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Kovalchuk, Brodeur lead Devils past Jets

Jan 18, 2012 - 4:34 AM Newark, NJ (Sports Network) - Ilya Kovalchuk scored twice, Martin Brodeur had 20 saves and the New Jersey Devils beat the Winnipeg Jets for the second time in four days, 5-1, on Tuesday.

Patrik Elias had a goal and two assists for the Devils while Petr Sykora and David Clarkson also scored in their third straight win.

New Jersey beat Winnipeg, 2-1, on Saturday but it wasn't a home-and-home series because the Jets played Montreal on Monday.

Winnipeg's Chris Mason gave up four goals on 15 shots and was pulled for Ondrej Pavelec, who allowed one goal on five shots. The Jets, who were coming off a 2-0 win over Ottawa, lost for the fourth time in five games.

"I didn't like the game," said Winnipeg coach Claude Noel. "And I'm not faulting any one player. I don't think any of us did very well. Coming off a game where we did very well, we didn't play well enough to win."

The Devils jumped out to a 4-0 lead, scoring their first goal on Kovalchuk's breakaway with 61 seconds left in the first period, then getting three more in the first 7:38 of the second.

"We started the second really well and didn't let down after that," said Brodeur, who made 13 saves over the first 40 minutes of the game. "That was key for us."

Sykora's slapshot 92 seconds into the middle period made it 2-0 and goals by Clarkson at 4:48 and Kovalchuk at 7:38 doubled the lead. Clarkson scored from a sharp angle on the right side and Kovalchuk's power-play goal came on a wrister from the slot.

Tobias Enstrom scored Winnipeg's only goal on a rifled slap shot from just inside the blue line in the third period, but Elias restored New Jersey's four-goal lead off a rebound minutes later.

Game Notes

The Jets were 0-for-1 on the power play and went 1-1 on a two-game road trip. They are headed back home for two games against Buffalo and Florida...The Devils started a six-game homestand. They were 1-for-4 on the power play.