<p>Rookie Scott Clemmensen made 18 saves for his second road shutout, and the New Jersey Devils moved closer to playoff form with a 5-0 victory over Atlanta on Friday night.</p><p>The Stanley Cup champion Devils, 1-2-1 in their last four games, moved within a point of fifth-place Ottawa and four points ahead of seventh-place Montreal in the Eastern Conference.</p><p>Patrik Elias, Scott Gomez, Grant Marshall, Paul Martin and Sergei Brylin scored for New Jersey.</p><p>The Devils needed a lift following a 2-1 loss in Tampa Bay Thursday night, and Clemmensen delivered in only his fourth start.</p><p>On Tuesday night, Martin Brodeur became just the eighth goalie to reach the 400-win mark, and he was rewarded with a night off against the Thrashers.</p><p>In his first NHL appearance on Jan. 20, Clemmensen had a 3-0 shutout in Pittsburgh. That was the Devils' last road shutout victory before Friday night.</p><p>Clemmensen was mostly a spectator in the second period, when the Thrashers had only three shots on goal. Atlanta's first shot on goal came with 6:40 left in the period.</p><p>The Devils had converted only four of their last 47 power-play opportunities entering the game. They made good on four power-play tries, including two in the final 2:08 of the game.</p><p>Elias pushed his team-leading goals total to 36 on a power-play shot from the right circle 4:28 into the first period. The goal followed a two-minute tripping penalty against Atlanta's Andy Sutton.</p><p>The Devils didn't need a power-play chance to push the lead to 2-0 in the first period. Gomez scored on a deflected shot by Brian Gionta with 3:59 left in the period.</p><p>With only 36.4 seconds left in a fight-marred second period, Marshall skipped a shot past Pasi Nurminen to push the Devils' lead to 3-0.</p><p>The Thrashers were playing their first game since they were eliminated from the playoffs with the New York Islanders' win over Philadelphia Thursday night. The frustrations of Atlanta's players became evident late in the game, leading to Martin's five-on-three goal with 2:08 left to play.</p><p>Brylin limped off the ice in the final seconds after a shot with 10.8 seconds left to play deflected off his skate and past Nurminen for the Devils' final goal. </p><p>Notes:@ New Jersey is 7-1-2 against the Thrashers in Atlanta. ... Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk was recognized before the game for receiving the most votes in the Three Stars of the Game balloting at Thrashers' home games. ... At 18-16-4-2 with only one more game at Philips Arena, the Thrashers are assured of a winning home record.</p>
