Devils pull out win over Ottawa in shootout

The New Jersey Devils needed goals from Zach Parise and Adam Henrique to finish off a 5-4 shootout victory over the visiting Ottawa Senators at the Rock on Thursday,but this game had far more than that.
The Devils fell behind 3-0,scored the next four goals with two of those being shorthanded,saw the fight of the year thus far,saw Ottawa tie the game with a shorthanded goal with five seconds to go and then win in the shootout.
What a roller coaster ride!
Devils goals scored by Ilya Kovalchuk (8),Zach Parise (8 shorthanded),Dainius Zubrus (8 shorthanded) and Mattias Tedenby (1).
The Devils host Montreal later today at 1:00.


Hell Raisers

1) Martin Brodeur allowed two first period goals and was replaced by Johan Hedberg from the start of the second period forward.
Brodeur was not injured,so the decision was a Pete DeBoer one.
Brodeur has been replaced by Hedberg in two of his last three starts...

2) The Devils allowed their first power play goal of the season at the Rock with Daniel Alfredsson's second period goal,but that was excusable considering that the goal was a five on three situation...

3) Two shorthanded goals in the same game?
That seemed to be more the opponents forte this season,but the goals by Zach Parise and Dainius Zubrus added even more to the penalty killing crew.
The Patrik Elias pass that allowed Zubrus to score was a beautiful sight to see....

4) Fight of the year for the Devils this season as Mark Fraser took on Zenon Konopka,who often battled the Devils when he was an Islander.
Fraser was active due to the Andy Greene dislocated toe injury that will sideline Greene for the next four weeks.



5) The Devils may not be the most explosive team in the league,but they are tough to whip when it comes to the shootout.
Between Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk,the team has two stars that are tough to beat and the Devils continue to come up with shootout stars such Adam Henrique on this night and and David Clarkson earlier this season.

6) This game was exciting,but I cannot go too easy on the awful first 25 minutes or so from the Devils.
Poor defense,a less than active offense and a general malaise that even the Parise goal did not truly take away.
The Devils have two wins in a row now,but their inconsistency can drive one off the rails at times!

7) The Devils lost Andy Greene and Anton Volchenkov aggravated a hand injury in the Ottawa game,so Matt Taormina and Alexander Urbom have been recalled from Albany.
No word on whether either will be in the lineup for the game against Montreal today...

Photo Credit-AP