Arnott Brings His ‘A’ Game, Devils Win

If New Jersey Devils Coach Larry Robinson intended to motivate Jason Arnott by taking away his alternate captaincy, the plan worked.

Arnott had two goals and an assist, and the slumping Devils beat Detroit, 4-1, Saturday at East Rutherford, N.J., ending the Red Wings’ nine-game unbeaten streak.

Arnott, who lost his alternate captaincy before Friday night’s 4-2 loss to Detroit, tried to downplay the move.

“Whether it was to shake things up a little bit, I’m not looking a whole lot into it,” Arnott said after the Devils won for only the second time in 11 games (2-6-2-1).

“I’m a huge leader on this team and I have to keep doing it whether I have an A on or not.”

Andreas Salomonsson scored the go-ahead goal, and Jay Pandolfo ended a 57 game goal-scoring drought for the Devils.

Pavel Datsyuk scored for the Red Wings, who lost for only the fifth time in 28 games (22-4-1-1). The three-goal loss was the largest this season for Detroit, which took a season-low 17 shots against Martin Brodeur.

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Colorado 2, Calgary 2--Jarome Iginla scored twice--including the tying goal at 17:32 of the third period--as the Flames rallied for a tie with the Avalanche at Calgary.

Iginla, the NHL’s leading goal scorer, has 22 this season, and both goals tied the game and helped the Flames stop a four-game losing streak. Roman Turek made 24 saves for Calgary, which is 0-4-3 in its last seven games and has just two wins in its last 10.

Toronto 4, Chicago 1--Curtis Joseph made 30 saves, including the fourth penalty shot he’s faced this season, as the Maple Leafs won at Toronto.

Robert Reichel, Tomas Kaberle, Darcy Tucker and Mats Sundin scored for the Maple Leafs, who also beat Chicago on Friday night.

Ottawa 2, Boston 1--Zdeno Chara scored 54 seconds into overtime as the Senators ended a three-game winless skid with a victory at Ottawa.

Chara--at 6-foot-9 the NHL’s tallest player--took a shot from the top of the slot that beat Byron Dafoe for his second goal of the season.

New York Rangers 3, Montreal 1--Mike York scored twice to lead the Rangers over the Canadiens, ending Montreal’s seven-game home unbeaten streak.

Buffalo 4, New York Islanders 2--J.P. Dumont scored the go-ahead goal and added an assist to lead Buffalo to a comeback victory at Uniondale, N.Y.

Philadelphia 2, Tampa Bay 0--Roman Cechmanek made 15 saves for his third shutout in as many starts against Tampa Bay, and Jeremy Roenick and Eric Desjardins scored to lead the Flyers at Philadelphia.

St.Louis 4, Columbus 3--Scott Mellanby scored with 1:17 left, and Scott Young added two goals as the Blues won at St. Louis.

Atlanta 5, Florida 2--Shean Donovan scored two goals, including the game-winner at 7:18 of the third, as the Thrashers defeated the Panthers at Sunrise, Fla.

Phoenix 5, Pittsburgh 2--Claude Lemieux scored two goals to lead the Coyotes to their fifth consecutive home victory.

Dallas 6, Edmonton 4--Jamie Langenbrunner scored twice, and Jere Lehtinen and Richard Matvichuk each had a goal and an assist to help the Stars rally from an early three-goal deficit and beat the Oilers at Edmonton, Canada.