Sunday, Jan. 4, 2009

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) Scott Clemmensen made 33 saves, Jamie Langenbrunner and Zach Parise each had a goal and an assist, and the New Jersey Devils beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 on Friday night.

Brian Gionta and John Madden also scored for the Devils, winners of three of their last four games.

Max Pacioretty scored in his NHL debut for Montreal, which had won three straight.

With Price sidelined, Jaroslav Halak made his first appearance in goal against New Jersey. He lasted two periods, giving up 3 goals on 22 shots. Marc Denis finished up for the Habs.

Hurricanes 2, Blues 1

In Raleigh, N.C., Eric Staal scored his team-leading 18th goal, and surging Carolina handed St. Louis its seventh straight road loss.

Anton Babchuk scored to make it a two-goal game and Tuomo Ruutu and Sergei Samsonov had two assists apiece for the Hurricanes, who led 2-0 with 8 1/2 minutes left. Carolina has earned points in 10 of its 14 games in the month since Paul Maurice was rehired as coach. Cam Ward, who finished with 30 saves for Carolina.

David Backes scored for the Blues, and Chris Mason stopped 26 shots before he was replaced by Manny Legace with 1:22 remaining. Legace made one save in the 28 seconds he played before skating off for an extra attacker. Mason fell to 3-12-1 for St. Louis, which has dropped 10 of its last 12 overall.

Thrashers 4, Canucks 3 (SO)

In Atlanta, Eric Christensen scored the winner in an extra round of the shootout, and the Thrashers beat Vancouver to snap a four-game skid.

Kari Lehtonen made 35 saves for Atlanta and turned back the final shootout bid by Daniel Sedin as the Thrashers won for the first time this season against a Western Conference team after five losses.

Atlanta's Slava Kozlov and Vancouver's Pavol Demitra scored in the first three rounds of the shootout.

The Thrashers improved to 2-0 in shootouts, and Vancouver dropped to 1-4.

Kozlov, Ilya Kovalchuk and Joey Crabb had goals in regulation for Atlanta. Henrik Sedin scored two goals and twin Daniel Sedin had the other for the Canucks. Each had three points.

LaBarbera made 34 saves while playing for the second straight night after being acquired from Los Angeles. Blue Jackets 6, Avalanche 1

In Denver, Kristian Huselius scored twice for Columbus and Steve Mason won his fourth straight despite having his shutout streak halted at three games.

Mason's franchise-record shutout string was snapped by Darcy Tucker's goal late in the first period. Mason went 199 minutes, 19 seconds between goals allowed.

The 20-year-old rookie finished with 23 saves. He's given up two goals or fewer in 10 of his past 11 starts.

Rick Nash converted a penalty shot as part of a three-goal second period, lifting the Blue Jackets to their second straight win at the Pepsi Center this season.

Coyotes 5, Islanders 4

In Glendale, Ariz., Shane Doan and Olli Jokinen each scored for Phoenix.

Doug Weight had a pair of assists for New York to become the eighth American-born player to reach the 1,000-point mark.

Flyers 5, Ducks 4 (SO)

In Anaheim, Mike Richards scored the only goal in the shootout and assisted on goals by Ossi Vannanen, Braydon Coburn and Mike Knuble, leading Philadelphia to a victory over the Ducks.

Martin Biron improved his career record against Anaheim to 8-0-0 with 23 saves.

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