Former Knight Tuch excels as Sabres topple Devils, end skid

Former Golden Knight Alex Tuch had two goals and an assist to lead host Buffalo past

New Jersey 5-4. The Sabres snapped a fourgame skid with their second win in 10 games and stayed on the fringes of contention for the East’s final playoff spot, pulling six points behind Pittsburgh for the second wild card. Jack Hughes had two goals and assist for the Devils, who are two points behind first-place Carolina in the Metropolitan Division.

■ Avalanche 3, Coyotes 1: At Denver, defenseman Cale Makar had a goal and two assists in his return to Colorado’s lineup after missing two games because of a lower-body injury. Nathan Mackinnon also had a goal and two assists, extending his home point streak to 19 games, as the Avs won for the seventh time in eight games. Clayton Keller scored his 35th goal this season, and eighth in his past seven games, for Arizona.

■ Blue Jackets 5, Islanders 4, OT: At Columbus, Ohio, Boone Jenner scored 40 seconds into overtime in cellar-dwelling Columbus’ second straight win. Brock Nelson scored twice for New York, which had a 38-27 edge in shots but saw its three-game win streak end. AHL

■ Silver Knights 7, Firebirds 4: At Dollar Loan Center, Sakari Manninen scored two of his three goals in the first period for the Silver Knights (24-34-5), who didn’t trail and notched their second straight win after a five-game skid. Gage Quinney had two goals, including an empty-netter with 10 seconds left, and two assists. Cameron Hughes scored three goals for Coachella Valley (41-14-6), which was outshot 32-31 and lost its third in a row. NBA