I was thinking "oh no,not again" when the Minnesota Wild scored first period goals and added to the New Jersey Devils scoreless streak,but the Devils rallied twice to tie the game and Captain Jamie Langenbrunner scored the only goal of the shootout and lifted the Devils to a 4-3 win.
The Devils scored the first two goals of the second period to tie the game for a while before the Wild took a 3-2 lead into the locker room with a goal with just 13 seconds to go in the period.
The Minnesota goal by Marian Gaborik was quite pretty as Mikko Koivu took Mike Mottau to school and twisted a helpless Bryce Salvador into the ice unable to stop the brilliant option to the cutting Gaborik.
The Devils first goal was on a shot from the outside by Vitali Vishnevski (2) and Brian Gionta scored his 20th later in the period.
But as you would expect from Marty Brodeur,he was at his best in the 3rd period and knocking all three Minnesota shots in OT away,so the Devils were able to tie the game in the third on a Dainius Zubrus shovel in during a crease battle.
Zubrus had a good night as he assisted on the Vishnevski goal and was very visible around the net,which is where he needs to be to be most effective.
I thought the game was slipping away with 53 seconds to go when John Madden was called for a very soft hooking call,but the Devils were able to kill the penalty off and set the stage for the game winner by Langenbrunner.
I did see one thing that I did not care for in the shootout as both Brian Gionta and Zach Parise went to the backhand against Niklas Backstrom.
I think that the backhand reduces the chance of scoring in the shootout as the shooter commits to where he is going to go and cuts down his options.
Plus twice in a row?
The win vaulted the Devils back into first place in both the Eastern Conference (by 1 point over Montreal,Ottawa and Pittsburgh) and the Atlantic Division (1 pt over Pittsburgh).
New Jersey also guaranteed themselves at least a .500 record on the road swing which concludes tomorrow in Denver against the Avalanche at 3 pm.
Devils Pitchforks
Gold:Jamie Langenbrunner-Game winner
Silver:Marty Brodeur-Kept the team in the game
Bronze; Dainius Zubrus-Goal,assist
Bullpen Notes
We do not cover College hoops that much,but the 4 teams that we follow all had NCAA hopes going into their conference tournaments yesterday.
Xavier had locked their spot away,but Ohio State and Maryland were teams on the proverbial bubble and Wake Forest was hanging on the back end of the bubble and needed a good run in the ACC Tournament.
Well,the team that could have afforded a loss won and two teams that needed wins badly both played their way into the NIT as Xavier grabbed a workmanlike 74-64 win over rival Dayton,while Maryland choked away an 18 point lead and lost to lowly Boston College 71-68
and Wake Forest lost a must win game to Florida State 70-60.
Ohio State caught a break by not having to play on a day that seemed to see every bubble team lose,so a Buckeye win later today over Michigan State in the Big Ten tourney might lock them a spot in the tournament.
Xavier plays St.Joseph's tonight in the Atlantic 10 semi-finals at 7.
The Cleveland Browns are giving injury plagued corner Gary Baxter one more chance to help the Browns by signing him to a one year deal.
Not sure if the veteran has anything left after tearing both patella tendons,but worth a look and kudos to Baxter for trying his comeback in Cleveland as he felt that he took the huge money for little production due to his injuries.
Photo Credit
Hockey;Jim Mone-AP Photo
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