Ottawa, ON (Sports Network) - Jamie Langenbrunner scored two goals and the Devils picked up right where they left off before the All-Star break, as New Jersey defeated the Ottawa Senators, 4-1, at Scotiabank Place.
Patrik Elias and Brendan Shanahan also scored for the Devils, who won their sixth consecutive game and remained atop the Atlantic Division. Scott Clemmensen made 21 saves in the win. New Jersey will face the Bruins in Boston on Thursday before it closes the month of January at home against Pittsburgh on Friday.
Alexandre Picard tallied the only goal for Ottawa, which had earned at least a point in four straight contests heading into the mid-season break, but lost its fifth consecutive game against the Devils.
Brian Elliott allowed four goals on 27 shots in the losing effort.
The Devils opened the scoring 4:54 into the first period. Brian Gionta gained control of the puck in the neutral zone and used a self-pass off the half-wall to maneuver around Ottawa defenseman Chris Phillips. Gionta then streaked down the right-wing side and, from a sharp angle near the goal line, sent a centering pass into the crease area. The puck deflected off the skate of Elias and crossed the goal line. The play was reviewed to determine if Elias used a purposeful kicking motion, but the goal stood.
Midway through the second stanza, the Senators knotted the score with a power- play goal. Following a hooking minor called on Bryce Salvador, the Senators went to work with the extra skater and captain Daniel Alfredsson held control atop the left circle. Alfredsson sent a pass through the slot for Picard, whose one-timer from inside the right circle lit the lamp at 10:54.
Less than four minutes later, though, the Devils regained the lead via Langenbrunner's ninth goal of the season. A shot from the left point by Johnny Oduya missed the net wide left, but the puck caromed hard off the rear boards and ended up near the right post, where Langenbrunner was stationed. The Devils captain, from along the goal line, purposely shot the puck into the chest of Elliott in the hopes of banking the puck in off the netminder, and that's exactly what happened with 5:41 remaining in the second period.
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An amazing individual effort by Zach Parise led to New Jersey's third goal mere seconds into the final stanza. Parise attempted a shot from the low slot but was tripped and the puck squirted toward the rear boards. Parise, while flying through the air, made a blind backhanded pass from behind the goal line that perfectly found the stick of Langenbrunner, who punched home his second goal of the game at the 19-second mark from near the bottom of the left circle.
The scoring was capped by Shanahan's marker. He lit the lamp with his patented wrist shot from inside the right circle with 8:43 remaining in regulation.
