RALEIGH, N.C. – Scott Walker deflected in a shot from Eric Staal in overtime and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 Saturday night to take a seven-point lead in the Southeast Division.

Sergei Samsonov, Keith Aucoin and Tim Gleason also scored for the Hurricanes, who won for the seventh time in eight games to pull away from division-rival Washington. Earlier on Saturday, the Capitals gave up two power-play goals in the final 5 minutes to lose 2-1 at Boston.

Walker’s goal made Carolina 1-for-8 with the man-advantage, but that hardly mattered. With 11 games left, the 2006 Stanley Cup champions appear to be headed back to the playoffs after missing out last season.

Buffalo tied the game midway through the third period while on the power play. A scrum in front of the net caused Carolina goalie Cam Ward to lose his stick, and defenseman Toni Lydman skated in from the blue line to take advantage, poking in a rebound that made it 3-3.

The Hurricanes had two opportunities with the man-advantage in the final 5 minutes, but the Sabres held on to force overtime, mostly because of goalie Ryan Miller. He swallowed up a handful of chances, keeping Carolina 0-for-7 on the power play in regulation.

Then came OT, and Walker came through.

The ninth-place Sabres dropped four points behind Philadelphia and the postseason cutoff in the Eastern Conference with 13 games remaining.

AP-ES-03-08-08 2214EST