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DETROIT (Ticker) -- Manny Legace and the Detroit Red Wings are rolling. The New Jersey Devils are reeling. Legace made 36 saves and four different players scored as the Red Wings extended their unbeaten run to nine games with a 4-2 victory over the scuffling Devils. A little-used backup to Dominik Hasek, Legace improved to 7-0-0 this season and extended a personal unbeaten stretch that began in January to 19 games (17-0-2). "Manny's been unbelievable," said center Boyd Devereaux, who scored the decisive goal. "It's such a great feeling to have the world-class talent of Dom and then have Manny step in and he plays unbelievable, too." It doesn't matter what goaltender is in net for the Red Wings, who lead the NHL at 22-3-1-1. They have earned a point in each of their last 12 games and are 8-0-1 during their unbeaten run. "Hockey's a fun game," said Red Wings center Igor Larionov, who capped the scoring with 6:05 left. "But when you win, it's more fun." Then there's the Devils, who have made the Stanley Cup Finals each of the last two seasons but are 1-6-1-1 in their last nine games and are 13th in the Eastern Conference with 22 points. "We can take a page from Detroit," coach Larry Robinson said. "They got on a roll by sticking to their system and playing well. When you do that, you feel good about yourself. We have to get on a roll so we can feel good about ourselves." New Jersey fell behind early and never recovered as Sergei Fedorov scored his 12th goal 2:10 into the game and Tomas Holmstrom added his fifth 8:39 into the second period for a 2-0 Detroit lead. The first two goals seemeds to typify the Devils' struggles. Fedorov beat goaltender Martin Brodeur with a wicked slap shot from the right faceoff dot after a pair of Devils followed Brendan Shanahan into the right corner. Holmstrom didn't mean to score, but he did, banking a pass from the right of the crease, off Devils defenseman Scott Niedermayer and past Brodeur while on the power play. "A lot of the goals they got, we gave them," Robinson said. "A lot of that was from bad habits we had, and you're not going to lose that over night." Colin White halved New Jersey's deficit 11:04 into the second, but Devereaux made it 3-1 less than three minutes later by roofing a rebound over a diving Brodeur from the low slot. New Jersey captain Scott Stevens, who was on the ice at the time of the goal, said a line change should have been made before the decisive tally was scored. "If you want to be selfish, that will happen," he said. "Don't kid yourself, we could play very well. But it's not going to get any easier unless we play smart." After the Devils again closed within a goal, Legace stopped Andreas Salomonsson on a partial breakaway with 6:28 to play and Larionov turned the ensuing rush into his third goal of the season and a 4-2 lead. It was the 150th career goal for Larionov, the oldest player in the NHL who turns 41 on Monday. "I played hockey for a long time, so I never really tried to chase any milestones here," said Larionov, a legend in Russia before coming to the NHL in 1989. "It's too late for me to worry about that." The Devils got within 3-2 when John Madden netted his fifth goal at 4:59 of the third period. But New Jersey fell short, completing a 1-3-1 road trip. Fedorov and Larionov each had assists for the Red Wings, who have outscored opponents 38-20 during their nine-game unbeaten streak and are unbeaten in their last nine at home (8-0-1).
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