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Devils inch toward playoff berth

New Jersey Devils' goalie Martin Brodeur takes a break from his game with the Montreal Canadiens in the third period in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Friday. PHOTO: REUTERS

Martin Brodeur made 30 saves Friday as the New Jersey Devils moved within a point of clinching their eighth straight playoff berth with a 1-1 tie with the Montreal Canadiens.

Jay Pandolfo scored for the Devils, who can advance to the postseason with either a win or tie, or a tie or loss by Buffalo.

"It would have been nice to score there," said Scott Niedermayer, who missed two chances at goals. "The second one hit the post. The first one I kind of shot back into him."

The only thing that separated the Devils from the postseason, and Brodeur from becoming the youngest goaltender to win 400 games, was Canadiens goaltender Mathieu Garon, who made 29 saves.

"Playing against Marty Brodeur, you're not allowed to make any mistakes because he's not going to give up many goals," Garon said.

Yanic Perreault scored for the Canadiens, 10-1-1-1 in its last 13 games.

Islanders 3, Wild 1

In Uniondale, New York, Jason Blake scored three goals to lift New York over Minnesota and move the Islanders closer to their third straight playoff appearance.

Blake's second career hat trick, the first recorded by an Atlantic Division player this season, pushed the Islanders six points ahead of Buffalo in the race for the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Rick DiPietro made 15 saves for his 19th win.

Penguins 4, Hurricanes 3, OT

In Pittsburgh, Aleksey Morozov, returning to the lineup after missing two games with a sore back, scored a power-play goal at 1:17 of overtime to lift Pittsburgh over Carolina.

Dick Tarnstrom's 14th goal with 5:15 left in regulation tied it for Pittsburgh, which pushed its home unbeaten streak to five games.

Thrashers 3, Panthers 2

In Atlanta, Ilya Kovalchuk bounced back after being benched much of the third period to score his NHL-leading 39th goal with 23.7 seconds remaining to give Atlanta a victory over Florida.

Trailing 2-1, the Thrashers scored twice in the final two minutes to give a little life to their fading playoff hopes and give a win to goalie Kari Lehtonen on his NHL debut.
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