BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Although Denis Hamel's first NHL shift was memorable, he couldn't help the Buffalo Sabres from losing for the fifth time in six games.

Hamel scored on his first NHL shot in the Sabres' 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night.

	Devils goalie Martin Brodeur stopped 25 shots on Thursday, -- including this one off the stick of Buffalo's Vaclav Varada.

"It took a lot of pressure off," said Hamel, who had a hat trick in his professional debut with Rochester in October. "With a goal, I'm happy. But when we lose, it's not the same."

Hamel scored 2:09 into the game, lazily flipping a rebound high into the net as Devils goalie Martin Brodeur couldn't catch up to the slowly arcing puck.

"To score against one of the best makes me feel good," Hamel said. Hamel joined Danny Gare, Brad May, Rob Ray, and Alexander Mogilny as the only Sabres to score on their first shot.

Bobby Holik scored the go-ahead goal, breaking a 3-3 tie with 7:19 remaining in the third period, and Petr Sykora scored on a penalty shot for New Jersey, which is 5-0-2 in its last seven and concluded a 3-0-1 road trip.

"We played well in the third period," Devils coach Robbie Ftorek said. "Marty (Brodeur) played well throughout, so we were able to come away with a win."

Brodeur made 25 saves for the Devils.

"Brodeur did what (Dominik) Hasek has done for us at times," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "If you don't bury your opportunities, they'll come back to haunt you."

Maxim Afinogenov and Brian Holzinger also scored for Buffalo, which has lost three of its last four home games. Buffalo has lost six straight home games against New Jersey.

Dwayne Roloson, who made 21 saves, was screened by a pair of players and never saw Holik's shot that broke a 3-3 tie.

Sykora's penalty shot with 5:20 remaining was the first for the Devils since Scott Niedermayer scored against Montreal in November 1998. It was the first penalty shot goal allowed by Roloson in three attempts.

Gomez added an empty-net goal with 22.3 seconds left.

"After two periods, some of the guys played more tenaciously and some shots found their way through," Ftorek said.

Hamel gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead when Alexei Zhitnik took a shot from the left faceoff circle, and Hamel flipped the rebound high into the net.

The Devils stormed back with two goals on their first three shots. Denis Pederson tied it at 3:22, and Lemieux gave New Jersey a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal at 6:47.

Holzinger tied the game at the 9:17 mark. He skated in alone on Brodeur, who made 25 saves, and his shot trickled through Brodeur's pads.

In the second period, Afinogenov gave Buffalo a 3-2 lead with his 11th at the 7:08 mark. He deked Scott Stevens in the right faceoff circle and wristed a shot between Brodeur's pads.

Elias scored with 1:55 remaining to tie it 3-3. He pounced on a rebound after Roloson made a save on Sykora.