Sabres lose 10th straight with Rangers defeat

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Goals from Petr Prucha and Brandon Dubinsky gave the New York Rangers a 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday, handing the visitors their 10th straight loss.

Henrik Lundqvist made 23 saves for the Rangers in a victory that kept slumping Buffalo out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Sabres are winless since a 6-5 shootout win over Philadelphia on December 22.

The Rangers climbed into eighth spot in the East with the win, just their second in their past eight games.

Dubinsky opened the scoring for the Rangers 6:15 into the first period but the Sabres tied the game on a goal by Jason Pominville 2:43 into the second period.

Prucha steered in the game-winner at 9:42 of the second, while Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller kept the Sabres in the game for the rest of the night.

The Rangers young combination of Prucha, Dubinsky and Nigel Dawes impressed New York coach Tom Renney.

"The three young guys certainly are making a case for themselves for regular duty," Renney told reporters. "They do the right things, and they get rewarded."

"We're having fun out there together," said Dubinsky. "We're just trying to maximize our time in their zone and minimize their time in ours, and then we can use the talent the three of us have and help provide some offense for the team."

Chris Drury played his first game against his former Buffalo teammates. Drury signed a five-year, $35.25 million contract with the Rangers in the off-season.

*The Philadelphia Flyers won for the fifth time in six games as Daniel Briere scored twice in a 5-3 win over the Florida Panthers.

*The New York Islanders continued their domination over the New Jersey Devils this season, Rick DiPietro making 37 saves in a 3-1 win over the Devils.

*Patrick Kane had two goals and an assist as the Chicago Blackhawks routed the St. Louis Blues 6-1.

(Writing by Roger Lajoie in Toronto)