John LeClair had a goal and two assists, and the Philadelphia Flyers opened a seven-point lead over New Jersey in the Atlantic Division with a 3-1 victory over the Devils on Tuesday night.
LeClair set up goals by Mark Recchi and Kim Johnsson in a 2:28 span bridging the first and second periods as Philadelphia snapped a five-game winless (0-3-1-1) streak on the road.
Robert Esche made 20 saves for the Flyers.
Turner Stevenson scored for the Devils, who have played two fewer games than Philadelphia with 13 left in the regular season.
PENGUINS 4, STARS 0: At Pittsburgh, Jean-Sebastien Aubin stopped 45 shots for his sixth career shutout and Pittsburgh snapped Dallas' nine-game unbeaten streak.
Aubin established a Pittsburgh record for saves in a shutout, his first since Oct. 12, 2002.
Matt Bradley and Aleksey Morozov scored 1:03 apart in the second period. Mike Eastwood and Jon Sim also scored for Pittsburgh, which owns the NHL's worst record, but is 5-2-1 in its last eight games. The Penguins have won three straight for the first time since Jan. 13-17, 2003. Dallas, 8-0-1 in its previous nine games, has lost three of four on the road.
RANGERS 2, THRASHERS 0: At Atlanta, Jaromir Jagr scored late in the first period and Mike Dunham recorded his second shutout of the season as New York beat Atlanta for the first time in more than two years. New York's Bobby Holik scored an empty-netter with nine seconds left, his 20th goal of the season.
The Rangers, winning for only the second time in six games, ended their winless streak against Atlanta at seven games (6-0-1), defeating the Thrashers for the first time since Feb. 8, 2002.
MAPLE LEAFS 5, PANTHERS 0: At Toronto, Ed Belfour made 15 saves for his seventh shutout of the season, and Gary Roberts scored twice as Toronto defeated Florida. Belfour recorded his 72nd career shutout, putting him ahead of Harry Lumley for 10th on the NHL career list. Belfour, plagued recently by a sore back, was rarely tested as the Panthers managed just 12 shots throughout the first two periods. Owen Nolan, Matt Stajan and Joe Nieuwendyk also scored for the Maple Leafs, who recorded 42 shots and have won four of five.
BLUES 3, ISLANDERS 2: At St. Louis, Pavol Demitra scored his 21st goal 1:01 into overtime to give St. Louis a sweep of a home-and-home series with the New York Islanders. Keith Tkachuk and Alexander Khavanov scored power-play goals for St. Louis and Chris Osgood made 22 saves as the Blues extended their unbeaten streak to four games. Shawn Bates and Mark Parrish scored for the Islanders. Parrish scored his 17th goal on the Islanders' only shot of the second period. Bates scored his ninth on New York's next shot, 1:26 into the third period.
St. Louis has recorded six points in its last three games against Eastern Conference opponents and 24 points overall, more than any other team in the Western Conference.
BRUINS 3, PREDATORS 2: At Nashville, Joe Thornton scored his second goal with 1:52 remaining, lifting Boston to its third win in five games. Mike Knuble also scored in the third period and had an assist, and Dan McGillis and Glen Murray each had two assists as the Bruins stayed close to Ottawa and Toronto in the Northeast Division.
OILERS 1, FLAMES 1: At Calgary, Shawn Horcoff scored for Edmonton at 9:53 of the third period to offset a goal by Ville Nieminen, lifting the Oilers into a 1-1 tie with Calgary. Horcoff deflected a slap shot by Cory Cross that Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff was able to stop. But Horcoff put in the rebound for his 14th goal of the season. Nieminen scored 2:33 into the third for Calgary.