Devils’ Easy Victory Bad News for Rangers

Petr Sykora had a goal and an assist and the New Jersey Devils pushed the New York Rangers closer to a second consecutive non-playoff season, beating their cross-river rivals, 4-1, on Sunday at East Rutherford, N.J.

Jason Arnott, Vadim Sharifijanov and former Ranger Sergei Nemchinov also scored as the Devils extended their unbeaten streak against New York to 14 games (10-0-4), dating to the 1996-97 season. This year also marked the first time New Jersey swept the season series, winning all five games and outscoring the Rangers, 20-8.

The Rangers, who have six games remaining, trail Boston and Buffalo by nine points in the race for the final two playoff berths in the Eastern Conference.

Detroit 3, Dallas 0--Wendel Clark had a third-period goal at Dallas and Chris Osgood stopped 27 shots for his third shutout of the season as the Red Wings continued to roll since overhauling their roster at the trading deadline.

Kirk Maltby energized the defending Stanley Cup champions with a first-period goal, then Clark made it 2-0 with 17:26 remaining, scoring his fourth goal in six games since being acquired by the Red Wings.

Detroit has won six consecutive games since March 23 when it acquired veterans Clark, Chris Chelios, Ulf Samuelsson and Bill Ranford