New Jersey Devils rebound, fall to Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 in shootout -NHL Update
New Jersey made an impressive run in round-three of regulation to force the overtime and shootout extensions, but Devils fell to Toronto Maple Leafs in the SO decider on their final shot, 4-3, Friday night, March 23, 2012, at the Prudential Center in Newark,
New Jersey.
Martin Brodeur and James Reimer just could not seem to block any of the shootout shots as both fell short on their first two but Reimer, the Maple Leafs goalie, blocked the third attempt by Patrik Elias while Nazem Kadri capitalised on Toronto’s last chance
to take the game.
"I thought the last 40 minutes we stepped up and played our game and played really hard," Reimer said. "Kudos to them. When you have three goals on the New Jersey Devils and Marty Brodeur, and three in the shootout, you must have been doing something right."
In order to keep their lead above the seventh and eighth place teams in the Eastern Conference, New Jersey was happy to have earned the extra point going out of regulation, helping them keep their place at number six with 90.
"It's a big point," Brodeur said. "We're moving toward the playoffs. We'll take every point. We were down 2-0 and 3-1 and we kept pushing and finally got some breaks. It could have been better but we'll take that point."
Tyler Bozak and Nazem Kadri added two straight for Toronto in the second period following a scoreless first. Jacob Josefson also put New Jersey on the board nearly four minutes after Kadri scored Toronto’s second.
David Steckel got a very important goal for Toronto midway through the third as New Jersey captain, Zach Parise and Adam Henrique added two to level the match and force an overtime extension.
Both teams struggled to find an opportunity in overtime, but failing resulted in a shootout decider as Nazem Kadri potted his second of the night and game-winning shot on Martin Brodeur.
Toronto Maple Leafs have the next at home against New York Rangers on Saturday while New Jersey Devils face Pittsburgh Penguins on the road on Sunday, in what is expected to be an intense matchup.
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