Ilya Kovalchuk scores three, powers New Jersey Devils past Buffalo Sabres 4-1 -NHL Update
New Jersey continued to move up while Buffalo fell down even further in the Eastern Conference as Ilya Kovalchuk scored three to power Devils past Sabres, 4-1, on Tuesday night, February 14, 2012, at the sold-out First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York,
United States.
The Devils now stand at number six in the East with 68 points while Buffalo sits at number 14 with 54.
With the playoffs closing in, teams are now rallying towards securing their playoff spots which does not give much hope to Buffalo, a team which kicked off the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season with a bang but now has died down tremendously.
Sabres head coach, Lindy Ruff, was back in the benches in over a week ever since breaking three ribs during an unintentional hit by a player during their practice last Monday, but it certainly did not seem to make the difference they were hoping for as Buffalo
lost its second straight.
"We need pucks to go in for different people," Ruff said. "The big thing would've been getting the lead, forced them out of their game. We didn't. We gave them the lead."
Kovalchuk potted his first of the night with less than a minute remaining as Buffalo lost Thomas Vanek due to a minor penalty, giving New Jersey a much needed boost with the extra skater on the ice.
Jason Pominville brought Sabres right back up with his 21st of the season on a breakaway unassisted, forcing an intense third period competition with less than three minutes remaining in the second.
Petr Sykora triggered the scoring spree with his power play goal at the 1:44 mark as Mike Weber’s penalty from the second carried over into the final, followed by Ilya Kovalchuk scoring two straight, midway through and with nine second left to play on the
empty netter.
"Kovi deserves the hat trick," Sykora said. "He's been a force, generating so much offense out there. He's playing really, really fantastic."
New Jersey has some new found confidence, which they hope to use against Anaheim Ducks at home on Friday while Philadelphia Flyers host Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.
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