Ilya Kovalchuk’s first goal lifts New Jersey Devils over Buffalo Sabres
It was a goaltending duel of the highest order as Buffalo Sabres goalie and reigning Vezina trophy winner Ryan Miller must be wondering what more he has to do, as a regulation shutout wasn't enough to
get his team a win. Ilya Kovalchuk scored the only goal of the game in overtime to lead the Devils to a 1-0 victory.
How it went down
Miller was by far the busier of the two goalies as the Sabres were outshot 15-1 in the first period, and 35-24 over the course of the game.
The game evened itself up in the second and third periods as there were no goals and only a single penalty over that span.
There was only one shot in the overtime period and it came less than a minute into the extra frame when Kovalchuk fired a quick slap shot from the top of the faceoff circle off a feed from Matt Taormina,
which flew past Miller.
What they're saying
Devils head coach, John McLean, and goaltender Martin Brodeur both expressed relief at collecting their first win of the season.
"That was a good game … they played 60 minutes," MacLean said of his team's performance. "The effort's always been there. I thought they worked really smart tonight."
"We've had a lot of changes, we've had injuries, and we've played with 15 players, and now 16 players," Brodeur said with regard to the fact that the Devils have been unable to put a full line-up onto
the ice because of salary cap issues. "It's been chaotic a little bit. So for us to finally get one under our belt, now we can start playing our season."
Although the Sabres have lost three in a row, defenceman Tyler Myers is confident that there's nothing to start panicking about just yet.
"We're four games in, and there isn't anything to freak out about," he said. "We had a lot of chances, we just didn't put them in."
What it all means
The win for New Jersey was not only their first of the season (1-2-1), but was McLean's first career NHL win as coach as well. For the future Hall of Fame goalie, Brodeur, it was shutout number 111. The
Devils are in action again on Friday night when they host the Colorado Avalanche who are 2-1.
The Sabres also play on Friday night as they look to snap their current losing skid by hosting the Montreal Canadiens.
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