Brodeur, Parise carry Devils to SO win

Mike Mottau's first goal since October got New Jersey even late in the third period, and Zach Parise came back from a sick day to score the only goal in the shootout, giving the Devils a 2-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night.

Martin Brodeur made a rolling poke-check stop on Ales Kotalik to start the tiebreaker and then denied Tim Connolly and Thomas Vanek to seal New Jersey's third straight win. The Devils have scored five goals in the spurt.

Ryan Miller did all he could to protect a 1-0 lead after Kotalik scored early in the second, but Mottau wrecked the shutout bid with 6:23 left in regulation.

Mottau made a right-to-left pass inside the blue line to defense partner Colin White and then cut down low. White's shot caromed off Miller to Mottau, who scored his first goal in 30 games.

Parise sat out on Sunday with the flu.

Miller made 34 saves through overtime and stopped Brian Gionta in the shootout.

The Devils spent the final minute of regulation and the first of overtime killing John Madden's delay-of-game penalty.

Buffalo earned a point but dropped its second straight following six consecutive wins. The Sabres had won four in a row on the road.

Brodeur, fresh off a 1-0 overtime win at Calgary on Sunday in the Devils' previous game, stopped 26 shots. New Jersey is 14-3-1 in its last 18 games.

The tide turned in the second when the Sabres, playing for the fourth time in eight days, picked up the pace in the New Jersey end. After recording a season-low two shots in the first, Buffalo grabbed the lead with their sixth shot, taken from a tough angle by Kotalik at 4:36.

Daniel Paille jarred the puck free along the left-wing boards with a hit that sent 6-foot-4 defenseman Colin White to the ice. The puck swung around to the opposite side to Kotalik, who wound up between the top of the right circle and the boards and sent a shot off the left post and in behind Brodeur for his 12th of the season and third in four games.

Except for Kotalik's goal, Brodeur handled the action he didn't get in the first. Buffalo caught up dramatically in shots with a 13-6 edge, but didn't take advantage of a pair of power plays awarded just more than two minutes apart.

The Devils looked fresh in their first period after returning from a four-day break following a 2-1 trip to Western Canada ended last Sunday. After falling 5-0 to Vancouver in the opener, the Devils beat Edmonton and Calgary by a combined 4-1 score — including Brodeur's 95th regular-season shutout, second most in NHL history.

New Jersey dominated the opening 20 minutes, keeping constant pressure on Miller and outshooting the Sabres 13-2. Most of the chances were generated by the top line of Elias, Dainius Zubrus and Gionta, a trio that recorded seven shots — four by Elias.

Miller stood up to the challenges, and even turned aside Arron Asham's penalty shot with 3:34 left in the period.

Notes:@ Buffalo RW Drew Stafford missed his first game due to a concussion sustained Wednesday. Clarke MacArthur was recalled from Rochester (AHL) and replaced him in the lineup. ... Devils D Karel Rachunek (ankle) sat out his second straight. ... Mottau scored his other goal this season on Oct. 6 at Florida in New Jersey's second game.