Devils extend winning streak to six

Patrik Elias and Viktor Kozlov scored for New Jersey in a shootout and the Devils beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 Sunday night for their season-high sixth straight win.

New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur stopped 29 shots and tied former Blackhawks goalie Tony Esposito for fifth on the NHL’s all-time wins list with 423. Brodeur entered the game coming off back-to-back shutouts of Philadelphia and Vancouver.

Tyler Arnason had a goal and an assist for Chicago, and Radim Vrbata scored in his fourth straight game. Mikael Holmqvist scored the lone goal in the shootout for the Blackhawks.

Chicago rookie Adam Munro started his second straight game and third in the last four, and stopped 24 shots. Top Blackhawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin missed his ninth game with a groin pull.

Brodeur lost his bid for a third straight shutout when Arnason was left open and beat him from between the circles with about 12 minutes left in the first. The goal snapped Brodeur’s scoreless streak at 130 minutes and 3 seconds.

Hurricanes 4, Blues 2: At Raleigh, N.C., Eric Staal had three goals, including the go-ahead one off a beautiful behind-the-back pass from Erik Cole, and Carolina rallied to beat St. Louis for its seventh straight victory. With 64 points, the Hurricanes moved in front of Philadelphia, Ottawa and Detroit for the best record in the league.

Predators 5, Penguins 4: At Nashville, Tenn., Scott Walker scored his first two goals since returning from surgery that kept him out of 33 games, and the Predators held off Pittsburgh. Paul Kariya, Martin Erat and Adam Hall also scored for the Predators, and Scott Hartnell finished with two assists.