Defenseman Cory Sarich had the puck safely under control at center ice when New Jersey's Petr Sykora stole it and sped away to score a breakaway goal in the Devils' 4-1 victory Monday night over the Sabres.

  With that the momentum changed.

  "I looked up and when I looked back down the puck wasn't there," Sarich said. "He chipped the puck through my skates. I just about got a piece of it with my skates but the rest was done after that."

  Sykora, who had two goals in the game, zeroed in on rookie goaltender Martin Biron. Showing forehand before switching to the backhand at the last second, Sykora scored his ninth goal at 13:06 to stake the Devils to the early lead.

  "I just pulled the puck and I had a clean breakaway," Sykora said. "I thought I made a pretty good move."

  So did Sarich.

  "It's really a frustrating feeling," he said. "You're a young guy out there trying not to make mistakes and this one really stands out."

  The Devils added another breakaway goal by John Madden, a short-handed score at 12:17 of the second period, for a 2-0 lead.

  Counting the final goal of Scott Gomez's hat trick in the Devils 3-3 tie with the New York Rangers on Sunday, New Jersey produced three straight breakaway goals. Not bad for a team considered by many boring and plodding.

  "I know everybody questions our speed," said Devils defenseman Ken Daneyko. "I think we're one of the fastest teams and we're capitalizing with breakaways now.

  The Devils, who won for the fifth time in the last eight games (5-2-1), also got a goal from Patrik Elias.

  New Jersey posted its first win in the second game of back-to-back contests after losing eight-straight.

  Lindy Ruff, coaching in his 200th game, saw the Sabres lose for only the second time in eight games (4-2-2). Geoff Sanderson had the lone Buffalo goal, ending Martin Brodeur's shutout bid on sharp angle shot from along the right boards with 9:49 remaining.

  Elias closed out the second period scoring at 16:36 with a rising wrister from the high slot that gave New Jersey a 3-0 advantage.

  Sykora added an empty net goal with 5.8 seconds remaining to seal the win.

Summary

-----------------------------
Buffalo              0 0 1--1	 
New Jersey           1 2 1--4	 
-----------------------------	 

FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, New Jersey, Sykora 9 (unassisted), 13:06.
Penalties: Sarich, Buf (roughing), 1:57; Gomez, N.J. (roughing), 1:57;
Afinogenov, Buf (Obstr hooking), 2:40; Oliwa, N.J. (roughing), 10:38;
Stevens, N.J. (Obstr tripping), 17:41.

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 2, New Jersey, Madden 7 (shorthanded)
(unassisted), 12:17. 3, New Jersey, Elias 7 (Arnott, Stevens), 16:36.
Penalties: Oliwa, N.J. (roughing), 9:01; Sykora, N.J. (hooking), 11:22; B
Holzinger, Buf (Ob holding the stick), 17:26; Oliwa, N.J. (boarding),
19:49; Ray, Buf (misconduct, game misconduct), 20:00; Stevens, N.J. served
by Gomez (unsportsmanlike conduct, misconduct, game misconduct), 1:19.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 4, Buffalo, Sanderson 6 (Varada, Peca), 10:11.
5, New Jersey, Sykora 10 (empty net) (Niedermayer), 19:54. Penalties:
Brown, Buf (Obstr holding), 5:51; D Ward, Buf (slashing), 11:35; Morrison,
N.J. (holding), 13:21.

Shots on goal:
---------------------------------	 
Buffalo               4  7  9--20
New Jersey            9 14  9--32
---------------------------------	 

Power-play Conversions: Buf - 0 of 7, Njd - 0 of 4.  Goalies: Buffalo,
Biron (23 shots, 20 saves; record: 13-8-1), Roloson (start of 3rd, 8, 8).
New Jersey, M Brodeur (20, 19; record: 19-9-4).  A:16,248.  Referee:
Faucette. Linesmen: Collins, Seitz.

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