Devils’ streak hits seven

Brian Gionta scored the only goal of the shootout as the New Jersey Devils beat the Atlanta Thrashers 3-2 Sunday at Newark, N.J., for their seventh straight win.

Gionta, the Devils’ second shooter, beat Johan Hedberg with a backhander. Martin Brodeur, who had 23 saves in regulation, preserved the win with a glove save on Ilya Kovalchuk.

Sergei Brylin and John Madden had New Jersey’s goals in regulation.

Todd White and Kovalchuk scored in regulation and Hedberg made 34 saves as the Thrashers lost for the fourth time in the last five games.

The teams exchanged goals in the first period. White struck first with a power-play goal, a tip in of Tobias Enstrom’s shot at 14:51.

Brylin tied it for New Jersey with 50.3 seconds remaining. Devils defenseman Paul Martin attacked the Thrashers’ net, unloading a close-in backhander that Hedberg blocked. Brylin pounded the putback for his first goal in 13 games.

Wild 2, Canucks 1: At St. Paul, Minn., Aaron Voros and Eric Belanger scored to lead Minnesota to victory over Vancouver.

It was the fourth straight win for the Wild, which moved into sole possession of first place in the Northwest Division.

Mike Brown scored for the Canucks, who lost in regulation for just the second time in 13 outings to fall two points behind Minnesota. The shutout streak by Roberto Luongo ended at 210 minutes, 34 seconds.

Oilers 4, Ducks 0: At Anaheim, Calif., Dustin Penner set up in the crease and scored a first period goal off a deflection as Edmonton completed a sweep of a home-and-home series against the Ducks.

Raffi Torres, Joni Pitkanen and Tom Gilbert also scored for the Oilers, who have won four of their last five games.