PITTSBURGH, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Joe Nieuwendyk ended a 20-game goal-scoring drought and added an assist Thursday night as the New Jersey Devils snapped a three-game losing streak with a 3-1 triumph over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Pittsburgh has lost 10 in a row.
An eight-time 30-goal scorer, Nieuwendyk had not found the net since Nov. 2. But he stole the puck from Ville Nieminen along the left boards and wristed a shot from the faceoff dot between the pads of goaltender Jean-Sebastien Aubin with 7:05 to go in the first period.
Nieuwendyk's third goal of the season lifted the Devils into a 1-1 tie. They took the lead 4:04 into the second period on a controversial tally by defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky.
Pittsburgh's Randy Robitaille was slow to position himself in the circle, so Nieuwendyk won an uncontested faceoff and got the puck back to the right point. Tverdovsky fired a slap shot past Aubin for his third goal.
Brian Gionta, who missed the previous two games with a sore ankle, added an insurance goal just over 10 1/2 minutes later.
New Jersey scored more than twice for just the fourth time in 12 games.
Milan Kraft scored the lone goal for the Penguins, who have lost 10 in a row for the first time since a team-record 11-game slide from Jan. 22-Feb. 10, 1983.
