Ilya Kovalchuk helps New Jersey Devils beat Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1
Ilya Kovalchuk lit the lamp in the final frame, as the New Jersey Devils edged past the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1, at Prudential Centre on Wednesday night.
Henrik Tallinder also tallied a goal for New Jersey, who have won two consecutive games since losing to Tampa last Friday. Martin Brodeur was solid between the pipes, turning away 15 shots to earn the victory.
Kovalchuk praised the performance of his team-mates after the game. He said, "We just have to keep working hard out there. We had to make some adjustments but we outplayed them and I think we deserved those two points."
Dominic Moore provided the lone offence for Tampa bay, who had a three-game winning streak halted. Dwayne Roloson played very well but came up just short in the loss, making 25 saves.
Lightning head Coach Guy Boucher was critical of his side’s performance on the night. He said, "We had a lot of opportunities in the first and second periods that we didn't take advantage of."
There were only nine shots in the opening stanza and both teams got good scoring opportunities, but no one was able to capitalize on them. Lightning’s Nate Thompson had a short-handed breakaway chance and Devils’ Jacob Josefson had a power-play shot. Roloson
made six saves, while Brodeur stopped three shots to keep the first period scoreless.
The Lightning got on the board first to take a 1-0 lead with a somewhat lucky power-play goal nearly four and a half minutes into the middle session. The goal came when Pavel Kubina’s shot from the right circle clipped off of Moore and trickled into the
net. The goal was confirmed after a video review, which plainly showed it was not intentionally kicked into the cage.
The Devils then tied the game at 1-1 with over a minute remaining in the second period. The move started when defenceman Mark Fayne fired a shot, which missed the net from the right point, but Tallinder got the puck in the high slot and decked a shot that
beat Roloson for his fourth goal of the season.
New Jersey then went ahead by 2-1, midway through the third period. The goal was set up by Travis Zajac, who intercepted a pass by Matt Smaby in the right boards and swept it to the slot, where Kovalchuk banged a one-timer home as he was falling to the ice.
It was his 22nd goal of the season.
Brodeur turned aside six shots in the third period to secure the victory, as the New Jersey defence prevented Tampa Bay from putting any consistent pressure, and the Devils won for the 10th time in their last 11 play-offs.
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