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BOX SCORE
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- The Tampa Bay Lightning's recent run of road success couldn't be stopped by Eastern Conference-leading New Jersey.
Rich Parent turned away 34 shots as the Lightning beat the Devils 3-1 Friday night to stretch their unbeaten streak to three games, all on the road. Tampa Bay had lost seven in a row overall before starting its current mini-streak.
|  | | Devils newcomer Alexander Mogilny found his team down and out against Jassen Cullimore's Lightning. |
"This has been a great trip for us," said Mike Johnson, who scored Tampa Bay's first goal. "We've been playing against and beating teams that have something to play for. We may be out of the playoff picture this year but we have something to play for, too. We are playing for ourselves and we are playing for next year."
Fredrik Modin and Todd Warriner also scored for Tampa Bay, which has the NHL's second-worst record -- only Atlanta has fewer points -- and won for the second time at Continental Airlines Arena (2-15-1).
Claude Lemieux scored for New Jersey, which has won only two of its last eight contests (2-5-1), but clinched a playoff berth Friday thanks to Carolina's 4-2 loss to Washington.
"We're not happy with the way we've been playing," Devils coach Robbie Ftorek said. "We have to pick it up, obviously. We've got a few new guys in here. With the influx of players, we're a little out of sync."
Johnson scored the only goal of the first period on a semi-breakaway at 2:58, beating Martin Brodeur with a high shot to the glove side.
Modin extended the Lightning's lead to 2-0 at 3:27 of the second period with an unassisted goal after Sergei Nemchinov turned the puck over in the neutral zone.
Modin made the Devils pay for the mistake by drilling a wrist shot past Brodeur from the high slot.
The Devils broke through against Rich Parent at 7:55 of the second as Lemieux knocked in a rebound of a Nemchinov shot.
Parent held the Devils off in the third as he made 11 saves, including a spectacular diving stop against Lemieux with 14 minutes remaining.
Warriner sealed the win with a power-play goal with 39.4 seconds remaining.
"This has to be a big confidence booster for everyone on this team," Parent said. "We're starting to learn how to win."
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Tampa Bay Clubhouse
New Jersey Clubhouse
RECAPS
Washington 4
Carolina 2
Tampa Bay 3
New Jersey 1
St. Louis 4
Los Angeles 0
Edmonton 4
Ottawa 2
Nashville 4
Phoenix 3
Anaheim 4
San Jose 2
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