Jakob Silfverberg solves Martin Brodeur in shootout

JAKOB SILFVERBERG hit the post on one shot and just missed with another in regulation, so the young Ottawa Senators right wing wanted to make sure he made the right plays down the stretch - especially in the shootout.

"I had a few chances and missed them," said Silfverberg, whose goal in the shootout was the lone tally in the Senators' 2-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils in Newark on Monday. "The one that hit the post, [Devils goalkeeper Martin Brodeur] didn't know where it was, so I really thought I had that one."

However, Silfverberg made up for his earlier misses by setting up Daniel Alfredsson for the tying goal with 11:48 left in regulation, then gave the Senators the win by finally beating Brodeur in the shootout.

"I wasn't exactly worried about which way he was going," Silfverberg said. "I just wanted to get a quick shot off. That was the key, just to shoot it quick before he could do anything."

Brodeur thought he had a chance to make a stick save, but it slid past him and the Senators (8-6-2) had only their third road win of the season and only the second in 12 games at the Prudential Center. The Devils (9-3-4) lost for their second straight and third in the last four games.

"It went in and I was very happy," Silfverberg said. "We worked hard to get this win. It was huge for us."

It was the Senators' first victory without All-Star Erik Karlsson, the reigning Norris Trophy winner as the top defenseman in the NHL. Karlsson was lost for the season last Friday night when an inadvertent skate from Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke tore Karlsson's Achilles' tendon.

"We were a little down," Silfverberg said. "We have a lot of young guys on our team, so this was big for our confidence. We've lost a couple of key players this year."

At Denver, Paul Stastny and Jamie McGinn scored goals 13 seconds apart and the Colorado Avalanche snapped a nine-game losing streak to Nashville with a 6-5 win over the Predators.

The Predators pulled their goalie and Shea Weber scored with 1:18 left to make it a one-goal game, the only score of the final period.

Matt Duchene had a goal and two assists in helping the Avalanche to a rare win over the Predators, who had outscored Colorado by 34-14 while sweeping the season series each of the past 2 years.

* At Montreal, Tomas Plekanec and Max Pacioretty scored 18 seconds apart in the third period to seal the Canadiens' fourth straight win, 3-0 over the Carolina Hurricanes.

Pacioretty added an assist and Brandon Prust also scored for Montreal in the third.

Peter Budaj made 19 saves for his second win of the season and his first shutout in a Canadiens uniform.

* At Sunrise, Fla., Ben Scrivens notched his second consecutive shutout, and Clarke MacArthur and Nazem Kadri each had a goal and an assist to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 3-0 win over the Florida Panthers.

Scrivens, who got his first career shutout last Saturday in a 3-0 victory over Ottawa, stopped 37 shots.

* At Phoenix, Mike Smith stopped 29 shots as the Coyotes shut out the Calgary Flames, 4-0.