By Jon Lesnik
As the Devils continue their climb in the standings, history is starting to repeat itself for the Devils.
They are not winning by large margins, but they are winning. One goal wins are still wins, and two points is two points.
And when you are on a winning streak the way the Devils have been over the last two months, you respect the streak, and you continue to do things the exact same way.
For the second time in two games, it was Ilya Kovalchuk scoring a game winning goal, and Martin Brodeur slamming the door in front of the net at goal as the Devils defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 in overtime.
It was the third straight game that the Devils won 2-1, and the second with Kovalchuk scoring the winning goal.
The victory improved the Devils record to 29-31-4 for the season. They are 19-2-2 over their last 23 games. It was the sixth straight win at home for the Devils dating back to February 8. . During the streak, the Devils have played in 14 games decided by one goal with the Devils having a 12-2 record. Of the 12 wins, five have been by a score of 2-1. The victory keeps the Devils nine points behind the Carolina Hurricanes who won Thursday night, and 10 points behind the New York Rangers who defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-1 Friday night in the battle for the 7th and 8th seeds in the playoffs.
Tied 1-1 at the end of regulation, the Devils got the break they needed in overtime when Pittsburgh defenseman Zybnek Michalek was called for a hooking penalty on Travis Zajac with 2:14 left in the overtime session. Given the power play opportunity, the Devils capitalized. Patrick Elias fired a shot at Penguins goalie Brent Johnson who made the save. Elias followed his shot and outmuscled two Penguins defensemen as he carried the puck around the net and fired a pass out to Kovalchuk who blasted the shot by a diving Johnson for the game winner with 25 seconds left in the overtime session.
It was Kovalchuk’s sixth game winning goal during this streak, and his ninth this season.
For Kovalchuk the goal was redemption for his turnover in the Devils zone in the second period that led to a goal by Pittsburgh’s Tyler Kennedy that tied the game at 1-1.
“After giving that puck away in the second period, and they scored that goal, I needed to do something to get it back,” said Kovalchuk who leads the Devils in goals with 23. “Patrick drew the guys to him in the corner and they had two guys down, and that was the most clear shot I had all night.”
While the win was not an easy or pretty one for the Devils, Kovalchuk and his teammates will take the points
“I don’t think tonight was our best effort,” Kovalchuk said. “We didn’t have the jump in our legs early on, but we still found a way to win. They were all over us at times tonight, but the guys kept working so hard, and when we got the chance we took advantage of it, and got the two points.”
Devils coach Jacques Lemaire was not happy with his team’s performance early in the game, but was satisfied with the outcome.
“I felt that we started so bad that we had to be better,” Lemaire said. “After the first period I was happy it was a tie game. I knew we could play better.”
Any hockey team coached by Jacques Lemaire is going to play sound defensive hockey, and other than the giveaway by Kovalchuk in the second period, that is what the Devils did. If there was a lucky letter for the game, or if Sesame Street was sponsoring the game, it would have been brought to you by the letter “O”. A sluggish start turned into a win Friday night, as the Devils outshot, outhustled, outlasted, overcame, and in the end outscored the Penguins.
Coming into the game, Pittsburgh was ranked the sixth road team in the N.H.L. with 39 points, and were holding onto fifth place in the playoff race despite losing their top two players Sidney Crosby (concussion, has not played since January 5) and Evgeni Malkin (out for the season following knee surgery).
The Devils were not gracious hosts.
After a scoreless first period, the Devils jumped on top when Zajac, who earlier in the game was involved in only the third fight of his career, gave the Devils a 1-0 lead when he picked up a loose puck that had been deflected off teammate Nick Palmeri, skated up ice, and split Pittsburgh defensemen Zbynek Michalek and Matt Niskanen. With Niskanen trying to ride him away from the goal, Zajac flipped a backhanded shot at goal that skidded through the legs of Johnson for Zajac’s 10th goal of the season at 3;43 into the second period.
But the Devils gave it back two minutes later when Ilya Kovalchuk turned the puck over in his own zone as Penguins center Tyler Kennedy took the puck from the Devils leading scorer, skated in and fired a shot high over the right shoulder of Brodeur to tie the game at 1-1.
Palmeri almost gave the Devils the lead midway through the period when he skated in and fired a shot on goal that glanced off the crossbar. A minute later center Jacob Josefson fired a crossing pass to Danius Zubrus right in front of the net, but Johnson was able to cut off the angle and prevent Zubrus from getting a shot off to keep the game tied 1-1. Josefson and Zubrus teamed up again one shift later to give the Devils another scoring opportunity but were turned away again by Johnson.
The Devils defense, which has had the biggest turnaround since the return of Devils coach Jacques Lemaire was solid Friday night killing off the Penguins only power play in the second period when Zubrus was sent off on a high sticking penalty.
The Devils and Penguins came away scoreless in the first period but both teams had their scoring opportunities. The Devils best scoring opportunities came late in the first period when Maier broke in on the right side at the seven minute mark and fired a low shot that Johnson made the save. Two minutes later, David Clarkson and Jacob Josefson, each standing just outside the goal crease fired two shots at Johnson who made both saves before a pile up in front of the Pittsburgh goalie froze the puck.
Pittsburgh fired nine shots on Brodeur in the first period but the Devils goalie, starting his third straight game since recovering from a knee strain was solid, stopping all shots, most of which came early in the period when the Penguins kept the pressure on the Devils, and the puck in New Jersey’s end.
For the game Brodeur stopped 25 of 26 shots.
“Marty was really good, he was on top of his game,” Lemaire said.
Kovalchuk’s goal may have taken place at the other end of the ice, but Brodeur got a clear view of the shot and goal.
“He is a highlight maker in some of or wins, and he is the type of player that can be the difference in a big game like tonight,” Brodeur said. “In the end, we all have to play well around him.”
