Yzerman Moves Into Sixth on Scoring List

Another game, another milestone for the Detroit Red Wings.

Steve Yzerman moved past Mario Lemieux for sixth place on the NHL’s career scoring list with his 1,702nd point in Detroit’s 5-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night at Joe Lewis Arena.

Yzerman assisted on Tomas Holmstrom’s goal, which gave the Red Wings a 4-2 lead midway through the third period. When his feat was recognized by the public address announcer, Yzerman stood and raised a hand to the crowd.

“Every time we make an announcement, I assume it’s about Steve,” Detroit Coach Dave Lewis said. “It’s pretty constant around here.”

Two weeks ago, Yzerman became the seventh player to reach 1,700 points. Brett Hull scored his 718th goal on Oct. 29 to move into fourth place on the league’s career list.

Yzerman was working out after the game and was not available for comment.

Holmstrom was in awe when he thought about Yzerman’s point total.

“I can’t even count that much,” Holmstrom said. “That’s a lot of points. It’s incredible.”

Detroit’s Curtis Joseph made 31 saves and got plenty of help from goal-scorers Hull, Jamie Rivers, Mathieu Dandenault and Kris Draper, who had an empty-net goal with a minute left.

The Red Wings returned home for their first game since going 1-2-2 on a recent trip.

“The trip wasn’t as good as we wanted it to be,” Joseph said. “So playing New Jersey and playing at home, it was a good win for us.”

Martin Brodeur made 15 saves for the reigning Stanley Cup champions, who had won three in a row. Erik Rasmussen and Turner Stevenson scored for the Devils.

The Devils outshot Detroit in every period and had five more power-play opportunities. But New Jersey was 0 for 7 on the power play and Detroit scored both times it had an extra attacker.

“We traded chances and they capitalized on theirs and we didn’t,” New Jersey Coach Pat Burns said. “Either their penalty killing was good, or our power play was no good.”

Ottawa 4, Phoenix 1 -- Jason Spezza scored twice and added an assist to lead the Senators over the host Coyotes. Daniel Alfredsson and Josh Langfeld added goals, and Brian Smolinski had a pair of assists for Ottawa, which won for the fourth time in five games to pass idle Toronto for the Northeast Division lead.

Shane Doan scored his 19th goal for Phoenix, which lost its second in a row and fell to 2-5-1-1 since moving into new Glendale Arena on Dec. 27.

Montreal 3, Minnesota 2 -- Richard Zednik scored with 27.9 seconds to play in overtime to lift the visiting Canadiens over the Wild. Montreal had lost three in a row.

Mike Ribeiro, who scored the game-tying goal in the third period, assisted on Zednik’s goal.

Vancouver 4, St. Louis 2 -- Magnus Arvedson scored two goals for the second consecutive game and the visiting Canucks extended their winning streak to four with a victory over the Blues.

Daniel Sedin had a goal and two assists for Vancouver. St. Louis is winless in five games (0-4-1).

Boston 2, New York Islanders 1 -- Glen Murray scored his second goal of the game 2:25 into overtime, giving the Bruins a victory over the Islanders at the FleetCenter.

Washington 5, Carolina 3 -- Bates Battaglia broke a third-period tie and Peter Bondra scored twice to help the Capitals beat the host Hurricanes. Battaglia tapped in a cross-crease pass from Anson Carter with 6:13 left to make it 4-3.

Tampa Bay 5, Pittsburgh 1 -- Martin St. Louis had a goal and an assist, and the Lightning sent the visiting Penguins to their eighth loss in a row. St. Louis has nine goals -- including five in the last three games -- and 16 points during an eight-game point streak.

Nashville 6, Columbus 4 -- Scott Walker tied the franchise record for career goals, leading the Predators over the host Blue Jackets. Walker’s 15th goal of the season gave him 81 with Nashville, tying Cliff Ronning.

Edmonton 5, Chicago 2 -- Shawn Horcoff scored twice and the Oilers extended the Blackhawks’ club-record road losing steak to 19 games.

George Laraque, Fernando Pisani and Ethan Moreau also scored for Edmonton, which ended a three-game losing skid and improved to 3-0 against Chicago this season.