(My Sportsbook) - While his team's near-record road winning streak may be a thing of the past,
New Jersey Devils star Zach Parise is putting together quite a run of his own.
The standout forward will be aiming for a goal in a seventh consecutive contest when the injury-plagued Devils wrap up a three-game road trip with tonight's matchup against the Dallas Stars.
Parise netted both New Jersey goals in Thursday's 3-2 shootout loss at Nashville to give him seven over the course of his six-game tear, in which the 2008-09 All-Star has notched 11 points. The 25-year-old has racked up a team- best 13 goals and 26 points through the first 20 games of this season.
He was unsuccessful on a backhand try in the first round of the shootout, however, and goaltender Martin Brodeur could only stop one of three Nashville skaters in the deciding phase.
Brodeur did record 26 saves in regulation and overtime for New Jersey, which moved ahead of Pittsburgh for sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division with the point.
The loss was the second in a row for the Devils after the club opened this season with nine straight road victories, one shy of the 2006-07 Buffalo Sabres for the NHL record to start a campaign. New Jersey won eight in a row overall prior to beginning this current trek with a 3-2 setback at rival Philadelphia on Monday.
The Devils also lost center Dainius Zubrus to a possible broken leg in the Nashville game after he was struck by a hard shot by the Predators' Kevin Klein in the second period. The Devils are already without such key contributors as defensemen Paul Martin (broken left forearm) and Johnny Oduya (groin), center Rob Niedermayer (upper body) and left wing Jay Pandolfo (shoulder).
"It's getting worse and worse," head coach Jacques Lemaire said on the Devils' official site. "I don't know when it's going to stop. We still have to do our best."
Dallas opened up a four-game homestand on a down note on Thursday, when Columbus' Kristian Huselius registered two goals and an assist to power the Blue Jackets to a 4-1 triumph at American Airlines Center.
Columbus jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead and added a pair of power-play goals within a 20-second span in the second before the Stars finally got on the board with 4:25 remaining in the frame, when veteran Mike Modano scored on a one-timer off a feed from Jamie Benn.
"In the second period we got into some other things that had us chasing the game," said Stars forward Brad Richards. "Sometimes you don't execute because you're not ready to do the little extra or win the extra battles. We lost a lot of those early."
Marty Turco finished with 24 saves for Dallas, which fell to 3-3-3 at home this season.
The Stars have prevailed in each of their last three home matchups with the Devils, however, including a 4-2 decision on New Year's Eve of last year. New Jersey hasn't won in Dallas since a 3-0 shutout on March 10, 2002.
