Devils End Losing Streak With Victory Over Bruins

Just as the New Jersey Devils were about to lose for the seventh consecutive time, they returned to the form that made them Stanley Cup champions.

Petr Sykora got the tying goal with 1:54 to play in regulation and Scott Gomez scored with two seconds remaining in overtime Thursday night as the Devils defeated the Boston Bruins, 3-2, at Boston to end their longest losing streak in nine years.

Gomez scored his third goal of the season when he slid the puck past sprawling Bruin goalie Byron Dafoe in front of the net.

“Hopefully, we can look at this as a turning point,” Gomez said. “[Brian] Rafalski made a great play to get the puck on net and we finally had some bounces go our way tonight.”

The goal came after a wild scramble in front. Patrik Elias dived away from the goal and was able to swat the puck to Rafalski in the slot. Rafalski moved the puck to Gomez, who scored from the right side of the net.

Sykora tied the score at 2-2 with a short-handed goal only 1:08 after Joe Thornton put Boston in front. Sykora stole the puck at the Bruin blue line, and blasted the puck past Dafoe.

“I felt really disappointed getting beat one-on-one by Sykora,” Dafoe said. “They were close to throwing in the towel.”

Devil goalie Martin Brodeur had 36 saves and won for the first time since Oct. 30.

“We still have a lot of work to do,” he said. “In game 18 or 20, you can’t say we are on top of our game, but we need to build our confidence.”

New Jersey’s seven-game winless streak was its longest since an 11-game slump nine years ago. The franchise record: a 0-21-6 stretch in 1976.

Phoenix 6, Colorado 3--Keith Tkachuk scored two power-play goals, and Trevor Letowski had a goal and two assists at Phoenix as the Coyotes ended the Avalanche’s six-game unbeaten streak.

Tkachuk took over the NHL lead in power-play goals with nine.

The Coyotes, who scored a 4-0 victory over Patrick Roy and the Avalanche at Denver on Oct. 30, continued to have their way against Colorado goaltending by handing Swiss rookie David Aebischer, 22, his first loss in five NHL starts.

Carolina 1, Ottawa 0--Shane Willis scored a power-play goal midway through the third period at Kanata, Canada, and Arturs Irbe recorded his second consecutive shutout over the Senators.

Columbus 5, Nashville 1--Geoff Sanderson and Kevin Dineen scored in the first four minutes at Nashville, to help the Blue Jackets tie an NHL expansion-team record with their fourth consecutive victory.

The mark is shared by eight teams, most recently the Florida Panthers in 1994. Columbus will play the Panthers tonight at Columbus, Ohio, with a chance to break the record.

St. Louis 4, Pittsburgh 3--Pierre Turgeon had two goals and an assist to lead the Blues at St. Louis.

On a power play, Turgeon deflected Pavol Demitra’s shot past Penguin goalie Garth Snow at 9:48 of the third period. It was his eighth goal and gave the Blues a 4-3 lead. Turgeon has 16 points in his last 12 games.

St. Louis is 7-0-1 at home.

Chicago 5, Calgary 2--Tony Amonte scored two goals to lead the Blackhawks at Calgary, Canada.

Around the League

Washington Capital defenseman Joe Reekie was suspended for two games by the NHL for an elbow to the head that gave Phoenix Coyote center Jeremy Roenick a slight concussion. Reekie checked Roenick hard into the corner with 7:42 to play in regulation in Tuesday’s 2-2 tie at Washington.