Devils avoid collapse with shootout win

The New Jersey Devils dominated the second period and entered the final intermission with a 3-0 lead over the Washington Capitals.
They would leave the final twenty minutes fighting for their life with the game tied at three.
Fortunately,the Devils are very difficult to beat in shootouts and when Ilya Kovalchuk and Patrik Elias both scored in the session,the Devils grabbed a 4-3 win and two points in the standings.
All three Devils goals were scored in the second period with the credits going to
Ilya Kovalchuk ( 11 power play),Adam Henrique (9) and Alexander Urbom (1).
The Red and Black will take the next two days off for the holidays before visiting Carolina on Monday....

Hell Raisers

1) As concerned as I was about the Devils handing another three goal lead away,I felt fine once the shootout arrived.
The top three Devils (Kovalchuk,Parise and Elias) in the shootout all thrive in the matchups,so I usually feel pretty confident when things get to that point.
New Jersey is 8-1 in shootouts this season.

2) I am concerned though with the lapses that seem to continue to happen and wind up handing teams a point when they are on the way to earning none.
Giving teams easy points could cost with playoff seeding or worse-getting into the postseason at all...

3) Huge glove save by Martin Brodeur in the shootout on Alex Ovechkin,
One could see the Washington bench visibly sag after that one...

4) One could say the goal itself helped the Devils to the win as the pipes stopped at least three Washington shots that looked likely to go in.
Sometimes,that is the home ice advantage...

5) Happy to see Alexander Urbom score his first career goal and on an pretty pass from Travis Zajac to boot.
Super pass and nice to see Urbom showing some offensive aggressiveness as well.

6) I liked seeing the Washington throwback uniforms as well.The Capitals togs are better than the blue and gold that they wore for a while in Jaromir Jagr's run with Washington,but I still like the originals better .

7) Best thing about the game?
No more forced Craig Laughlin games until March!
Joe Beninati is not the best,but he gets a few points for being saddled with the worst analyst in the game....

Photo Credit:AP