NEWARK, N.J. - Craig Anderson made 33 saves in his third shutout of the season, and the Ottawa Senators sent the sliding New Jersey Devils to their ninth straight loss with a 2-0 victory Friday night.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Milan Michalek second-period goals for the Senators, who won for the second straight night, following a five-game skid, to boost their playoff chances.
Ottawa, in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, lead ninth-place Winnipeg by four points. New Jersey is 10th, eight points behind Ottawa and four behind the New York Rangers and the post-season cutoff with seven games to play.
The Senators will finish a season-high, seven-game trip at Boston on Monday. They will then play five of their final six at home, where they are 13-3-3.
New Jersey dropped to 0-5-4 without injured star forward Ilya Kovalchuk.