EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — For one game, the answer to the New Jersey Devils' scoring woes was defenseman Scott Niedermayer.
The smooth-skating Niedermayer broke a personal 12-game drought with two goals and Jean-Francoise Damphousse had 23 saves in posting his first NHL victory as the Devils beat the Calgary Flames, 5-1, on Wednesday night.
It was the Devils' first five-goal game since Nov. 24, and it helped them end a run of five one-goal games, a franchise record.
"I would like to do this every game, but it's tough for anybody," Niedermayer said after picking up his sixth and seventh goals of the season. "You take it when it comes. It was good to get two goals."
Niedermayer has long shown the ability to skate with the best players in the game but that has never translated to goals. The 10-year veteran has never scored more than 14 goals in a season.
"You can only do it when it's there, whether you are scoring goals or not," Niedermayer said. "You can't change things just to score."
Petr Sykora, Sergei Nemchinov and Jason Arnott also scored and rookie Christian Berglund got an assist in his first NHL game for the Devils.
Sharks 6, Coyotes 5
Phoenix Teemu Selanne scored his first goal in 11 games and Adam Graves scored twice as San Jose beat Phoenix. Marco Sturm, Mike Ricci and Matt Bradley also scored for the Sharks, who won for the fourth time in their last five games.
Avalanche 7, Blackhawks 3
Denver Chris Drury had two goals and an assist, and Colorado used a four-goal flurry in the second period to beat Chicago. With forward Peter Forsberg set to return to the team after a four-month leave of absence, the Avalanche ended Chicago's six-game winning streak.
Capitals 6, Blue Jackets 3
Washington Sergei Gonchar scored twice as Washington ended a three-game losing streak. Stephen Peat, Adam Oates, Jaromir Jagr and Colin Forbes also scored for the Capitals, who were 1-2-2 in their last five home games.
Stars 3, Panthers 2
Sunrise, Fla. Mike Modano had two goals and Jamie Langenbrunner scored with 2:36 left in regulation for Dallas.
Thrashers 4, Senators 3, OT
Atlanta Ilya Kovalchuk scored from the left face-off circle with 2:02 left in overtime as Atlanta snapped a five-game losing streak. Kovalchuk took a cross-ice pass from Patrik Stefan and shot it past Senators goalie Jani Hurme.
Red Wings 5, Canucks 4, OT
Detroit Kris Draper's goal 2:26 into overtime completed a comeback from a three-goal, third-period deficit that lifted Detroit. The Red Wings' Luc Robitaille scored the 610th goal of his career to tie him with Bobby Hull for the NHL record for most goals by a left wing.
Kings 4, Rangers 0
New York Jamie Storr made 34 saves for his first shutout of the season as Los Angeles became the first team to sweep the three New York area teams in consecutive road games.
Blues 3, Mighty Ducks 2
Anaheim, Calif. Doug Weight scored with less than a second left in the second period and set up the game-winner by Cory Stillman with 10:28 remaining as St. Louis beat Anaheim.
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