NHL: Devils come through in clutch to defeat Sabres

Mike Mottau’s first goal since October got New Jersey even late in the third period, and Zach Parise came back from a sick day to score the only goal in the shootout, giving the Devils a 2-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night in Newark, N.J.

Martin Brodeur made a rolling poke-check stop on Ales Kotalik to start the tiebreaker and then denied Tim Connolly and Thomas Vanek to seal New Jersey’s third straight win. The Devils have scored five goals in the spurt.

Ryan Miller did all he could to protect a 1-0 lead after Kotalik scored early in the second, but Mottau wrecked the shutout bid with 6:23 left in regulation.

Hurricanes 4, Bruins 3: At Raleigh, N.C., Chad LaRose converted a penalty shot, and Eric Staal scored on the power play in the third period to give Carolina a win over Boston.

Cam Ward made 18 saves for Carolina, which won consecutive home games for the first time since early November. Mike Commodore and Rod Brind’Amour had Carolina’s other goals. Phil Kessel, P.J. Axelsson and Chuck Kobasew scored for the Bruins.

Canadiens 5, Panthers 1: At Sunrise, Fla., Guillaume Latendresse, Michael Ryder and Christopher Higgins scored on the game’s first three shots and Montreal went on to beat Florida.

Florida had been 5-0-1 against Montreal the past two seasons.

Cristobal Huet stopped 40 shots for Montreal.

Sharks 1, Blues 0: At St. Louis, Evgeni Nabokov made 26 saves to earn his fifth shutout and league-leading 20th win to help San Jose extend its club-record road winning streak to eight games with a win over the Blues.

The Sharks also set a team record by earning a point in their 11th straight road game.

Around the league

The Dallas Stars signed coach Dave Tippett to a one-year contract extension, through the end of the 2008-09 season. … The New York Islanders signed top prospect Kyle Okposo to a three-year, entry-level contract.