NHL : Devils beat Hurricanes, keep pressure on Sabres

Erik Rasmussen and Zach Parise scored third-period goals to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night in Raleigh, N.C.

Scott Gomez had a goal and an assist, and Jamie Langenbrunner added two assists for the Devils, who remained two points behind Buffalo in the race for first place in the Eastern Conference.

Martin Brodeur stopped 38 shots and beat the defending Stanley Cup champions for the third time this season.

David Tanabe and Andrew Ladd scored for the Hurricanes, who are tied with the New York Islanders for seventh in the East. John Grahame, making his second straight start after No. 1 goalie Cam Ward cut his leg Sunday against the New York Rangers, made 22 saves.

Rasmussen put New Jersey ahead to stay 40 seconds into the third, tapping the rebound of Gomez’s hard shot past Grahame to make it 2-1.

Parise scored midway through the period when he took a centering pass from Travis Zajac and beat Grahame stick-side for his 28th goal.

Ladd made it 3-2 about 3 minutes later when he redirected Tim Gleason’s long slap shot into the net.

Canucks 3, Blues 2 (OT): At Vancouver, British Columbia, Daniel Sedin scored a power-play goal 1:09 into overtime for Vancouver, which recovered from squandering a two-goal lead in the third period and beat St. Louis.

Roberto Luongo made 20 saves to become the second NHL player this season to win 40 games.

Blackhawks 4, Kings 3 (SO): At Los Angeles, Tuomo Ruutu scored the tying goal in the third period and Nikita Alexeev netted the deciding goal in the seventh round of the shootout, giving Chicago a victory over Los Angeles.

Sabres 5, Panthers 3: At Sunrise, Fla., Ty Conklin made 42 saves in his first start for Buffalo and helped the Sabres snap a season-worst, four-game losing streak with a victory over Florida.

Bruins 4, Capitals 3 (SO): At Boston, Patrice Bergeron scored to tie the game in the third period, then beat Olaf Kolzig again in the shootout as Boston rallied from a three-goal deficit to beat Washington.

Senators 5, Islanders 2: At Ottawa, Chris Neil, Dean McAmmond and Jason Spezza scored goals 1:16 apart early in the third period, leading Ottawa to a win over New York.

Flyers 3, Thrashers 2: At Philadelphia, Stefan Ruzicka had a goal and two assists to lead Philadelphia to a victory and a season sweep of Southeast Division-leading Atlanta.

Stars 4, Flames 2: At Dallas, Mike Modano moved within a goal of matching Joe Mullen for the lead among U.S.-born players, and Dallas stretched its winning streak to four games with a victory over Calgary.

Wild 2, Oilers 1: At Edmonton, Alberta, Marian Gaborik scored an insurance goal 7:22 into the third period and Minnesota held on for a victory that sent Edmonton to its ninth straight loss.

Sharks 5, Coyotes 1: At Glendale, Ariz., Joe Thornton had a goal and three assists, and Jonathan Cheechoo scored twice to lift San Jose to a victory over Phoenix.

Bill Guerin added his team-leading 32nd goal for the Sharks.