GAME THREAD: NHL: ATLANTA (12-13) at NEW JERSEY (13-12)

NHL: ATLANTA at NEW JERSEY

<div class="pre">-----------------------------------------------------
ATLANTA 1 0 1 0 (0) --2
NEW JERSEY 1 1 0 0 (1) --3
-----------------------------------------------------

FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Atlanta, Todd White 6 (power play) (Tobias
Enstrom, Marian Hossa)14:51. 2, New Jersey, Sergei Brylin 3 (Paul
Martin, John Madden),19:09. Penalties: D Clarkson, Njd (interference
served by D Zubrus), 13:11.

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, New Jersey, John Madden 7 (Karel Rachunek,
Sergei Brylin),15:46. Penalties: I Kovalchuk, Atl (hooking), 0:06; J
Hedberg, Atl (delay of game), 4:42; P Elias, Njd (hooking), 5:30; M
Hossa, Atl (tripping), 13:32; B Holik, Atl (hooking), 19:28.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 4, Atlanta, Ilya Kovalchuk 22 (Bryan Little,
Darren Haydar),9:34. Penalties: C Thorburn, Atl (hooking), 11:48.

OVERTIME -- Scoring: None.

SHOOTOUT -- Atlanta, Vyacheslav Kozlov (saved), Marian
Hossa (saved), Ilya Kovalchuk (saved). New Jersey, Zach Parise
(saved), Brian Gionta (goal).

Shots on goal:
---------------------------------------------
ATLANTA 9 3 9 4 --25
NEW JERSEY 9 12 11 4 --36
---------------------------------------------

Power-play Conversions: ATL - 1 of 2, NJD - 0 of 5. Goalies : Atlanta,
Johan Hedberg (36 shots, 34 saves; record: 8-6-1). New Jersey, Martin
Brodeur (25 shots, 23 saves; record: 12-10-1). A: 14,978. Referees:
Brad Watson, Mick Mcgeough. Linesmen: Derek Nansen, Jay Sharrers.

INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS

ATLANTA NEW JERSEY
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
B Little 0 1 +1 0 R Pelley 0 0 even 0
E Perrin 0 0 even 0 J Madden 1 1 +1 4
T White 1 0 -2 3 B Gionta 0 0 even 3
V Kozlov 0 0 even 1 J Langenbrunner0 0 even 3
B Holik 0 0 even 1 D Zubrus 0 0 even 1
I Kovalchuk 1 0 -1 5 S Brylin 1 1 +2 1
M Hossa 0 1 -2 3 T Zajac 0 0 even 5
G Exelby 0 0 even 1 V Vishnevski 0 0 even 1
K Klee 0 0 even 0 A Asham 0 0 even 0
J Slater 0 0 even 0 D Clarkson 0 0 +1 4
C Thorburn 0 0 even 1 P Elias 0 0 even 4
N Havelid 0 0 even 2 M Mottau 0 0 +1 0
E Boulton 0 0 even 2 K Rachunek 0 1 +1 4
D Haydar 0 1 +1 1 J Oduya 0 0 even 1
T Enstrom 0 1 even 0 C White 0 0 even 0
M Popovic 0 0 -1 0 A Greene 0 0 even 1
A Zhitnik 0 0 -1 2 P Martin 0 1 even 1
P Dupuis 0 0 even 3 Z Parise 0 0 -1 3
S McCarthy HEALTHY J Pandolfo ABDOMINAL
B Larsen HEALTHY S Brookbank HEALTHY
M Rupp HEALTHY</div>

 

By Joe Rizzo
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


NEWARK, New Jersey (Ticker) - Being a television hockey junkiehelped Martin Brodeur gain an extra point for the New JerseyDevils.


Brodeur denied NHL scoring leader Ilya Kovalchuk in a dramaticshowdown in the final round of a shootout to make Brian Gionta'sshootout goal stand up and give the Devils a 3-2 victory overthe Atlanta Thrashers on Sunday night.


After Zach Parise came up empty on the Devils' first shootoutattempt, Gionta charged the net on the second attempt, deked andflipped a backhand shot over goaltender Johan Hedberg's rightshoulder.


That set the stage for Brodeur, who stopped Vyacheslav Kozlovand Marian Hossa in the first two rounds. With the extrastandings point on the line, Brodeur denied Kovalchuk.

"Back home, I have TSN (The Sports Network), so you get to seethe shootouts all day long," Brodeur said. "I saw the move inToronto (on October 23) where he scored on (the Maple Leafs'Vesa) Toskala. He tries to bring you across and get you out ofthe net. A little more and he might have gotten it."

"I thought he was going to move quick from post-to-post like heusually does," Kovalchuk said. "So I tried to go up like Iscored vs. Toronto, but it didn't work. Next time, I'll dobetter."


Sergei Brylin had a goal and an assist and Brodeur made 23 savesfor the Devils, whose seven-game winning streak is currentlythe longest in the NHL and the third-longest by any team thisseason.


"That's why they created shootouts, to see battles like that,"Brylin said.


"You have the best goalie in the world out there, and he's greaton breakaways," Gionta said. "So, it gives you a lot ofconfidence. Two dynamic guys - it's great for the fans."

Kovalchuk and linemate Todd White scored for the Thrashers, wholost for the fourth time in their last five games. Atlanta hadbeen 4-0 this season after regulation, leaving Phoenix as thelone team without such a loss.


Kovalchuk netted his NHL-best 22nd goal to tie the game, 2-2,midway through the third period. After a turnover, Bryan Littlerushed up the right wing and centered a puck to Kovalchuk,whose rocket slap shot from the top of the slot blew pastBrodeur and into the top left corner of the net.


"That thing was (flaming)," Brodeur said. "I was hoping itwould not hit me, because that must hurt, to stop a puck likethat. That might have been one of the hardest shots I have everseen. He stepped into it (and hit it) right on the sweetspot."


"(Kovalchuk is) so dangerous, he doesn't need much time to scoregoals," Devils center John Madden said. "He has the best shotin the league off the one-timer."


The Thrashers opened the scoring when White, from in front ofthe crease, deflected Tobias Enstrom's one-timer from the leftfaceoff dot past Brodeur. It was just Atlanta's secondpower-play goal in the last five games.


The Devils tied it at 1-1 with 51 seconds left in the openingperiod when Brylin blasted a slap shot from the slot pastHedberg for his third goal of the season and his first sinceNovember 3, a span of 12 games.


Madden's seventh goal of the season gave New Jersey a 2-1 leadwith 4:14 left in the second period. Madden stormed down themiddle of the ice toward the left goalpost, got behinddefenseman Mark Popovic, and snapped in a pinpoint pass bydefenseman Karel Rachunek, who rushed deep along the right wing.

Atlanta has played 16 road games, matching the Devils for mostin the league. The Thrashers return home Wednesday to commencea run in which they play seven of their next nine at home -where they are 4-6-0 for eight points - tied with Phoenix forsecond-fewest in the league.


"You have to be satisfied, coming back and getting a point froma tough team in their building," Hedberg said.