NHL: Pittsburgh’s Thibault shuts down Devils

Jocelyn Thibault stopped 25 shots for his first shutout in more than three years and the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night in East Rutherford, N.J.

Jarkko Ruutu scored a fluky game-winner off a Devils’ stick and set up an insurance tally by Erik Christensen for the Penguins.

Red Wings 4, Predators 2: At Detroit, Jiri Hudler scored twice and Detroit beat Atlanta. Hudler scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period after making it 2-all with 3:37 left in the second.

Avalanche 3, Flames 2: At Denver, Paul Stastny extended his NHL rookie record point streak to 19 games with a third-period goal and Colorado edged Calgary.

Joe Sakic scored his 602nd goal to move past Jari Kurri into 16th place on the NHL career list.

Blue Jackets 5, Ducks 4 (SO): At Anaheim, Calif., Nikolai Zherdev scored twice and David Vborny got the only goal in a five-round shootout, leading Columbus over Anaheim.

Fredrik Modin scored his 200th NHL goal and Rick Nash also found the net for Columbus.

Off the ice

Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren was given a two-year extension through the 2008-09 season, giving him more time to lead the NHL-worst Flyers out of the cellar and back into the postseason. … Nashville forward Martin Erat will miss up to four weeks with a sprained left knee, after colliding with teammate Jason Arnott. … Washington goalie Olie Kolzig is expected to start today against the Boston Bruins, his first appearance since missing a month with a knee injury.