New Jersey Devils' Travis Zajac scores OT Game-Winner forcing Game 7 against Florida Panthers –NHL
New Jersey was close to getting a repeat of failing to win the game after scoring the first goal as Florida made a second period comeback forcing overtime in Game 6 of the 2012 National Hockey League (NHL) Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Playoff Quarterfinal
series.
Florida leaned on taking the match post-regulation but Travis Zajac emerged as the saviour for the Devils as he fired the game-winning shot to force a Game 7 competition, keeping New Jersey alive to see another day, on Tuesday night, April 24, 2012, at the
sold-out Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.
Devils limited their penalties and stayed out of the box by giving only one power play opportunity to Florida, which they killed, allowing them to stay coordinated in the contest and not give the Panthers any chances.
Zajac was limited to only 15 games in the 2011-2012 NHL regular season and is now happy to be back and going at it.
"When you have a setback, you never know what's going to happen. As I went through the process again, I felt better and better. It was just about being patient. I knew I would be back at some time in the new year. I was able to get a few games in and prepare
for the playoffs," Zajac said.
Steve Bernier kicked off the scoring for his second of the series at 16:37 into round-one. Ilya Kovalchuk widened the gap on a power play in the opening minutes of the second period while Kris Versteeg and Sean Bergenheim answered back to level it for Florida.
Kovalchuk set up Zajac in the overtime extension in front of the net as he fired it through Scott Clemmensen for the game-winner at 5:39 into overtime.
With the series returning to Florida for the last game, Panthers are confident they will rebound and take the match.
"We're fine," Panthers coach, Kevin Dineen, said. "We're going back home. This is where we are. It comes down to one game. Obviously you go to overtime and you'd like to put things to bed, but that's the nature of it. It will make for a very exciting game
on Thursday."
Game 7 is set for Thursday, April 26th, at the BankAtlantic Arena.
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