Devils 6, Panthers 3: Travis Zajac recorded his first career hat trick to highlight a four-point performance and Jaromir Jagr scored his 705th career goal and notched three assists as host New Jersey doubled up Florida.

Ryane Clowe collected a goal and two assists before exiting with an upper-body injury for the Devils, who rebounded from consecutive shootout losses to move within three points of Columbus for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Jacob Josefson added a short-handed tally and Cory Schneider made 13 saves in relief of Martin Brodeur, who yielded three goals on nine shots.

Brad Boyes scored his team-leading 20th goal and defenseman Dmitry Kulikov added a short-handed tally for the Panthers, who have dropped three in a row and six of their last seven. Brandon Pirri also scored and Nick Bjugstad notched two assists in the loss.

Zajac wasted little time getting New Jersey off on the right foot, cleaning up a loose puck on the doorstep just 12 seconds into the contest. Jagr doubled the advantage over nine minutes later by sending a sharp wrist shot from the right faceoff circle under the crossbar before Zajac's slap shot from the left circle beat Dan Ellis (26 saves) at 11:33 for a power-play goal.

After Kulikov and Boyes trimmed the deficit, Clowe countered at 3:05 of the second period as he shoveled Zajac's cross-crease feed past Ellis before Pirri's deflection in the slot 3 1/2 minutes later ended Brodeur's night. Josefson provided insurance with a one-timer from above the circles for his first goal since April 23, 2013, and Zajac capped his hat trick midway through the third with a second effort from below the end line.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Jagr sits just three goals shy of matching Mike Gartner for sixth place in NHL history. He also notched his 1,047th career assist to move within two of Gordie Howe for eighth place all-time. ... Zajac also recorded a four-point performance versus Toronto on Jan. 29, 2010. ... Clowe, who has a history of concussion issues, was drilled into the boards late in the second period and retreated to the locker room. He did not return. ... New Jersey D Adam Larsson returned to the lineup for the first time since Nov. 23. Larsson took the place of rookie D Jon Merrill, who suffered facial injuries on Saturday against the New York Islanders.