Ilya Kovalchuk powers New Jersey Devils past New York Islanders 5-1 -NHL Update
Watching any New York and New Jersey match is always special in its own way but when you have a hungry Ilya Kovalchuk looking to get a hat trick, there is no telling what might happen. Devils dominated Islanders with the help of Kovalchuk, Thursday night,
March 8, 2012, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Kovalchuk did not have a single goal in the past nine games entering their previous contest against New York Rangers, but ever since, the veteran player has been on fire. Something New Jersey had been wishing for.
He registered his first career hat trick in over a year and could be the player that leads New Jersey as a favourite into the playoffs.
Devils are on their way to the postseason for the first time since the 2009-2010 regular season and are planning on making it a big one for the team and their fans.
New Jersey captain, Zach Parise, fed Ilya Kovalchuk the puck nearly midway through the opening period to kick off the scoring with his 27th of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season.
This time, it was Marek Zidlicky who set up the hungry left winger for his second straight of the night on a power play with Steve Staios out for tripping. Andrew MacDonald added the first for New York but it would be their last as well since Islanders decided
to go on a shooting spree in the final 20 minutes.
Patrik Elias widened the gap to 3-1 at 7:05 in the last period followed by Ilya Kovalchuk giving Zach Parise his second assist of the night and David Clarkson finalising it with less than five minutes to go.
Marek Zidlicky was another player to pick up some points with his two assists in the contest, his first ever since joining the team from Minnesota in February.
New York Islanders had their two-game winning streak snapped and having taken down New Jersey before, they plan on doing it again in their third consecutive matchup against Devils on Saturday, but this time on their own home-ice.
Devils have gained a lot of momentum since their previous loss to New York Islanders this past Sunday and could be the winning team yet again in their next meeting.
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