Devils beat Rangers on Kovalchuk goal
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Ottawa's Zenon Konopka crashes to the ice in front of Bruins goalie Tim Thomas Tuesday in Boston. The Bruins rallied for a 4-3 victory.
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David Clarkson scored the tying goal for New Jersey in the final minute of regulation, and Ilya Kovalchuk netted the only goal in the shootout as the Devils snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory against the visiting New York Rangers Tuesday night.
Kovalchuk had the first attempt in the shootout and beat New York backup Martin Biron between the pads.
That was enough to give the Devils a 9-2 mark in the tiebreaker. Martin Brodeur preserved the win by stopping all three Rangers shooters: Derek Stepan, Brad Richards and All-Star MVP Marian Gaborik.
Kovalchuk and Zach Parise also scored in regulation for the Devils, who trailed 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2. Brodeur made 23 saves.
Anton Stralman, Brian Boyle and Michael Del Zotto had the Rangers' goals while Biron had 26 stops.
The loss snapped a two-game winning streak for the Eastern Conference-leading Rangers. It was the first game for both teams following the NHL All-Star break.
It was a crucial win for the Devils, who are fighting to stay above the postseason cutoff in the conference.
Biron got the start for the Rangers ahead of All-Star Henrik Lundqvist, who had a rare night off against the Devils.
Lundqvist, who had made 32 consecutive starts against New Jersey, is expected to play tonight when the Rangers take on the Sabres in Buffalo.
The first period started as a tight-checking affair with few scoring chances.
Play opened up when the Rangers buzzed the Devils end with three minutes remaining following a turnover by the New Jersey defense. Brodeur scrambled in his crease to keep the game scoreless.
That sequence shifted momentum to New York, and the Rangers cashed in with 32.9 seconds remaining in the period.
Gaborik fired a shot off a right-wing rush that hit Devils defenseman Anton Volchenkov. Brodeur made a skate save, but couldn't prevent Stralman from knocking in the rebound from deep in the left circle for his second of the season.
Parise pulled the Devils even at 8:20 of the second with an extra-effort goal.
Using Rangers defenseman Stu Bickel as a screen, Parise fired a shot from the top of the left circle that Biron stopped. Parise outsprinted Bickel to the rebound and beat Biron from a sharp angle.
Gaborik tested Brodeur with a shot from the top of the left circle late in the period, but the goalie came up big and kept the Devils in a 1-1 tie heading into the third period.
Biron stopped Kovalchuk early in third on a short-handed breakaway, and the stop was important because the Rangers took the lead again on Boyle's goal.
First Published February 1, 2012 12:00 am
