Martin Brodeur stopped 38 shots and Scott Niedermayer and Patrik Elias each had a goal and two assists on Saturday as the New Jersey Devils beat the Boston Bruins 5-2 and moved into first place in the Atlantic Division.
"It's all about playing well going into the playoffs," Devils forward John Madden said. "It's very important to be able to have confidence and believe in each other going into the playoffs."
PHOTO: AP
Playing without captain and leading scorer Joe Thornton, the Bruins failed to pick up a point for just the third time in 14 games. Andrew Raycroft, a leading candidate for rookie of the year, allowed the five goals on 30 New Jersey shots as the Devils won their fourth straight game.
Erik Rasmussen, Turner Stevenson and Tommy Albelin also scored for the Devils, who entered the day second in the NHL on the power play and added two more goals with a man-advantage.
Marty Lapointe and Sergei Samsonov scored for Boston.
"We've got to stay out of the penalty box," Samsonov said. "We spent too much time in the penalty box and it just breaks the momentum."
Maple Leafs 6, Senators 0
In Ottawa, Ed Belfour made 28 saves in his second straight shutout and Toronto scored four goals in the second period to beat Ottawa.
Belfour earned his career-best 10th shutout this season and the 75th of his career. He is tied with New Jersey's Martin Brodeur for the lead among active goalies.
Joe Nieuwendyk scored twice for the Leafs, who scored three times in less than five minutes of the second period and handed Ottawa its worst defeat this season.
Ron Francis and Tie Domi each added a goal and an assist, and Mats Sundin and Robert Reichel also scored.
Canadiens 6, Sabres 3
In Montreal, Pierre Dagenais scored twice in the first period and Montreal secured the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs by beating Buffalo.
Jim Dowd, Richard Zednik, Michael Ryder and Steve Begin also scored for Montreal, which stopped a five-game losing streak in the regular-season finale.
Brian Campbell, Daniel Briere and Jean-Pierre Dumont scored for the Sabres, who were eliminated from playoff contention on Friday.
Blue Jackets 4, Red Wings 1
In Detroit, Rick Nash broke a tie with his league-leading 41st goal, Marc Denis made 32 saves and Columbus ended its season by beating Detroit.
Nash, tied with Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk for the NHL lead, also had an assist. Trevor Letowski and Anders Eriksson joined Nash with a goal and assist apiece. David Vyborny got the other Columbus goal, and Tyler Wright had two assists.
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