Devils 1, Avalanche 0 (SO)
DEVILS 1, AVALANCHE 0 (OT): Martin Brodeur turned aside 28 shots for his NHL record 118th career shutout and Ilya Kovalchuk and captain Zach Parise scored in the shootout as host New Jersey won for the fifth time in six games.
After Avalanche captain Milan Hejduk hit the post in the first round, Brodeur stopped Peter Mueller to preserve the Devils' fourth straight win at home.
New Jersey, which improved to 11-3 in shootouts, remained two points behind Philadelphia for fifth place in the Eastern Conference. The Flyers posted a 3-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday.
Although he was denied in his bid for his 400th career goal, Kovalchuk opened the shootout by beating Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Parise then gave New Jersey a commanding lead in the extra session after making two dekes before beating Giguere on his forehand.
Giguere finished with 33 saves for the Avalanche, who saw their three-game winning streak come to an end and fell to 9-3-1 in their last 13 contests. Colorado pulled into a tie with Phoenix for seventh place in the Western Conference. The Coyotes fell 4-1 in Calgary.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Despite being projected to miss three-to-four weeks with a right ankle injury, Colorado's Matt Duchene returned to the lineup after a four-game absence. He had a blocked shot and won four of six faceoffs. ... The game featured two penalties - with both hooking infractions coming in the first period. ... Giguere was making his first start since March 3.