Devils 3, Sabres 1
Petr Sykora scored two goals and Patrik Elias reached 500 career assists with a pair of helpers as the New Jersey Devils posted a 3-1 victory over the visiting Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday.
Captain Zach Parise added his 12th tally of the season and Martin Brodeur made 22 saves for the Devils, who held an opponent below three goals for the first time in five games.
Brodeur began an odd-man rush with a long pass out to Elias in first period. Elias dropped it off to Sykora, who fired a wrister from the slot that trickled past Ryan Miller and across the line at the 9:52 mark.
Elias set up Sykora again 1:26 into the second period, when he stole the puck in the Buffalo zone and found the veteran right wing streaking down the slot. It was Sykora’s 10th tally of the season.
Elias now has 848 career points in parts of 16 seasons - all with New Jersey.
Defenseman Mark Fayne blasted a shot from the point that Parise redirected to make it 3-0 just over five minutes later.
The Sabres would get one back on Thomas Vanek’s power-play tally, but Brodeur held the fort from there.