ATLANTA – Rookie Scott Clemmensen made 18 saves for his second road shutout, and the New Jersey Devils moved closer to playoff form with a 5-0 victory over Atlanta on Friday night.

Scott Gomez scored twice, and Patrik Elias, Paul Martin and Sergei Brylin added goals for New Jersey.

The Devils needed a lift following a 2-1 loss in Tampa Bay Thursday night, and Clemmensen delivered in only his fourth start.

On Tuesday night, Martin Brodeur became just the eighth goalie to reach the 400-win mark, and he was rewarded with a night off against the Thrashers.

Sabres 5, Penguins 1

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Jay McKee and Chris Drury scored in a one-minute span in the second period to help give the Buffalo Sabres a 5-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night.

Daniel Briere, Maxim Afinogenov and Andrew Peters also scored, and Drury added an assist for the Sabres.

Milan Kraft scored for Pittsburgh, which had its three game winning streak snapped.

Jackets 3, Ducks 1

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Fred Brathwaite made 43 saves, and rookie Nikolai Zherdev had a goal and an assist in the Columbus Blue Jackets’ 3-1 victory over Anaheim.

David Vyborny added his career-high 21st goal, and Tyler Wright also scored to help the Blue Jackets to their third straight victory following a team-record eight losses in a row.

Zherdev, who has 12 points in his last eight games, scored his 11th of the season into an empty net with 52 seconds left.

Petr Sykora scored his 23rd of the season for Anaheim, eliminated from playoff contention with a 3-2 loss at St. Louis on Thursday night. The Mighty Ducks are the fifth team in league history not to make the playoffs the season after playing in the Stanley Cup final.

Vyborny opened the scoring midway through the first period, beating Martin Gerber with a low shot. Andrew Cassels fed a backhand pass from the right corner to the wide-open Vyborny.

In the second, Zherdev nearly converted a two-on-one with Trevor Letowski. Seconds later, Zherdev gathered the puck and zipped a pass to Wright, who beat Gerber with a high shot.

Rick Nash, tied for the NHL lead with 39 goals, was stopped on a partial breakaway later in the period and then took a double minor at 13:33 for high-sticking Niclas Havelid.

On the second power play, Vaclav Prospal fired a point from the shot, and Sykora put the rebound over Brathwaite to make it 2-1 at 16:14. Columbus had killed 31 consecutive power plays in seven games.

Zherdev scored soon after a goal by Columbus defenseman Luke Richardson was disallowed because of a goalie interference call on Wright.

Notes: Blue Jackets enforcer Jody Shelley sat out the first game of a three-game suspension for sucker-punching Minnesota’s Alex Henry on Wednesday night. … The Ducks were within a game of .500 on March 5, but are 3-7-1 since.

AP-ES-03-26-04 2144EST