NEWARK, N.J. – Brian Gionta swept a rebound past Martin Gerber 2:14 into overtime and the New Jersey Devils beat the Ottawa Senators 3-2 Wednesday night.

Gionta’s drive was blocked in front, and Jamie Langenbrunner put a rebound off the right pad of Gerber. Gionta got the puck again and scored his 14th goal for the Devils, who won their second straight at home after a 2-4 skid there.

Martin Brodeur, in his 16th straight start, stopped 23 shots through regulation, and Gerber made 28 saves for Ottawa.

Langenbrunner and Karel Rachunek also scored for the Devils, and Patrik Elias had three assists.

Luke Richardson, who came in with only six points this season, tied a career high with two on a goal and assist. Randy Robitaille also scored for the Senators, the Eastern Conference’s top team which has dropped five of seven (2-4-1).

One night after Ottawa’s potent top line of Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza went pointless in a 5-1 home loss to Buffalo, coach John Paddock shook up the trio by putting Alfredsson with Mike Fisher and newly acquired Cory Stillman, and moving up Dean McAmmond.

It paid off when Spezza and McAmmond set up Richardson’s goal.

Richardson scored his first goal in 26 games, dating to Dec. 18, when his shot struck Devils forward David Clarkson, took a hop, and caromed past Brodeur 5:25 in.

Blackhawks 7, Jackets 2

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Dustin Byfuglien scored two goals and the Chicago Blackhawks rolled to a big early lead to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 7-2 on Wednesday night.

Robert Lang, Brent Seabrook, James Wisniewski and Martin Havlat each had a goal and an assist and Brent Sopel had two assists for the Blackhawks, who scored on three of their first four shots. Patrick Kane also scored.

Fredrik Modin, activated off the injured list earlier in the day, and Dick Tarnstrom had the goals for Columbus, which has lost seven of eight.

The Blackhawks led 4-0 after one period, inciting a crowd of almost 15,000 at Nationwide Arena to loudly boo the home team as they left the ice at the first intermission.

Chicago coach Denis Savard had ripped his team after it was shut out 1-0 by Pascal Leclaire in the teams’ previous meeting on Jan. 24. Referring to the team mascot, he said that the Blackhawks needed to “commit to the Indian.”

Thrashers 3, Capitals 2

ATLANTA – Eric Perrin and Slava Kozlov scored on Atlanta’s first two shootout opportunities and the Thrashers beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 on Wednesday night.

Kari Lehtonen stopped 39 shots before denying Washington’s Alexander Semin and Boyd Gordon in the shootout. Lehtonen, who also had an assist, made a glove save on Gordon’s shot to finish the win.

The win left Atlanta, Washington and Carolina tied for first in the Southeast Division.

The Thrashers improved to 7-4 in shootouts and 13-4 in overtime. They were only 1:21 away from winning 2-1 in regulation, but Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 48th goal from the left circle to overtime.

Sabres 1, Maple Leafs 0

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Ryan Miller stopped 35 shots and Paul Gaustad scored the lone goal, lifting the Buffalo Sabres to a 1-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night.

Gaustad broke a scoreless tie 9 minutes into the third, converting Daniel Paille’s pass from behind the net. Miller registered his third shutout of the season, helping Buffalo improve to 8-0-2 in its past 10 games and move into seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings, a point ahead of the idle New York Rangers.

Canadiens 2, Panthers 1

SUNRISE, Fla. – Alexei Kovalev’s shot from the right circle 1:43 into overtime gave the Montreal Canadiens a 2-1 victory over Florida on Wednesday night, spoiling the Panthers’ first game since forward Richard Zednik was seriously injured earlier this week.

With Jassen Cullimore – who helped Zednik off the ice after his neck was slashed in Buffalo on Sunday night – in the penalty box for hooking, Kovalev scored his 26th of the season to snap Montreal’s three-game losing streak.

Steve Montador scored his fifth goal of the season in the first period for Florida. Christopher Higgins knotted the game with 7:26 left with his 18th of the season for Montreal.

Florida was flat at the start of overtime, and paid the price.

Higgins had two chances to win it from relatively close range in the first 17 seconds of the extra session.

, and Montreal – which came in with the league’s best power-play success rate – eventually cashed in with the man advantage, with Kovalev getting assists from Saku Koivu and Bryan Smolinski.

Carey Price stopped 35 shots for Montreal. Tomas Vokoun also made 35 saves for the Panthers, whose thoughts in recent days have been dominated by Zednik’s injury.

And reminders of Zednik were everywhere.

A string of rosary beads swayed from a hook at Zednik’s locker. Fans were asked to sign an oversized get-well card as they entered the arena, a blood drive took place outside the building, and the team ended its pregame ceremonies with a brief video tribute in the injured forward’s honor.

Zednik was injured in Buffalo on Sunday night, when teammate Olli Jokinen’s razor-sharp skate blade sliced the 32-year-old forward’s neck, cutting his carotid artery and stopping just shy of his jugular vein.

But doctors believe Zednik could be back in South Florida by the weekend, and on Wednesday, Zednik’s wife released a statement thanking countless people for their support.

“Richard continues to improve and we are encouraged each day,” Jessica Zednik said. “We thank you for respecting our privacy and would ask everyone to continue to keep Richard in their thoughts over the next few days.”

Not only were the Panthers – who scored 28 goals in their previous six games – playing without Zednik, their lines were further juggled because Stephen Weiss missed the game with the flu. Weiss and Zednik are both among Florida’s top five scorers, combining for 25 goals and 34 assists this season.

Montador did his part to pick up the slack at 12:04 of the first, as a Florida power play was expiring.

From the high slot, he dumped the puck toward the net, probably looking more for a deflection than anything else. He got one – just not from a teammate, but from Montreal defenseman Andrei Markov, who brushed the puck and redirected it past Price for the game’s first goal.

That was all Florida could muster in the first two periods.

The way Vokoun was playing, it looked like the one goal might be enough.

Markov came in alone with 1:31 left in the opening period and took a point-blank blast from close range, but Vokoun made the save. And with 51/2 minutes left in the second, Koivu came on a short-handed breakaway, but Vokoun dropped down and blocked that one, too.

But with the help of some lucky bounces, the Canadiens solved Vokoun with 7:26 left.

Off a faceoff from the right circle, the puck bounced oddly and diagonally across the slot, as Vokoun tried to knock it away. He couldn’t reach it, and Higgins stuck his stick past Florida defenseman Jay Bouwmeester and deflected the puck into the net, tying the game at 1.

Like Vokoun, Price was strong at the other end.

Making only his second start since Jan. 5, the Canadiens’ first-round pick three years ago kept Montreal close, with perhaps his best save coming against Jokinen midway through the second. The Panthers’ captain collected the puck alone in the slot after a turnover and fired; Price turned and looked behind him, thinking the shot went in, but it stopped in the crease and was sticked away.

Notes: Florida is the only team to have a winning all-time record in regular-season games against Montreal. … There were no stoppages of play in the final 5:19 of the second period. … The Panthers have a power-play goal in six of their past seven games.

AP-ES-02-13-08 2217EST