PITTSBURGH (AP) — Niclas Bergfors had a goal and two assists and the New Jersey Devils closed within a victory of tying the NHL record of 10 consecutive road victories to start a season, beating the slumping Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 on Thursday night.
Zach Parise added a goal and an assist, Travis Zajac had three assists and Martin Brodeur made 25 saves as New Jersey improved to 9-0 on the road. The Devils can tie the road streak record, set by Buffalo in 2006-07, Monday in Philadelphia.
New Jersey won its seventh in a row overall and, with 26 points, tied idle Washington for first place in the Eastern Conference.
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby ended a career-long five-game scoreless streak by assisting on Ruslan Fedotenko's goal in the first period, but still had a frustrating night as the Stanley Cup champions lost their fourth in a row.
With the Penguins down 3-1 midway through the third, Crosby put a backhander off the left post and a wrist shot off the right post seconds apart during a failed power play — Pittsburgh's 25th in a row. Crosby then trimmed more than a minute off the power play by taking a holding penalty.
Pittsburgh hasn't scored with the man advantage since star Evgeni Malkin left the lineup Oct. 29 with a strained right shoulder. Last season's scoring champion took part in the pregame skate and could return as early as Saturday night against Boston.
New Jersey took a 2-1 lead late in the second after Pittsburgh's Bill Guerin went off for interference. Andy Greene's one-timer from the center point banked off Penguins rookie defenseman Ben Lovejoy, who was called up from the minors earlier in the day, and eluded goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. Zajac and Bergfors both assisted.
The Penguins started the third period on the power play after Zajac drew a holding period to end the second but they couldn't convert, and Parise scored his ninth of the season with 4:43 gone. Pittsburgh's Jay McKee couldn't control the puck near mid-ice, allowing Zajac to hit Parise in stride as he skated in from the left circle. Parise has six goals and seven assists in nine road games.
The Penguins, who have never been shut out in three consecutive games, ended a scoreless streak of 160 minutes, 41 seconds when Fedotenko scored during a scramble in the crease at 11:32 of the first. Crosby started the play with a backhander from along the goal line. The Penguins' scoreless streak record is 170 minutes, 27 seconds.
The Devils, who also won 4-1 in Pittsburgh on Oct. 24, tied it when Parise grabbed the puck during a scramble along the left wing boards and fed it to Bergfors in the slot for his fifth.
David Clarkson scored for the second night in a row, into an empty net with two seconds remaining.
NOTES: Penguins D Brooks Orpik is expected to be out for about two weeks with an undisclosed injury that occurred during a collision along the end boards with Bruins D Mark Stuart on Tuesday. ... The Penguins played without six injured players. ... Fleury is 2-6 since winning his first eight decisions. He has lost four in a row for the first time since Dec. 27-Jan. 5. ... Brodeur remains one shutout away from tying Terry Sawchuk's league record of 103.
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