Canucks end winless run, Avalanche win in OT

The Vancouver Canucks ended their run of five successive defeats with a 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL on Monday.

The Sabres took the lead through Brian Gionta after six minutes, 48 seconds in the first period before Radim Vrbata scored twice within eight minutes to put the Canucks ahead.

Brandon Prust and Henrik Sedin stretched the Canucks' lead to 4-1 late in the second period, before Sam Reinhart pulled one back for the Sabres.

However, Vrbata scored his third of the night with 5:32 remaining in the third to seal the big win for the Canucks.

At the Pepsi Center, John Mitchell scored at 3:35 of overtime to give the Colorado Avalanche a 2-1 win against the Minnesota Wild.

It was the Avalanche's first win against the Wild after three games this season, with Mitchell taking a pass from Matt Duchene, cutting to the front of the net before putting the puck past Wild goalie Darcy Kuemper.

Tyson Barrie opened the scoring for the Avalanche, which ended their scoreless stretch of 116:06 against the Wild.

Meanwhile, the Nashville Predators picked up a 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins at the TD Garden.

The Predators had to come from behind on two occasions, with Roman Josi scoring the equalising goal both times.

Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson scored the game-winning goal with 4:56 remaining.