NHL Hockey

It came down to a showdown between a gifted scorer and a likely Hall of Fame-bound goalie. Martin Brodeur made a glove save on Ilya Kovalchuk in the shootout and the New Jersey Devils beat the Atlanta Thrashers 3-2 on Sunday for their seventh straight victory. Brian Gionta , second up for the Devils, had the only goal in the shootout. After Gionta beat Johan Hedberg with a backhander, Kovalchuk squared off against Brodeur with the win hanging in the balance. Brodeur, who had 23 saves in regulation, snared the puck after Kovalchuk tried to maneuver him out of position.

Roberto Luongo saw his 3 1/2-game shutout streak end, but it wasn't his fault as the Vancouver Canucks lost 2-1 to the Minnesota Wild on Sunday. Aaron Voros and Eric Belanger scored for Minnesota, which won its fourth straight and moved into sole possession of first place in the Northwest Division. Mike Brown scored for Vancouver, which lost in regulation for just the second time in 13 outings to fall two points behind the Wild. The Canucks managed just 20 shots on goal - four with Luongo pulled for an extra attacker in the final minute.

It was certainly not flashy, but Dustin Penner gave the Anaheim Ducks a reminder of what they lost when they let him go in the offseason. While the Ducks continued to struggle to find their scoring touch, Penner set up in the crease and scored a first period goal when the puck deflected off his mouth, as Edmonton completed a sweep of a home-and-home series against Anaheim with a 4-0 victory Sunday. Raffi Torres, Joni Pitkanen and Tom Gilbert also scored for the Oilers who have won four of their last five games.

NHL scores