Sleep easy Devils Army, the streak is over!
Patrik Elias and David Clarkson were able to score on Ryan Miller, who backed up the injured Jhonas Enroth, and gave the Devils a much needed win snapping their six game losing streak. Hedberg made some huge saves including the two in a shootout to help end the streak.
With the Devils needing a win they turned to Johan Hedberg who was going through a tough stretch between the pipes. Adam Larrson and Mark Fayne were healthy scratches and Anton Volchenkov and Mark Fayne stepped in to take their spots. RW Tom Kostopoulos made his Devils debut after being claimed off waivers from Pittsburgh.
Thomas Vanek and Brian Flynn, who tallied his first NHL goal, had a commanding 2-0 lead for Buffalo. Once again, the Devils were on their heels looking for an answer for this scoring drought.
Adam Henrique was the answer after he scored on the powerplay on a beautiful feed from Ilya Kovalchuk cutting the lead down to one early in the second half of the third. With almost a minute to go in regulation, Patrick Elias was able to knock the rebound from David Clarkson into the back of the net, tying the game 2-2. With that goal Jhonas Enroth was also chased after apparently overstretching on a save attempt and was helped off the ice. In came Ryan Miller.
Jason Pominville had arguably the best shot in the overtime as he ripped a slapper of the post which Hedberg was able to cover and preserve the tie and send it into a shootout.
In the shootout, Hedberg stop all the Buffalo shots from Vanek and Pominville while Clarkson and Elias scored for New Jersey giving them the victory 3-2!
(AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)
The Devils will be in Raleigh, North Carolina, Saturday night to take on the Carolina Hurricanes.
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