1996 Ray Bourque Boston 1995 No game 1994 Mike Richter N.Y. Rangers 1993 Mike Gartner N.Y. Rangers 1992 Brett Hull St.

King left wing Sean Avery, who lived with Atlanta Thrasher center Dan Snyder for two years while they played junior hockey in Canada, is not expected to play tonight at Pittsburgh because he will be at Snyder's funeral today in Elmira, Canada. Snyder died Sunday from brain injuries six days after he and Thrasher teammate Dany Heatley crashed into a brick wall while going about 80 mph on a suburban Atlanta road in Heatley's Ferrari.

Every team divides up the same amount of minutes for players, but Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle and his staff have shown during this year's Stanley Cup playoffs that winning teams know how to gain an edge here. During the regular season, the Ducks' checking line of Samuel Pahlsson, Rob Niedermayer and Travis Moen matched up against the best scoring threats in the league.

Sidney Crosby had his first two-goal game in the NHL and set up another Pittsburgh score, and the Penguins rode a rare early lead to a 5-1 victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday night at Uniondale, N.Y. Crosby, the 18-year-old No. 1 pick in this year's draft, had a goal and an assist in the first period and scored again in the third off a pass from Mario Lemieux.

Martin Havlat and Daniel Alfredsson each scored four goals, and Dany Heatley had two to send the Ottawa Senators to a 10-4 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night at Buffalo, N.Y. Alfredsson tied team records and set career highs for goals and points (six). It also was the first career four-goal game for Havlat, and the third time in three games a Senator player had scored four goals. Heatley had four goals in an 8-0 win over Toronto on Saturday.