Travis Zajac

THE NEW JERSEY Devils signed center Travis Zajac to a long-term contract. Devils president and general manager Lou Lamoriello announced the deal on Wednesday, shortly after Zajac scored a goal in a scrimmage against Albany of the AHL. The deal will run 8 years, and pay Zajac, who should be the No. 1 center this season, $46 million. Lamoriello said the two sides had started to work on the new contract before the NHL lockout began in September. They finished it after the league and its players finalized a new 10-year collective bargaining agreement.

Travis Zajac scored at 5 minutes, 39 seconds of overtime and the New Jersey Devils avoided elimination and sent yet another Eastern Conference first-round series to a seventh game with a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night in Newark. Steve Bernier and Ilya Kovalchuk also scored and Martin Brodeur made 14 saves for New Jersey, which squandered a two-goal lead and had fans dreading another first-round playoff exit until Zajac scored from the right hand circle. The shot beat Scott Clemmensen to the lower corner and set off a mob scene on the ice. Clemmensen was outstanding, stopping 39 shots in an emergency start for the injured Jose Theodore.

Players to watch FLYERS: Scott Hartnell The Flyers' leading scorer through the regular season with 37 goals has just two tallies in seven playoff games this spring. Hartnell's tireless work in the helped produce Claude Giroux's 15-point run, but it's time for Hartnell to get back on the score sheet. DEVILS: Ilya Kovalchuk He was held without a shot in Game 1 for the first time since Nov. 23, 2011. Kovalchuk was not available to meet the media on Monday.

Michael Del Zotto scored a shorthanded goal and set up Rick Nash's game-winner to lead the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the struggling New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night in Newark. Carl Hagelin also scored and Henrik Lundqvist had 29 saves as the Rangers won their second game in two nights after a three-game losing streak. New York moved into a tie for eighth place in the Eastern Conference, the cutoff point for the playoffs. Travis Zajac and Anton Volchenkov scored for New Jersey, which lost its third in a row (0-2-1)

Mike Knuble and Nicklas Backstrom fueled a high-powered offense with three points apiece, and the Washington Capitals pulled away to their ninth consecutive victory, 4-1, over the visiting Florida Panthers last night. Knuble had two goals and an assist, and Backstrom had a goal and two assists for the Capitals. The winning streak is the second-longest in franchise history, just one short of the 10 straight won by the 1983-84 team. Washington has won 12 times in January to tie the team record for a month, set in December 1984.

Alexander Ovechkin became the first player in 12 years to score 60 goals in an NHL season, as his two last night led the Washington Capitals to a come-from-behind 5-3 win over the Thrashers in Atlanta. Trailing 3-1 after two periods, Ovechkin's 60th goal came 11 minutes, 30 seconds into the third, and unleashed a four-goal Washington barrage. Ovechkin also had two assists, improving his league scoring lead to 106 points. Niklas Backstrom had two of Washington's third-period goals, and Boyd Gordon added an empty-netter.

Call it the Tortorella Tirade. The Rangers came out flat in the opening minute against the New Jersey Devils, and coach John Tortorella had seen more than enough. He burned his lone timeout 1:24 in and chewed out his club. The message got through, and visiting New York gutted out a 3-2 victory last night. "We didn't come out ready," captain Chris Drury said. "It was pretty obvious at the start of the game and he let us know. From that point on I thought we responded very well.

PLAYERS TO WATCH FLYERS: Scott Hartnell: The Flyers' leading scorer through the regular season with 37 goals, has just two tallies in seven playoff games this spring. Hartnell's tireless work in the corners have helped produce Claude Giroux's 15-point run, but it's time for Hartnell to get back on the scoresheet. DEVILS: Ilya Kovalchuk: He was held without a shot in Game 1 for the first time since Nov. 23, 2011. Kovalchuk was not available to meet the media on Monday, as a team spokesman said he was getting "treatment," furthering injury speculation.

Travis Zajac set up two goals, and the host New Jersey Devils rode another solid performance by Martin Brodeur to a 2-1 victory over the Florida Panthers on Saturday. Patrik Elias and David Clarkson scored for New Jersey, and Brodeur finished with 17 saves as the Devils won their second straight since the 40-year-old goalie returned to the lineup.   Leafs top Bruins Nazem Kadri scored in the first period, and Frazer McLaren added a timely goal in the third as the host Toronto Maple Leafs ended an eight-game losing streak to the Boston Bruins with a 3-2 victory.

MATS ZUCCARELLO had little to celebrate six games into his second stint with the New York Rangers. The 5-7 spark plug had no goals and two assists in his return. Demanding coach John Tortorella noticed and wasn't pleased with the lack of production. On Wednesday, before the Rangers took the ice for the back end of a home-and-home series with Toronto, Tortorella called out Zuccarello, saying he needed to score - in games and in shootouts. The message got through in a hurry.

Travis Zajac set up two goals, and the host New Jersey Devils rode another solid performance by Martin Brodeur to a 2-1 victory over the Florida Panthers on Saturday. Patrik Elias and David Clarkson scored for New Jersey, and Brodeur finished with 17 saves as the Devils won their second straight since the 40-year-old goalie returned to the lineup.   Leafs top Bruins Nazem Kadri scored in the first period, and Frazer McLaren added a timely goal in the third as the host Toronto Maple Leafs ended an eight-game losing streak to the Boston Bruins with a 3-2 victory.

Michael Del Zotto scored a shorthanded goal and set up Rick Nash's game-winner to lead the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the struggling New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night in Newark. Carl Hagelin also scored and Henrik Lundqvist had 29 saves as the Rangers won their second game in two nights after a three-game losing streak. New York moved into a tie for eighth place in the Eastern Conference, the cutoff point for the playoffs. Travis Zajac and Anton Volchenkov scored for New Jersey, which lost its third in a row (0-2-1)

NEWARK, N.J. - They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Scott Hartnell said the Flyers were facing as big of a "must-win" as possible for the third game of a season on Tuesday night, against a Devils team that booted them from the playoffs last May with little fanfare. That hunger for "payback" lasted all of about 67 seconds, when Travis Zajac tapped yet another first-period goal by Ilya Bryzgalov, igniting that oh-so-familiar derogatory anti-Flyers chant from the Jersey faithful at Prudential Center.

NEWARK - Up went the New Jersey Devils' Eastern Conference championship banner the other day. Down went the Flyers on Tuesday night, falling to the Devils, 3-0, and starting their season 0-3 for just the third time since the franchise started in 1967-68. Devils goalie Martin Brodeur made 24 saves and shut out the Flyers for the 10th time. "I wouldn't say it's a crisis," winger Wayne Simmonds said. "But I think it's fair to say the next game is a must win. " It was the home opener for the Devils, who used a suffocating defense as they eliminated the Flyers, four games to one, in last year's Eastern Conference semifinals.

THE NEW JERSEY Devils signed center Travis Zajac to a long-term contract. Devils president and general manager Lou Lamoriello announced the deal on Wednesday, shortly after Zajac scored a goal in a scrimmage against Albany of the AHL. The deal will run 8 years, and pay Zajac, who should be the No. 1 center this season, $46 million. Lamoriello said the two sides had started to work on the new contract before the NHL lockout began in September. They finished it after the league and its players finalized a new 10-year collective bargaining agreement.

Ryan Carter scored his third goal of the playoffs late in the third period to boost the New Jersey Devils to a 5-3 victory over the New York Rangers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals Wednesday in New York. Zach Parise added an empty-net goal. New Jersey has a lead of three games to two in the best-of-seven series. Game 6 is set for Friday at New Jersey. Game 7, if necessary, will be played Sunday in New York. The winner of this series will play the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup Finals.

NEW YORK - When asked what his inefficient forwards needed to do to beat Martin Brodeur in the Eastern Conference final, irascible Rangers coach John Tortorella simply said: "Pray. " Turns out, prayer was a good way to exorcise the devils in the Rangers' tightly gripped sticks. Just not the actual Devils from New Jersey. After struggling to score through the first four games against New Jersey, the Rangers were faced with the task of a daunting, three-goal deficit in the first 10 minutes of Wednesday night's Game 5. New York steadily chipped away, dominating play, to knot the score just 17 seconds into the third period.

Maybe Peter Laviolette had a premonition. After the morning skate, after he learned that New Jersey star winger Ilya Kovalchuk would not play Tuesday night because of an apparent back injury, the Flyers coach issued a warning of sorts. "I don't think we should fall into a trap," he said, "and think it's going to be easy. " Yet it appeared that's just what the Flyers did as they sleepwalked to a well-deserved 4-1 loss to the Devils at the stunned Wells Fargo Center.

The New Jersey Devils refused to hang their heads despite being down one game and one star as they entered Game 2 of Tuesday's Eastern Conference semifinal against the Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center. Left winger Ilya Kovalchuk, who had been laboring for a number of games, was finally unable to go because of a lower-body injury. The Devils bonded without their star, even got a goal from his replacement on the roster and defeated the Flyers, 4-1, to even the Eastern Conference semifinal series at one game apiece.