Devils rally, top Rangers in shootout
The New Jersey Devils celebrate a goal by Zach Parise as the Rangers' Martin Biron, left, stands near his net during the second period. (Jan. 31, 2012) Credit: AP
NEWARK -- David Clarkson forced overtime by grabbing Andy Greene's long flip-in that bounced off a stanchion and sliding the puck through Martin Biron's skates with 47.6 seconds left in regulation to tie the score and Ilya Kovalchuk scored the only goal of the shootout to cap a wild finish in a 4-3 defeat of the Rangers at Prudential Center last night.
The Rangers, who led three times, lamented a lost opportunity for two points in regulation.
"We were in total control,'' Rangers coach John Tortorella said of Clarkson's goal. "It's not like we had a breakdown or anything like that, it's a rim, it goes off the stanchion. You don't want to accept it, but again, you hope one will go your way later in the year. You can't do anything about it. We take the point and we go to Buffalo [to play tonight]."
The seventh-place Devils, with 57 points, are 9-2 in shootouts, with Kovalchuk the league leader, converting eight of his nine attempts.
"When Kovy goes down and scores practically every time . . . the stats say the team that gets the first goal usually wins," said Devils coach Peter DeBoer. "I liked our resiliency."
The latest chapter of the Battle of the Hudson, in the first game for each team after the All-Star break, featured an unusual matchup between the two Marty Bs -- Brodeur and Biron, who made his first start against the Devils as a Ranger. Henrik Lundqvist had started 37 straight regular-season and playoff games in the cross-river rivalry. Brodeur, who totaled 23 saves in regulation and overtime and stopped Derek Stepan, Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik in the shootout, helped clinch the comeback.
The thrilling third period featured three late goals in 4:35.
Michael Del Zotto scored off a backhanded cross-ice pass from Gaborik with a wrist shot that went under Brodeur's right arm with 3:59 to play, a score that provided the Rangers a 3-2 lead and appeared to be the game-winner. Del Zotto's goal came just 36 seconds after Kovalchuk scored from the high slot on a power play to tie the score at 2 at 15:25. The Rangers, meanwhile, did not convert on three opportunities with the man advantage; Tortorella declined to discuss the continuing futility afterward.
It was his call to rest Lundqvist, who has dominated the Devils and was the difference-maker when the Rangers won 4-1 here on Dec. 20, stopping 30 of 31 shots. But Tortorella decided to give him an extra day after the All-Star journey to Ottawa. For more than two periods, Biron kept up his pace.
Biron, who is 9-2-1 with a 1.95 goals-against average, stopped Kovalchuk's backhander on a shorthanded breakaway early in the third period to preserve a 1-1 tie forged on rebound goals by the Rangers' Anton Stralman and Devils' Zach Parise.
Brian Boyle scooped up a point shot that hit his foot, went wide left on a fallen Brodeur and lifted the puck in at 2:37 for a 2-1 edge, the second lead that the Blueshirts, who have 67 points, couldn't hold.
"It's disappointing for everybody," Biron said. "It's as frustrating as ever, you were able to limit their chances down the stretch and you get a bad bounce. It happens."
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