After spending most of his career as a backup, Scott Clemmensen is relishing a chance to be the New Jersey Devils' starting goalie. Clemmensen stopped 23 shots, and Patrik Elias and Brian Gionta each had a goal and an assist in the Devils' 3-1 victory over the Florida Panthers on Thursday night. The night belonged to the 31-year-old Clemmensen, who came within 11:18 of his first shutout in more...

The Devils get a few days to catch their collective breath and get ready for a Thursday night home game with Florida.

Before its little "vacation," though, the club managed to dodge a big-time bullet, and it will be interesting to see what the combination of a shootout win and getting some time to push the healing process of a very sore roster does when New Jersey starts it up again.

"That would have been tough sitting on five (losses) in a row. We're not going to kid ourselves, especially (a loss like) that one," captain Jamie Langenbrunner said after the shootout victory over Washington avoided a fifth straight loss AND the battered and bruised Devils dropping under the .500 mark for the season.

The win closed out a stretch of three games in four nights,...

The biceps injury that will sideline Marty Brodeur for four months has given Scott Clemmensen a chance to prove he's more than a backup goalie. Clemmensen, getting a second straight start, stopped all three Washington shooters after Zach Parise scored the only goal in the shootout and the New Jersey Devils ended a four-game losing streak with a 6-5 victory over the Capitals on Saturday night.

Washington Capitals goalie Jose Theodore hadn't made a start in nearly two weeks thanks to teammate Brent Johnson's winning streak. When Theodore had a chance to get back into net for the Capitals Friday night, he made it count. His only blemish was a late breakaway goal against his 32 saves. His goaltending, along with goals by Brooks Laich and Tomas Fleischmann, led to the Capitals' 3-1 win...

Kevin Weekes had little to do in the first period, then was overwhelmed in the second. He didn't make it off the bench for the third. Michal Rozsival and Nikolai Zherdev scored during two-man advantages in New York's four-goal second period, and the Rangers routed Weekes and the Martin Brodeur-less New Jersey Devils 5-2 on Wednesday night.

Edmonton goalie Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers was well prepared for his second career NHL start. "I kind of knew what to expect," Drouin-Deslauriers said. "The first one is always something new. It's always something special. You think you know what to expect, but it's always an unreal feeling." The 24-year-old rookie made 37 saves to help the Oilers beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Sunday night.