Devils down Maple Leafs 4-1 to end skid

TORONTO - Zach Parise scored twice and Martin Brodeur made 41 saves as the New Jersey Devils beat Toronto 4-1 on Tuesday night to snap a three-game winless streak and damage the Maple Leafs' playoff hopes.

David Clarkson and Brian Gionta also scored for the Devils, who were 0-2-1 in their last three games.

Nik Antropov scored the lone goal for the Maple Leafs, who had picked up nine of a possible 10 points in their last five games, remained six points out of the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

Vesa Toskala made his 19th consecutive start in goal for Toronto, but wasn't quite as sharp as he had been of late while giving up four goals on 25 shots.

The Devils remained fourth in the Eastern Conference because of Pittsburgh's 2-0 win at Tampa Bay. The conference-leading Penguins are one point ahead of the Devils in the Atlantic Division.

The Leafs outshot the Devils 14-5 in the opening period, but trailed 1-0 after Parise whipped around from behind the net and blasted a shot that beat Toskala on the far side at 11:22 for his team-leading 26th goal.

New Jersey made it 2-0 when Gionta slid home a rebound on a power play 5:11 into the second period.

Antropov pounded a rebound from in-close over Brodeur after a nice rush from Tomas Kaberle, the goal with 3:13 left in the middle period.

The Devils sealed the victory at 9:21 of the third period as Clarkson finished off a 2-on-1 break after a nifty pass from John Madden. Parise made it 4-1 just 1:31 later on a one-timer into an open side.

Notes:@ Leafs forward Alexei Ponikarovsky returned after missing four games with a rib injury. To make room, they sent forward Robbie Earl back to Toronto of the AHL. ... Devils defenseman Paul Martin missed his second game with an ankle injury.

(This version CORRECTS Devils 4, Maple Leafs 1. SUBS lede to correct Brodeur's saves to reflect official scoring change.)