Devils move closer to playoff spot

Brian Gionta scored his team-leading 41st goal, Martin Brodeur reached a milestone and the New Jersey Devils beat Buffalo 3-1 on Thursday night at East Rutherford, N.J. to move a step closer to securing an Eastern Conference playoff berth.

New Jersey remained tied with Tampa Bay and Montreal for sixth place with 83 points, and all three moved seven points ahead of ninth-place Atlanta.

Brodeur stopped 29 shots to tie Jacques Plante for fourth place on the NHL’s career victory list with 437. John Madden and Zach Parise also scored for New Jersey.

Buffalo lost for the seventh time in its last eight games and fell for the fifth straight time on the road. Tim Connolly scored, and Martin Biron made 25 saves.

Canadiens 3, Capitals 2 (OT): At Montreal, Saku Koivu scored his first goal in more than two months as the Canadiens beat Washington for their fifth straight victory.

Lightning 4, Thrashers 3: At Tampa, Fla., Dmitry Afanasenkov scored twice for the second multigoal game of his career as Tampa Bay defeated Atlanta.

Senators 4, Rangers 1: At Ottawa, Ray Emery made 24 saves and Ottawa overcame the absence of three top defensemen to beat New York.

Red Wings 4, Predators 2: At Nashville, Tenn., Brendan Shanahan and Jason Williams each had a goal and an assist in the third period for NHL-leading Detroit.

Oilers 4, Kings 0: At Edmonton, Alberta, Dwayne Roloson made 20 saves to help Edmonton defeat Los Angeles and move into a tie for sixth place in the Western Conference.

Coyotes 5, Sharks 2: At San Jose, Calif., Steven Reinprecht scored his tiebreaking second goal on a power play early in the third period, and Phoenix defeated San Jose.

Off the ice

The U.S. government rejected the request by former NHL player Mike Danton to be transferred to his native Canada to serve a prison sentence for his foiled attempt to have his agent killed. … Sabres co-captain Daniel Briere was suspended for two games a day after striking Boston defenseman Brian Leetch with a high stick.