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NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Martin Brodeur made 20 saves in what might have been his last game with the Devils, and Stephen Gionta scored the tiebreaking goal with under 37 seconds left to lift New Jersey to a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night.
Adam Henrique, Marek Zidlicky, and Travis Zajac also had goals for the Devils (27-23-13), who closed within one point of Detroit (28-21-12).
Johan Franzen, Brendan Smith and Todd Bertuzzi scored for the Red Wings against Brodeur, who has been the subject of trade rumors leading up to Wednesday's NHL dealing deadline.
Gionta put the Devils ahead for good when he tipped Mark Fayne's point shot past Jimmy Howard for the winning goal.
Howard finished with 25 saves.
BRUINS 4, PANTHERS 1
BOSTON (AP) — David Krejci scored three goals for Boston in a win over Florida, hours after the visiting Panthers made a series of deals to retool their lineup.
Jarome Iginla also scored for the Bruins, who kept former Boston goalie Tim Thomas busy all night with 39 shots on goal.
It was possibly Thomas' last game for the Panthers, who earlier Tuesday acquired veteran Roberto Luongo from Vancouver.
Thomas allowed three goals before Krejci scored in an empty net with 14 seconds left.
Boston backup goalie Chad Johnson had a much quieter night, facing 24 shots as the Bruins beat Florida for the seventh straight time. Johnson had a shutout until Florida defenseman Brian Campbell scored with 7:13 left.
BLUE JACKETS 4, STARS 2
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Artem Anisimov scored twice, including a late insurance goal, and Columbus held off a third-period rally to beat Dallas.
The Blue Jackets have won three in a row and are vying for only their second postseason appearance since joining the NHL in 2000.
Columbus scored on the first shot of the game and bolted to a 3-0 first-period lead on goals by Boone Jenner, R.J. Umberger and Anisimov against backup Dan Ellis. Ellis was shaky early in making his first appearance since Feb. 1.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves, one on an open shot by Jamie Benn with 5 minutes left with the Blue Jackets clinging to a one-goal lead. Bobrovsky solidly tracked loose pucks near the crease the entire game to improve to 5-0-1 against Dallas.
Defensemen Alex Goligoski and Trevor Daley had goals early in the third period for the Stars.
PENGUINS 3, PREDATORS 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Matt Niskanen scored his second goal of the game 7:29 into the third period, and Pittsburgh beat Nashville to snap a three-game skid.
Niskanen and the Penguins helped ruin the return of Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne in his first game since Oct. 22 following an E. coli infection in his surgically repaired left hip.
Chris Kunitz scored a goal, and Sidney Crosby had three assists to add to his NHL-leading point total. The Penguins have not lost more than three straight this season.
Patric Hornqvist scored for Nashville, which has lost two consecutive games. Rinne made 16 saves.
AVALANCHE 4, BLACKHAWKS 2
CHICAGO (AP) — Tyson Barrie scored a tiebreaking power-play goal with 7:10 left, and Colorado topped Chicago for its third straight win.
The Avalanche reached 40 victories faster than any team in franchise history. They also improved to 3-1 against the Blackhawks this season and moved within one point of the Stanley Cup champions for second in the Central Division.
Paul Stastny completed the scoring with an empty-netter with 32.6 seconds left. Rookie Nathan MacKinnon got an assist on Stastny's 20th goal, extending his point streak to 12 games and tying Wayne Gretzky's record for an 18-year-old player, set in 1979-80.
Ryan O'Reilly and Maxime Talbot also scored for the Avalanche, who are 17-6-1 since New Year's Eve. O'Reilly has three goals and three assists in his last four games.
Ben Smith and Jonathan Toews scored for Chicago, which was without injured veteran forward Marian Hossa. Toews has three goals in two games.
BLUES 4, LIGHTNING 2
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Alexander Steen scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and goalie Ryan Miller won his first home start in St. Louis' win over Tampa Bay.
T.J. Oshie's short-handed goal tied it in the second period and he assisted on Steen's 29th of the season for the Central Division leaders. Patrik Berglund started the comeback with his third goal in two games, and Vladimir Tarasenko's empty-net score cinched it with a half-minute to go.
Alex Killorn and Tyler Johnson gave Lightning goalie Ben Bishop, a St. Louis native and former Blues player, an early cushion against an opponent that has had to come from behind in all four games since the Olympic break.
Miller made his second career appearance in St. Louis and faced just 17 shots against a team playing on the road for the eighth time in 10 games.
ISLANDERS 3, JETS 2, SO
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Michael Grabner scored on a breakaway 3:53 into overtime as the New York Islanders defeated Winnipeg.
Cal Clutterbuck sent a pass from around the blue line up to Grabner, who slipped between two Jets and beat goalie Ondrej Pavelec.
The Islanders also got a goal and assist from Anders Lee and a goal from Colin McDonald to end a two-game skid. Jets captain Andrew Ladd scored his 16th and 17th goals of the season, tying the game 2-2 with 5:07 left for Winnipeg, which had won two straight.
Islanders winger Thomas Vanek was a healthy scratch amid rumors he will be traded before Wednesday's deadline.
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