Devils Get Lucky Bounce in 3-2 Win Over Senators

After failing to beat Ottawa Senator goaltender Patrick Lalime with five great shots in regulation, Patrik Elias found another way. He got lucky.

Elias scored a somewhat fluky goal 28 seconds into overtime and the New Jersey Devils extended their winning streak to five games Tuesday night by rallying to defeat the Senators, 3-2, at East Rutherford, N.J.

The victory moved the Devils into first place in the Atlantic Division, one point ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers, and it moved them within four points of the Senators for the best record in the Eastern Conference.

“It was a big game for us,” said forward Sergei Brylin, who tied the score early in the third period with the Devils’ second power-play goal in a 2:56 span. “We’ve had a tough time this year against these guys, but we played well at the end of the game and got two points.”

Elias’ winner came only seconds after he skated into the Senator zone and made a drop pass to Jason Arnott, who had the first power-play goal.

Arnott’s shot at Lalime missed the net on the left side and bounced off the end boards out the right side. Elias collected the puck and fired it into an open net for his 27th goal.

“It was a lucky bounce,” Elias said. “It was a lucky bounce. You have to shoot the puck when you have the chance and he did, and I got a good bounce off the boards. I’m glad I put it in.”

Buffalo 3, Boston 1--Dominik Hasek stopped 20 shots as the well-rested Sabres defeated the travel-weary Bruins at Boston.

Curtis Brown and Jason Woolley scored, and Vladimir Tsyplakov added an empty-net goals for the Sabres, who arrived Sunday night--before a much-hyped storm dumped up to two feet of snow on parts of Massachusetts.

The Bruins, who played at Philadelphia on Monday night, had to take an early train and didn’t get back home until after noon on Tuesday.

Detroit 4, Vancouver 3--Steve Yzerman scored two goals at Vancouver, Canada, to help the Red Wings extend their unbeaten streak against the Canucks to 16 games.

Phoenix 5, Nashville 1--Shane Doan scored two goals and Jeremy Roenick had a goal and two assists at Phoenix as the Coyotes ended a five-game winless streak.

Toronto 3, Calgary 1--Nik Antropov and Mats Sundin scored 97 seconds apart midway through the third period as the Maple Leafs rallied at Calgary, Canada.

Minnesota 3, St. Louis 3--Cam Stewart scored with 2:01 to play in regulation at St. Paul, Minn., to give the Wild a tie.

Colorado 4, Atlanta 2--Ville Nieminen scored two goals to lead the Avalanche at Atlanta.

Washington 5, New York Islanders 1--Adam Oates had a goal and three assists to lead the Capitals at Uniondale, N.Y.

Tampa Bay 2, San Jose 1--Brad Richards scored with 57.4 seconds left in overtime at Tampa, Fla.