EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey, 21 November 2003 — Martin Brodeur came up one save shy of his 68th career shutout to guide the New Jersey Devils to a 4-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday.

The Devils received goals from Scott Gomez, Jay Pandolfo, Brian Gionta and John Madden, with Daniel Briere beating Brodeur six minutes into the final period. The New Jersey netminder turned aside the other 21 Buffalo shots.

The defending champions Devils extended their unbeaten streak to 10 games.

Red Wings 5 Blue Jackets 1

In Detroit, Brett Hull tallied twice and Kris Draper, Tomas Holmstrom and Steve Thomas claimed singles as the Red Wings thumped the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-1.

Manny Legace saved 37 of 38 Columbus shots. Geoff Sanderson scored early in the third period to deny him the shutout.

The Red Wings are 10-0-1 in their last 11 meetings with the Blue Jackets.

Wild 6 Penguins 2

In Pittsburgh, Antti Laaksonen scored two goals as the Minnesota Wild went up 3-0 after one period before cruising to a 6-2 victory over the Penguins. Marian Gaborik added another goal on a penalty shot, with Sergei Zholtok, Alexandre Daigle and Pascal Dupuis also netting for the Wild.

It was Minnesota’s highest goal output of the season.

Islanders 4 Panthers 1

In Sunshine, Florida, rookie Trent Hunter grabbed the game’s first and last goals on assists from Shawn Bates as the New York Islanders won 4-1 to extend their unbeaten streak against the Panthers to seven games.

Bates also scored, as did Mattias Timander. Nathan Horton replied for Florida to deny Rick DiPietro the shutout.

Thrashers 5 Bruins 4 (OT)

In Atlanta, Ilya Kovalchuk notched his league-leading 14th goal of the season 3:42 into overtime as the Thrashers rallied to edge the Boston Bruins 5-4.

Atlanta’s Serge Aubin netted the only third-period goal to force overtime.

Boston’s Joe Thornton collected two assists to give him 20 points for the season.

Mighty Ducks 3 Stars 3

In Dallas, Andy McDonald opened and closed the scoring as the Anaheim Mighty Ducks battled to a 3-3 tie with the Stars.

His second goal came from near center ice, skipping past Stars netminder Marty Turco.

Petr Sykora accounted for Anaheim’s other goal. Mike Modano, Jason Arnott and Jon Klemm answered for Dallas.

Coyotes 5 Blues 4

In Phoenix, Brian Savage tallied twice, his second with 1:45 to play, as the Coyotes overcame the St. Louis Blues 5-4.

Shane Doan assisted on Savage’s game-winner and also scored twice for the Coyotes.

Playmaker Doug Weight assisted on all four St. Louis goals in his return from a four-game suspension. Phoenix’s previous five encounters had gone to overtime.

Kings 3 Predators 0

In Los Angeles, Sean Avery’s fourth-minute goal proved to be the game winner as the Kings blanked the Nashville Predators 3-0.

Michael Cammalleri and Kip Brennan also netted for the Kings. Roman Cechmanek was unbeatable in the Los Angeles net, stopping all 30 Nashville shots.