NEWARK, N.J. – Chris Drury scored the tying goal with 4:46 left in regulation, and Nigel Dawes beat Martin Brodeur in the shootout to give the New York Rangers a 2-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night.

New York tied Ottawa in points in the Eastern Conference playoff race but is still in sixth place on the basis of one fewer win. The Rangers improved to 6-0 this season against the conference-leading Devils, holding them to five goals in the process and winning three times after regulation.

Dawes had the only goal in the shootout, and Henrik Lundqvist turned aside Jamie Langenbrunner, Brian Gionta and Zach Parise in the tiebreaker after making 17 saves through overtime.

The only blemish was Dainius Zubrus’ power-play goal in the first period that looked as though it would be enough for New Jersey to finally top the Rangers.

Martin Brodeur faced only mild pressure from the Rangers, who rarely got quality scoring chances. Many drives came from sharp angles or were blocked well before they could get in on goal, until Drury scored.

Just 18 seconds after the Rangers’ fourth failed power play expired, Drury tied it. Ryan Callahan swooped out from behind the net and fed a pretty left-to-right pass that Drury buried behind Brodeur with 4:46 left.

New Jersey leads Montreal by one point in the race for the top playoff seed in the East. The Devils are four points ahead of the Rangers in the Atlantic Division.

Hurricanes 5, Thrashers 3

ATLANTA – Eric Staal scored his 35th goal and Sergei Samsonov added a goal and an assist in the Carolina Hurricanes’ 5-3 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on Wednesday night.

Since Feb. 21, Carolina has won 10 of 12, including three victories over the Thrashers.

The Southeast Division-leading Hurricanes, who improved to 5-1-1 against Atlanta this season, led 3-0 after Staal beat goaltender Johan Hedberg with a wrister from the slot 13:33 into the first period.

Carolina goaltender Cam Ward stopped 31 of 34 shots after making his 13th straight start.

Carolina led 3-0 by the 13:33 mark of the first period, ending with Staal’s wrister from the slot.

Samsonov made it 2-0 with his 13th goal less than 7 minutes before Staal scored. Hedberg appeared to be screened from seeing Samsonov’s shot, a wrister that beat him from outside the top of the right circle.

Sabres 7, Lightning 4

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Thomas Vanek and Jochen Hecht scored twice during Buffalo’s six-goal third period, capping the Sabres’ 7-4 comeback victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night.

Jason Pominville had two goals and two assists and the Sabres scored six times on their final 10 shots to overcome a 4-1 deficit. Derek Roy had a goal and two assists and Drew Stafford set up three goals in helping Buffalo inch within a point of Philadelphia for the Eastern Conference’s eighth and final playoff berth.

The Sabres overcame a three-goal deficit for the first time since a 5-4 win over Toronto on March 23, 2007. And it marked their third come-from-behind win over the Lightning this season.

Buffalo rallied from a pair of two-goal deficits, including a 4-3 overtime win on Feb. 20.

The Sabres swept the four-game series against Tampa Bay, with Vanek producing three game winners.

Vincent Lecavalier scored twice, including his 39th of the season, for the Lightning, the East’s last-place team, which had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Red Wings 3, Jackets 1

DETROIT – Henrik Zetterberg scored three goals in the third period to lift the Detroit Red Wings to a 3-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday night.

It was Zetterberg’s third career hat trick.

Manny Malhotra scored Columbus’ goal.

Zetterberg, who has 39 goals, tied the game at 1, 6:43 into the third period with a spectacular effort.

He took the puck from his own blue line into the Columbus zone, where he skated past defensemen Jan Hejda and Rostislav Klesla, before backhanding the puck past Blue Jackets goaltender Fredrik Norrena.

Zetterberg’s second goal came on the power play with 1:54 left when he scored on a one-timer from the left circle.

He completed his hat trick with 1:19 left when he stole the puck from Jiri Novotny in the neutral zone, carried it into the Blue Jackets’ zone, made a fake on Norrena and put the puck into the empty net.