WASHINGTON – Patrik Elias’ tip-in snapped a second-period tie and the New Jersey Devils beat the Washington Capitals 4-1 on Friday night.

Travis Zajac and Zach Parise had power-play goals for the Devils, who have scored with a man advantage in a season-high five straight games. New Jersey has nine man-advantage goals during its streak, seven over its last three games.

Chris Clark scored for Washington, which has dropped two straight after going 7-1-1. Alex Ovechkin had his point-scoring streak snapped at a season-high eight games.

Brian Gionta also scored for the Devils, who have beaten the Capitals five straight times. Scott Gomez and Sergei Brylin had two assists each.

The Devils exploited a bad clearing attempt by goaltender Brent Johnson to take a 1-0 lead on Zajak’s power-play goal 5:31 into the second period. Zajak had three whacks at the left post before finally scoring his seventh goal.

Clark tied it about four minutes later, snapping Dainius Zubrus’ rebound past Martin Brodeur from the edge of the left circle.

Hurricanes 5, Islanders 1

RALEIGH, N.C. – Rod Brind’Amour had a goal and two assists and the Carolina Hurricanes scored four power-play goals in a 5-1 victory over the New York Islanders on Friday night.

Justin Williams scored his fifth goal in a five-game span for the Hurricanes, who outshot New York 35-25 and matched a season high with their third straight victory.

Erik Cole, Eric Belanger and Scott Walker also scored, while Cory Stillman had three assists and Ray Whitney added two.

Carolina’s 26th-ranked power-play unit went 4-of-9 against the Islanders’ 24th-ranked penalty-kill. It was the Hurricanes’ most productive performance on the power play since they scored five goals with the man advantage against Detroit on Nov. 29, 2002.

Red Wings 3, Wild 1

DETROIT – Dan Cleary broke a tie with a short-handed goal in the second period, and Dominik Hasek made 34 saves to help the Detroit Red Wings beat the Minnesota Wild 3-1 on Friday night.

Henrik Zetterberg and Nicklas Lidstrom also scored for the Red Wings.

Stephane Veilleux scored for Minnesota, and Manny Fernandez stopped 22 shots. The Wild are 0-7-1 in their last eight road games. Detroit scored twice in the second period.

Cleary made it 2-1 at 9:10. With Kris Draper in the penalty box for holding, Cleary put a one-time shot from the slot past Fernandez for his 14th goal. The Minnesota goalie flubbed a pass, allowing Johan Franzen to pick the puck up behind the Wild net.

Blue Jackets 3, Canucks 2

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Anson Carter had a goal and an assist and the Columbus Blue Jackets handed the Vancouver Canucks their third straight loss, 3-2 on Friday night.

Aaron Johnson and Rick Nash also scored for Columbus, which had lost three of its last four games. Ron Hainsey added two assists.

Kevin Bieksa and Daniel Sedin scored for Vancouver, losers of six in a row on the road. The Canucks have scored seven goals during the skid. With Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo pulled for an extra attacker, Daniel Sedin redirected a shot to pull the Canucks within 3-2 with 1:15 remaining.

Blackhawks 3, Leafs 1

CHICAGO – Peter Bondra scored his 500th NHL goal early in the third period to snap a 1-all tie and the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 on Friday night.

Bondra, signed by Chicago as a free agent on Dec. 10, drove to the net and rammed a rebound of Jassen Cullimore’s shot from the left point past Jean-Sebastien Aubin 6:37 into the third. Bondra became the 37th player in league history to reach the 500-goal mark.

Bryan Smolinski, who had a short-handed goal, and Brent Seabrook scored for Chicago, which improved to 8-2-3 under head coach Denis Savard.

John Pohl scored a power-play goal for Toronto, which had eight advantages compared to three for Chicago.

Chicago’s Nikolai Khabibulin blocked 25 shots. He twice stopped Toronto’s leading goal scorer, Darcy Tucker, point-blank – including on a first-period breakaway.

Aubin made 22 saves.

Maple Leafs center Michael Peca suffered a right knee injury late in the first period and had to be helped from the ice. He didn’t return, and team officials had no further update before the end of the game.

Peca collided with Chicago defenseman Jim Vandermeer at full speed in the Toronto zone with 5:17 left in the first. Vandermeer received a five-minute penalty for kneeing and game misconduct on the play.

Toronto took a 1-0 lead when Pohl scored on a power play with 4:01 left in the first period.

After taking a cross-ice pass from Tomas Kaberle, Pohl fired a one-time shot from the left that beat Khabibulin between the pads.

Smolinski’s short-handed goal with 8:57 left in the second tied it 1-all.

After taking a pass from Denis Arkhipov, Smolinski beat Aubin on the stick side with a shot from the left circle.

After Bondra gave Chicago a 2-1 lead, Seabrook made it 3-1 with 2:44 left. He scored on a shot from the right point that deflected off the stick of Toronto’s Chad Kilger.

Notes: The Maple Leafs and Blackhawks, both Original Six NHL franchises, faced each other for the first time in Chicago since Feb. 12, 2003. … Toronto D Wade Belak was accidentally cut above the nose by the stick of Chicago’s Patrick Sharp with 6:48 left in the first. He skated off the ice and no penalty was assessed on the play. … Chicago LW Karl Stewart suffered a leg injury in the first period and didn’t return. … Blackhawks C Jeff Hamilton sat out with the flu. … Maple Leafs LW Alexei Ponikarovsky missed the game with a separated shoulder and C Kyle Wellwood sat out with a hip flexor injury.

AP-ES-12-22-06 2314EST


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