Up to 6 feet of snow fell in the Buffalo area Tuesday, but the major snowstorm couldn't stop a crowd of nearly 6,200 from showing up to First Niagara Center to watch the Buffalo Sabres defeat the San Jose Sharks 4-1.

Two goals from captain Brian Gionta weren't the only factors in the Sabres (5-13-2) winning consecutive games for the first time since February and their eighth straight against the Sharks. Matt Moulson's extra effort late in the third period preserved Buffalo's two-goal advantage by mere millimeters.

Sharks forward Patrick Marleau played the puck at his own blue line and found Barclay Goodrow at center ice. Goodrow fed it back to Marleau, who knifed through two Sabres defensemen and lifted a backhand shot that went off goalie Jhonas Enroth's arm and into the crease. With the puck rolling on its side and headed toward the goal line, Moulson hustled in to sweep it away at 15:16 of the third. It was initially called a goal, but video review determined that the puck did not completely cross the Sabres goal line.

Not only did Seth Griffith's goal dominate the highlight reel Monday, his extra effort that led to the goal sparked the Boston Bruins to a win against the New Jersey Devils at TD Garden.

The play started late in the second period of a 2-2 game when Griffith took a knee to block a shot from Devils defenseman Bryce Salvador, got up immediately and powered through Salvador and Marek Zidlicky on an end-to-end rush. Defended by Zidlicky in front of the Devils net, Griffith spun, turned his back to the goal and slapped a backhander between his legs and the pads of goalie Cory Schneider at 18:01.

The Bruins added an insurance goal 1:20 later en route to their fifth straight win that boosted their record to 10-6-0, and Griffith's grit on defense and flair for offense was the talk of the locker room. What impressed coach Claude Julien was Griffith's desire that put the game's turning point in motion.

"I think that that whole effort, from the time he blocked it, to picking up some speed and really battling hard between the two Ds, and then staying on it -- that last effort there, of using his stick between his legs there to bank that puck in, it was a great effort," Julien told the Bruins website.

Vladimir Tarasenko's highlight-reel goal grabbed all the attention in the St. Louis Blues' 4-3 shootout win Monday against the New York Rangers, but the hard work and extra effort of Tarasenko's teammates bailed out goalie Brian Elliott early in the third period to eventually help St. Louis escape Madison Square Garden with its fifth straight victory.

Shortly after Rangers center Kevin Hayes missed an open net, Elliott was out of position when all five Blues on the ice crashed the net, blocking shots and scrambling to get the puck out of harm's way. Blues defenseman Carl Gunnarsson made the initial save of Hayes' backhand attempt. Lee Stempniak tried to tap the puck into the open net, but David Backes pushed it away with his skate just before it crossed the goal line. Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk then positioned himself in front of the goal to stop Chris Kreider's shot before Elliott covered the puck to end the wild sequence.

Nashville Predators forward Craig Smith did more than score two goals Wednesday against the Edmonton Oilers. His extra effort on defense helped spark the Predators to a 4-1 win to begin a six-game road trip.

With the game scoreless in the second period, Oilers defenseman Jeff Petry connected with Jesse Joensuu, who found Matt Hendricks cutting toward the net. Smith put his body in front of Hendricks to deflect the puck and the Predators started a rush toward Edmonton's end.

Predators defenseman Roman Josi's shot was stopped by Oilers goalie Ben Scrivens. The rebound came to Derek Roy, and after Roy couldn't control it, Smith was in the right spot and put the puck past Scrivens at 6:23 of the second.

Henrik Lundqvist's 51st shutout would not have been possible without the extra effort of defenseman Matt Hunwick.

Goals from Martin St. Louis and Rick Nash four seconds apart in the closing minutes of the second period, and 33 saves by Lundqvist, sparked the New York Rangers to a 4-0 win against the San Jose Sharks on Sunday.

But the shutout, which extended Lundqvist's franchise record, also was contingent on the alert play of Hunwick at 6:18 of the first period, which prevented the Sharks from scoring the game's first goal and changed the course of the game.

The St. Louis Blues lost to the Los Angeles Kings 1-0 in a shootout Thursday at Staples Center.

They can thank defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk for the one point they got out of the game against the defending Stanley Cup champions. It was Shattenkirk’s extra effort late in the second period that kept the game scoreless.

Shattenkirk, who’s in his fifth NHL season, denied Kings forward Jeff Carter on a prime scoring chance with less than a minute left in the second period.

Carter moved in behind Shattenkirk after Kings defenseman Alec Martinez stripped the defenseman of the puck near the blue line in the St. Louis zone.