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Devils surprise Rangers

Phoenix Coyotes goaltender Curtis Joseph ahead of the start of a game against the St. Louis Blues in Glendale, Arizona, on Tuesday. Coyotes players including Joseph wore stickers on their helmets with Phyllis Gretzky's initials on them to honor her after she died of cancer on Monday. Phyllis is the mother of Coyotes head coach Wayne Gretzky. PHOTO: AP

Brian Gionta and Alexander Mogilny scored 16 seconds apart in the third period, and the New Jersey Devils rallied behind general manager-turned-coach Lou Lamoriello, 3-1 over the New York Rangers on Tuesday night.

Kevin Weekes was 5:41 away from his first shutout in nearly two years but instead lost his second straight decision in the span of three days. Weekes allowed two goals within 19 seconds to Colorado's Joe Sakic on Sunday.

Steve Rucchin scored for New York, which has lost three straight, all at home in the team's worst skid at Madison Square Garden this season. The Rangers hadn't lost consecutive games at home since falling to Vancouver and Colorado.

Lamoriello stepped in as Devils coach on Monday after Larry Robinson surprisingly stepped down just 32 games into what has, so far, been a disappointing season. New Jersey (15-13-5) had lost six of seven overall, including three in overtime, before beating the Rangers in New York for the first time this season. The Rangers are 3-1-1 against their area rivals.

Hurricanes 6, Lightning 4

In Raleigh, North Carolina, Eric Staal scored two goals and had a brilliant assist to set up Matt Cullen's go-ahead goal, and Carolina held on to beat Tampa Bay.

Staal's first multi-goal game since Nov. 29 helped Carolina take a seven-point lead in the Southeast Division. But it was his effort early in the third period that likely saved this one.

Staal took the puck deep in his own end and raced up the ice, going right past defenseman Cory Sarich. As he skated by the net, Staal centered a pass to Cullen just outside of the crease, and he beat Burke easily to give the Hurricanes the lead. Justin Williams and Erik Cole each had a goal and an assist, while Cory Stillman added two assists against his former team on his 32nd birthday.

Red Wings 4, Blue Jackets 3

In Detroit, Pavel Datsyuk and Jason Williams scored in the shootout to lift Detroit past Columbus.

Jaroslav Balastik scored in the shootout for Columbus, but Detroit goalie Chris Osgood stopped Rick Nash and former Red Wing Sergei Fedorov.

Detroit was the last team in the league to be involved in a shootout.

Robert Lang, Mark Mowers and Brendan Shanahan scored for the Red Wings and Brett Lebda added two assists.

Nash, Duvie Westcott and Nikolai Zherdev had goals for Columbus and Fedorov had two assists. The Blue Jackets lost their fourth straight.

Canadiens 4, Senators 3

In Montreal, Alex Kovalev scored Montreal's second shootout goal after he had a goal and two assists to lead Montreal to a comeback win over Ottawa.

Kovalev scored his 300th goal in the third period after reaching 700 career points with the first of his two assists in the second, leading Montreal back from a 3-0 deficit.

He scored the Canadiens' second shot against Dominik Hasek in the shootout.

Pierre Dagenais scored on Montreal's first shot, while Cristobal Huet denied Dany Heatley and Daniel Alfredsson.

Jason Spezza, Andrej Meszaros and Zdeno Chara scored for Ottawa. Alfredsson had two assists.

Predators 3, Avalanche 2

In Nashville, Tennessee, Steve Sullivan, Marek Zidlicky and Scott Hartnell scored to lead Nashville over Colorado.

It was the third straight win at home for the Predators, who scored two power play goals in the first period.

The Avalanche closed to within 2-1 on Pierre Turgeon's goal at 16:20 while Colorado had a two-man advantage. After Hartnell's goal made it 3-1 midway through the third period, John-Michael Liles scored to get Colorado within a goal.

Blues 5, Coyotes 4

At Glendale, Arizona, Mike Sillinger had a pair of power-play goals, and Jamal Mayers scored the game-winner in the third period to help St. Louis rally over slumping Phoenix.

The loss was the fourth straight for Phoenix, the second since coach Wayne Gretzky took a leave of absence. Gretzky, who also serves as the team's managing partner for hockey operations, left Saturday to be at his mother's bedside in Brantford, Ontario. Gretzky died Monday night after a long battle with cancer.

There was a brief eulogy and moment of silence for Gretzky's mother before the national anthem.

Then, 3:42 in, smoke in one of the Glendale Arena's kitchens set off a fire alarm, emptying much of the lower bowl for about 10 minutes.
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