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NHL: Canadiens pound Devils to regain lead

Philadelphia Flyers right winger Scottie Upshall scores on Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Vesa Toskala of Finland during the first period of an NHL game in Toronto, Canada, on Tuesday. PHOTO: AP

The Montreal Canadiens moved back into first place in the Eastern Conference after beating the New Jersey Devils 4-0 on Tuesday, with rookie goaltender Carey Price stopping 38 shots.

The Devils held a one-point lead over the Canadiens coming into the game, but could not get the puck past Price, firing 33 of their 38 shots in the first two periods.

The 20-year-old Price moved to 5-2 since Montreal traded Cristobal Huet to the Washington Capitals at the trade deadline and put their faith in a rookie netminder. Price recorded his second shutout.

Bryan Smolinski and Finn Saku Koivu scored first-period goals. Maxim Lapierre added another in the second and Michael Ryder rounded off the win in the third period to give the Canadiens their third successive win over the Devils.

Smolinski's goal was his 19th in 45 career games against New Jersey.

"They play a disciplined style, and you have to do the same," he told reporters.

Martin Brodeur made his 29th successive start for New Jersey, making 28 saves, but his team saw their three-game winning streak stopped. Brodeur allowed only three goals in those three games and was beaten by Smolinski from a sharp angle.

"The bottom line is he's still one of the best in the game," Smolinski said. "[Team mate Tom Kotsopoulos] did a good job of giving me some room and getting the pass to me. Did I fool Brodeur? I think I fooled myself."

The Canadiens won the game after returning from a 2-2 west coast trip.

New Jersey, who have a one-point lead over the idle Pittsburgh Penguins atop the Atlantic Division, have scored just 12 goals in their last eight games but have gone 4-3-1 over that span.

Red Wings 3, Blackhawks 1

At Detroit, Pavel Datsyuk scored a go-ahead goal late in the second period and the NHL-leading Detroit have won four straight after enduring their worst slump in nearly two decades.

Detroit's Kirk Maltby scored in the first period and Johan Franzen added an empty-net goal in the final minute. Chris Osgood made 19 saves, including one against former Red Wing Robert Lang on a penalty shot midway through the game.

Goaltender Corey Crawford kept the Blackhawks in it with 44 saves, playing just his sixth career game and fourth this season.

Avalanche 5, Thrashers 2

At Atlanta, Andrew Brunette scored two goals, and Joe Sakic and rookie David Jones each had a goal and two assists as Colorado downed Atlanta to move into a tie for first place in the Northwest Division.

Colorado has won 10 of 14 on the road, seven of eight overall.

Colby Armstrong had an unassisted goal midway through the first for the Thrashers, who lost their second straight and have just one victory in 11 games.

Lightning 8, Islanders 4

Vincent Lecavalier scored three goals and Michel Ouellet added two, leading Tampa Bay over the New York Islanders in Tampa, Florida.

Lightning coach John Tortorella moved past Bob Johnson to become the most successful American-born NHL coach with 235 victories.

Jeff Halpern, Nick Tarnasky and Jason Ward had the other Lightning goals. Tampa Bay, last in the Eastern Conference, won for just the second time in 12 games. Bill Guerin, Ruslan Fedotenko, Ben Walter and Mike Comrie scored for the Islanders, who have lost five of six.

New York goalie Rick DiPietro allowed eight goals on 44 shots.

Senators 4, Bruins 1

At Ottawa, Dany Heatley scored three goals and set up another as Ottawa trounced Boston.

After scoring just three goals in 13 games, Heatley has four goals in his past two contests, both wins for the Senators. Jason Spezza had a goal and an assist for Ottawa, and Andrej Meszaros added two assists.

In other games it was:

* Maple Leafs 4, Flyers 3

* Sharks 2, Predators 1

* Oilers 4, Blues 3, OT

* Coyotes 3, Ducks 2, SO
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