Devils to face Florida in first round of NHL playo...

Devils to face Florida in first round of NHL playo...

Mel Evans/AP

NJ Devils goalie Martin Brodeur deflects Senators' Zack Smith's shots for one of his 31 saves.

NEWARK, N.J. The New Jersey Devils are returning to the playoffs on the run and with a new young hero.

Ilya Kovalchuk scored twice, Stephen Gionta broke a third-period tie with his first NHL goal and the Devils beat the Ottawa Senators 4-2 on Saturday to close the regular season with a season-best six-game winning streak.

Its one of the things we talked about, said Martin Brodeur, who made 31 saves. We wanted to get into the playoffs playing well. Weve played as good of hockey as anyone else in the league. Now, the regular season is over and well find out who were playing. We will try to concentrate on the things we have to do. We did a good job staying focused. You never know whats going to happen. Now, well roll the dice, coming in hot.

New Jersey, the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference, will face Florida in the opening round of the playoffs. The Panthers, who split four games with the Devils in the regular season, won the Southeast Division with a 4-1 victory over Carolina on Saturday night.

Ottawa, which lost its final three games, slipped to the No. 8 seed and will face the top-seeded New York Rangers in the first round. The Senators won the season series, 3-1.

The Devils-Panthers series pits New Jersey coach Peter DeBoer against the team that fired him after last season.

When we played them the first time, Im not going to lie, there was some emotion involved, said DeBoer, who failed to make the playoffs in his three seasons in Florida. But its another team for me now. It doesnt matter. Other than having a few more friends in the stands, thats about it.

< qa>Gionta, recalled from Albany on Friday, gave the Devils the lead for good, putting in the rebound of Alexei Ponikarovskys shot with 9:05 to play.

Its really a dream come true, said Gionta, who played 12 games with New Jersey last season. I couldnt have imagined this. The guys were great and really supportive of me coming back. Every kid dreams of getting a goal in the NHL, but it came in a game-winning situation. It really hasnt hit me yet. It hasnt quite sunk in. I just wanted to come in and try to help the team. This is so awesome.

Kovalchuk iced the game with an empty-net goal for the Devils, who missed the playoffs last season for the first time s ince 1996. Matt Gilroy and Jim OBrien scored for Ottawa, which like the Devils missed the playoffs last year.

Right now we have a fresh slate, Senators goaltender Craig Anderson said. What happened in the past three games, and really the last 82, is behind us. We have a fresh start. Everyone starts at zero wins and zero losses and thats our mindset. We have to win four before the other team wins four.