Elias scores game winner as Devils nip Senators

OTTAWA -- The New Jersey Devils overcame a power outage, a sluggish start and the Ottawa Senators.

Patrik Elias scored midway through the third period to lead New Jersey to a 2-1 victory over Ottawa on Tuesday night.

The start of the game was delayed for more than an hour because of a power outage.

When the game began, the Devils struggled and were outshot 13-5 in the first period.

"I felt a little sluggish in the first period, and it seemed that as a team we were a little slow in the first," New Jersey captain Scott Stevens said. "We seemed to get our legs in the second and third, and felt better as the game went on."

Elias, who assisted on Petr Sykora's second-period goal, tipped Brian Rafalski's shot from the point past goalie Patrick Lalime with 10:12 left in the third as the Devils beat Ottawa for the second straight game.

Stevens assisted on both goals.

"I thought we played pretty well," Stevens said. "We were slow at first, but we came on and played a pretty solid game. I thought we played patient, which was good, and we got our chance and got the go-ahead goal."

Martin Brodeur finished with 28 saves for New Jersey (3-3-0-1), which beat the Senators 3-2 at home on Saturday. The Devils extended their winning streak to three games.

"The last four or five games, I've felt really good in the net," Brodeur said. "I'm just happy now that the bounces are going my way."

Wade Redden scored for the Senators (3-6-1), who lost their fourth straight and saw their winless streak reach five games.

"You don't score, you don't win," Senators left winger Shawn McEachern said. "When you're losing games like this, this is what happens -- when you're in a slump, that's why you're in a slump."

New Jersey took a 1-0 lead 5:54 into the second when Sykora scored his third goal of the season.

Sykora banked a shot off Lalime's right pad from behind the net after retrieving a rebound of a shot by Elias.

Redden beat Brodeur with a wrist shot from a sharp angle, tying the game at 1-1 at 10:29.

Notes:

The teams conducted their pregame warmups under generator-powered lighting moments after the power went out. . . . Lalime stopped 21 shots. . . . The Senators outshot New Jersey 29-23. . . . The announced crowd was 15,107.