Senators 5, Devils 4

OTTAWA (AP) - New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur certainly was impressed with the Ottawa Senators.

``If they're not already the best team they should be by the end of the season,'' Brodeur said after the Devils' 5-4 loss to Ottawa on Saturday night. ``Every turnover we had they capitalized on, but at the end of the day I felt we competed really well.''

Mike Fisher scored twice and backup goalie Ray Emery made 25 saves for Ottawa.

``It was exciting to play against Brodeur,'' Emery said. ``If you had asked me five years ago if I would be playing against him and beating him I would have been pretty surprised.''

Chris Neil, Jason Spezza and Brian McGrattan also scored to help the Senators improve to 6-0 on Saturdays. Ottawa has outscored opponents 35-6 on Saturdays.

After Fisher gave Ottawa a 5-2 lead with 8:38 left, New Jersey cut it to one on goals by John Madden with 6:16 to go and Grant Marshall with 1:44 remaining. Marshall's goal came on a two-man advantage.

``We made some mistakes in the third and we have to be sharper,'' Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson said. ``When you've got a team down you don't want to let them get back in it.''

Barry Tallackson and Brian Gionta also scored for the Devils, and Brodeur made 37 saves.

``I'm extremely proud of the way we played,'' New Jersey coach Larry Robinson said. ``We showed a lot of heart and a lot of drive. We got contributions from everybody tonight.''

Emery improved to 5-0 and the Senators raised their record to 15-3-0.

Alfredsson was held pointless for just the second time this season, while Dany Heatley extended his point streak to 18 games with an assist on Spezza's goal.

``When one line doesn't get it going as often as you would like it's really important to get contributions from others,'' Ottawa coach Bryan Murray said.

Notes: New Jersey's Bryan Smolinski left the game late in the first period because of a right shoulder injury ... Ottawa D Zdeno Chara earned his 100th NHL career assist.