Zach Parise scored in overtime to rally the New Jersey Devils to a stunning 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday.
Parise scored 37 seconds into the extra period to cap a three-goal comeback for the Devils, who trailed the Penguins 3-1 in the third period.
The victory earned New Jersey a share of the Atlantic Division lead with Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
PHOTO: AP
It also snapped a four-game winning streak for Pittsburgh in New Jersey.
"We showed a little character tonight and battled back and played our best period in a long time," the Devils' Jamie Langenbrunner told reporters.
Devils netminder Martin Brodeur stopped 31 shots to gain his 28th victory of the season.
He also was credited with an assist, his first of the season, on Parise's winning goal.
Patrik Elias had the primary assist on the score, the Devils playing inspired hockey in the third period and overtime after coach Brent Sutter's talk during the second intermission.
"He wasn't really happy about the way things were going. It was obvious with eight shots with like five minutes left in the second period," Brodeur told reporters.
"In our building, we've got to be better than that. That's what he let us know," he said.
The Devils responded with Elias and David Clarkson scoring less than two minutes apart in the third period to force overtime.
Pittsburgh, still playing without leader Sidney Crosby, tallied twice in the second period to take a 2-0 lead.
Ryan Malone got the first off a powerplay and Petr Sykora added a second score with 11:50 expired in the period.
Evgeni Malkin assisted on both goals, boosting his total to 35 for the season.
New Jersey closed the gap to 2-1 on Langenbrunner's powerplay goal with 41.7 seconds remaining in the period.
But another powerplay score, this one by Jordan Staal, gave Pittsburgh a 3-1 advantage 4:30 into the third period.
The New Jersey offense then got busy with goals by Elias with 9:37 expired in the third and Clarkson after 11:21 of the period.
Parise and Elias each had two assists for the Devils, who took only six shots in the first period and eight in the second against Pittsburgh netminder Ty Conklin.
OILERS 5, FLAMES 0
Mathieu Garon made 24 saves to post his fourth shutout of the season as Calgary won another round of the Battle of Alberta, beating Edmonton 5-0 and spoiling the season debut of Curtis Joseph.
Oilers rookie Sam Gagner and all-star Ales Hemsky each scored a goal and set up another for the Oilers.
Fernando Pisani, Dustin Penner and defenseman Steve Staios also tallied for the Oilers, who learned earlier that leading-scorer Shawn Horcoff would miss the rest of the season after he undergoes shoulder surgery later this week.
Garon turned aside seven shots in the first period, eight more in the next and nine in the third to secure his 14th career shutout.
Joseph, who was seeing his first action since signing with the Flames 18 days ago, stopped 23 of the 28 shots he faced.
COYOTES 4, AVALANCHE 3
Radim Vrbata forced overtime with a third-period goal and delivered the game-winner 3:23 into the extra session as the Phoenix Coyotes defeated the Colorado Avalanche 4-3.
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