Devils Don’t Lose Sight of Top

The New Jersey Devils entered Saturday night’s game knowing they had fallen into third place in the race for the league’s best record. They responded with a solid effort in front of backup goaltender.

Mike Dunham, making a rare start in place of Martin Brodeur, stopped 27 shots.

Scott Niedermayer and Doug Bodger scored power-play goals and the Devils moved back into a three-way tie for the NHL’s best overall record with a 3-2 victory over the Boston Bruins at Boston.

“We realized we were sitting in third,” defenseman Scott Stevens said. “We want to get on a winning streak and first is important.”

The Devils, Dallas Stars and Detroit Red Wings all have 103 points in the race for home ice throughout the playoffs. Boston fell one point behind Buffalo, which tied Ottawa, 4-4, for the Eastern Conference’s fourth playoff spot, the last with home ice in the opening round.

Florida 3, Pittsburgh 3--Ed Jovanoski scored with 2:12 left in regulation to give the Panthers a tie at Pittsburgh and the NHL’s top scorer, Jaromir Jagr, is upset with Penguin Coach Kevin Constantine for breaking up Pittsburgh’s top line of Ron Francis, Stu Barnes and Jagr.

Before the game, Constantine moved Jagr to the third line with Martin Straka and Robert Lang and, after the game, Jagr said he felt he didn’t deserve to be moved and would not talk to Constantine.

The Penguins are 1-5-4 in their last 10 games.

Phoenix 4, St. Louis 3--Cliff Ronning had two goals and an assist to lead the Coyotes at St. Louis.

Todd Gill had two goals and Pierre Turgeon had three assists for the Blues.

Phoenix moved into sixth place in the Western Conference, four points ahead of ninth-place Chicago in the race for the last playoff spot. The Coyotes visit Chicago today.

Dallas 5, Tampa Bay 1--Joe Nieuwendyk had two goals and two assists at Tampa, Fla., as the Stars, fighting for the best record in the NHL’s Western Conference, defeated the Lightning.

The Stars currently hold the West’s top seeding because they have two more victories than the Red Wings and have four games remaining to Detroit’s three.

Philadelphia 4, Washington 3--Rod Brind’Amour scored twice and Chris Gratton had a goal and an assist for the Flyers at Philadelphia.

Brind’Amour’s goal at 13:14 of the third period, which actually bounced off Washington defenseman Calle Johansson’s shoulder, put the Flyers up, 4-2, and proved to be the game-winner because Phil Housley scored for Washington with 2:52 left.

Detroit 5, N.Y. Rangers 2--Martin Lapointe had two goals and an assist as the Red Wings kept pace with Dallas atop the Western Conference with a victory at Detroit.

Doug Brown, Sergei Fedorov and Larry Murphy also had goals for the Red Wings, who won their season-high sixth consecutive game.

Geoff Smith scored his first goal of the season and Alexei Kovalev also scored for New York.

Toronto 5, Carolina 1--The Maple Leafs scored a season-high four goals in one period at Toronto.

Derek King scored two goals and Mats Sundin and rookie Mike Johnson scored one each in the second period for the Maple Leafs, who have already been eliminated from the Western Conference playoff race.

Glen Wesley scored for the Hurricanes, who saw their playoff hopes hurt despite losing for only the third time in 10 games. Carolina trails Ottawa by three points in the race for the eighth and final Eastern Conference berth with four games remaining.

Buffalo 4, Ottawa 4--Curtis Brown scored with 2:51 left in the third period to lift the Sabres at Kanata, Ontario.

Ottawa scored four goals in the first period--two by Alexei Yashin and one each from Daniel Alfredsson and Magnus Arvedson--to take a 4-1 lead.

Montreal 3, N.Y. Islanders 3--Robert Reichel’s goal at 12:59 of the second period gave the Islanders a tie with the Canadiens at Montreal, depriving both of a much-needed point in the playoff race.

Mariusz Czerkawski and Claude Lapointe also scored for the Islanders, who went 2-1-1 against Montreal this season but whose slim chances of reaching the playoffs were dashed.

Shayne Corson scored twice and Patrice Brisebois had another for Montreal, which moved into a tie with Washington for sixth place in the Eastern Conference.

Vancouver 1, San Jose 1--Bret Hedican scored early in the third period to lift the Canucks to a tie at San Jose, as the Sharks cling to hopes for a playoff spot.

The Sharks are undefeated in the last six games (4-0-2) as they jostle for the final three spots in the Western Conference with Phoenix, Chicago and Edmonton.

Edmonton 5, Calgary 4--Rookie Scott Fraser and Janne Niiniima each had a goal and two assists as the Oilers strengthened their playoff position with a victory at Calgary.