NEWARK, N.J. — Chris Pronger knows all about booing. He is pretty much a public enemy in all 29 NHL arenas outside of Anaheim.

This phenomenon has never plagued fellow Ducks defenseman Scott Niedermayer, especially in New Jersey where he starred for 13 seasons and won three Stanley Cup titles.

That is until Friday night. For the first time, Niedermayer played there dressed in colors other than Devils red and black, and boy did he hear about it from the fans that used to adore him.

Getting an assist in Anaheim's 2-1 win didn't help matters much for Niedermayer, either.

"He wasn't sure what to expect," Pronger said. "I gave him a few pointers on how to accept some of the boos, and I thought he did pretty good."

There was a mixture of cheers and boos when Niedermayer was announced in the Ducks' starting lineup. The negative energy increased each time he touched the puck and was at its loudest after he set up the first of Ryan Carter's two goals.

"It was a good break for Prongs. I'm glad to chip in like that when I can," Niedermayer said of absorbing the boos. "In some ways you take that as a bit of a compliment. Obviously they didn't want you to leave, so in that respect it was good."

At Washington, Erik Cole and Andrew Ladd scored first-period goals, and Carolina moved back into first place in the Southeast Division.Capitals star Alex Ovechkin was held without a point for just the 11th time in 56 games this season.

At Buffalo, N.Y., Phil Kessel scored the lone shootout goal, and Boston rallied from a two-goal deficit.Marco Sturm, who tied it by scoring with 3:50 left in regulation, and Zdeno Chara scored third-period goals for the Bruins.Jaroslav Spacek and Thomas Vanek scored for the Sabres.

Joe Thornton scored a power-play goal 1:49 into overtime, and Evgeni Nabokov earned his 30th victory of the season with 31 mostly spectacular saves for the host Sharks.