Dan Boyle slips in the tie-breaker for Tampa Bay.
By The Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. – Dave Andreychuk and Ruslan Fedotenko scored in the opening three minutes and Dan Boyle netted the tiebreaking goal to help the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 4-2 victory Wednesday night over the captainless Carolina Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes started poorly in their first game since captain Ron Francis was traded Tuesday to Toronto. No player wore the “C” on his jersey, and general manager Jim Rutherford said the title probably won’t be awarded for the rest of the season.

Arturs Irbe made his first home start since returning from minor league exile last month and gave up goals on Tampa Bay’s first two shots. The entire Carolina team looked hesitant and uncoordinated as the NHL-leading Lightning jumped to a 2-0 lead.

Andreychuk, parked near the right post, used the shaft of his stick to redirect a slap shot by Cory Stillman for a power-play goal just 2:15 in. Less than a minute later, the Lightning took advantage of a sloppy clearing attempt. Martin St. Louis grabbed the puck and got it to Fedotenko, who fired a shot past Irbe at 3:09.

Sabres 6, Capitals 0

WASHINGTON – Mike Grier had a goal and two assists Wednesday night against the team that traded him the day before, leading the Buffalo Sabres to a 6-0 victory over the Washington Capitals.

Martin Biron made 27 saves to earn his first shutout since Jan. 24, 2003, and helped the Sabres move within five points of the New York Islanders in the race for the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot.

Jochen Hecht scored twice, and Dmitri Kalinin, Adam Mair and Daniel Briere added goals for Buffalo, which swept a season series from the Capitals for the first time since the 1990-91 season (4-0).

It was the second time this season Washington lost by six goals, and both defeats came against the Sabres. Buffalo won 7-1 at home on Dec. 31.

Grier, who didn’t have more than two points in 67 games this season with Washington, was dealt by the Capitals before Tuesday’s trade deadline.

He played on Buffalo’s second line with Hecht and Chris Drury.

Kings 3, Coyotes 1

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Luc Robitaille reached the 20-goal mark for the 16th time and the Los Angeles Kings beat Phoenix 3-1 Wednesday night, extending the Coyotes’ winless streak to 10 games.

Alexander Frolov and Nathan Dempsey also scored and Cristobal Huet made 22 saves in his career-high 10th straight start for the Kings.

Los Angeles, 5-2-2 in its last nine games, moved two points ahead of idle St. Louis in the race for the Western Conference’s final playoff spot.

Robitaille, fifth in goals among active players with 651, scored his 540th with Los Angeles to move within 10 of Marcel Dionne’s franchise record.

Mike Comrie scored for the Coyotes, 0-6-2-2 in their last 10 and 2-14-3-3 since consecutive wins over San Jose and Detroit in late January.

Phoenix is 0-5-1-2 since interim coach Rick Bowness replaced Bobby Francis on Feb. 24.

The Kings broke a 1-1 tie at 4:06 of the second period when Frolov’s centering pass from behind the net deflected off Paul Mara’s skate in the crease and slid under goalie Brian Boucher. It was Frolov’s team-high 22nd goal.

Dempsey added an insurance goal with 16:01 remaining, one-timing a pass off the right boards through Boucher’s pads.

Robitaille gave Los Angeles a 1-0 lead at 4:50 of the first period, scoring from a sharp angle at the left side of the net. Comrie tied it at 15:06 of the period, corralling an errant back pass from Los Angeles defenseman Joe Corvo and easily beating an unprepared Huet for his eighth goal.

Notes: The Kings won the season series 3-2-1. … Huet made a pair of spectacular saves during a 12-second span of the first period. Huet made a sprawling save of Daymond Langkow’s short-handed breakaway attempt, then barely got to his skates before he stopped Shane Doan’s attempt on a two-on-one break. … Boucher is 3-14-4 since posting an NHL-record five consecutive shutouts in December and January. … Defenseman Derek Morris, acquired by Phoenix from Colorado on Tuesday, made his Coyotes debut. … Los Angeles coach Andy Murray was behind the bench for the franchise-record 397th game.

AP-ES-03-10-04 2334EST