Ilya Kovalchuk ended a three-week scoring drought to help the New Jersey Devils beat the visiting East-leading New York Rangers 4-1 on Tuesday.
Kovalchuk broke through on a snap shot just 49 seconds into the game, his first goal since recording a hat-trick against Buffalo on Feb. 14, as the Devils came on strong in the third period to top their local rivals.
New Jersey’s leading points scorer, Kovalchuk set an early aggressive tone by taking five of his team’s first 11 shots.
Photo: AFP
“That was the longest I went without a goal,” Kovalchuk told reporters, having also finished with an assist. “It was hard, especially since we weren’t doing well, so you put a little more pressure on yourself. Maybe I was over-passing sometimes and [on Tuesday] I was shooting.”
New York’s (42-16-7) Derek Stepan tied the game 1-1 in the second period, but New Jersey (37-24-5) dominated the third with goals from David Clarkson, Ryan Carter and Patrick Elias.
Martin Brodeur stopped 25 shots to win his goaltending duel with Henrik Lundqvist, who also had 25 saves, while the Devils ended a stretch that had seen them lose five of their last six contests.
The much-needed win was the first in a series of battles against New York opponents for New Jersey, who lost 1-0 to the Islanders on Sunday and are scheduled to face them again in a home-and-home series today and on Saturday.
The Devils remained in sixth place in the East, two points behind fifth-placed Philadelphia.
New York have won four of their last five heading into the contest, but maintained their eight-point lead in the conference over idle division rivals Pittsburgh.
Rangers captain Ryan Callahan returned from a three-game absence because of a foot injury, but he was far from happy with what he witnessed on the ice.
“We got to work harder,” Callahan said. “This time of year, everybody is battling for points, and we have to find a way to go into that third period and bear down.”
BLUE JACKETS 3, COYOTES 2
In Columbus, Ohio, Jack Johnson scored his first goal for the club and Steve Mason made 38 saves as the Blue Jackets got their first three-game winning streak in more than a year.
Mason has allowed just four goals in two wins over Phoenix and one over Colorado in the last six days.
R.J. Umberger and Derek MacKenzie also scored for the Blue Jackets. Johnson, acquired in the deal that sent Jeff Carter to Los Angeles just before the trade deadline, added an assist.
Antoine Vermette and Keith Yandle had goals for the Coyotes, who have lost four in a row in regulation, their longest such skid of the season.
KINGS 5, PREDATORS 4
In Nashville, Tennessee, Justin Williams scored twice to lead Los Angeles to their third straight win.
Drew Doughty, Matt Greene and Trevor Lewis also scored for the Kings.
Patric Hornqvist scored twice, while Martin Erat and Sergei Kostitsyn had the other goals for Nashville, losers of two of their last three.
With the score tied 3-3 after two periods, Greene put the Kings ahead at 1:15 of the third on a slap shot from the right point. Lewis had a tap in from just off the left post at 3:00 to make it 5-3.
MAPLE LEAFS 5, BRUINS 4
In Toronto, Jordan Caron and Tyler Seguin scored two goals each as Boston beat Toronto for the fifth time this season.
Chris Kelly also scored and Tim Thomas stopped 25 shots to help Boston end a two-game skid.
Carl Gunnarsson, John-Michael Liles, Phil Kessel and Mikhail Grabovski scored for the Maple Leafs, who have been outscored 28-10 in five meetings with the Bruins. Toronto have also lost six straight at home.
HURRICANES 4, CAPITALS 3, OT
In Washington, Justin Faulk scored at 3 minutes, 38 seconds of overtime and Cam Ward stopped 46 shots as Carolina beat a skidding Washington.
Faulk took a centering pass from Brandon Sutter and fired the puck past goaltender Michal Neuvirth to saddle Washington with their third successive defeat, although the Capitals did get a point by forcing overtime late.
After suffering two straight shutout losses, both at home, Washington went ahead 2-0 before Carolina came back to take the lead on a breakaway goal by Sutter at 1:45 of the third period.
Washington forced overtime when Brooks Laich scored off a centering pass from Marcus -Johansson at 17:08 of the third.
In other NHL games, it was:
‧ Senators 7, Lightning 3
‧ Blues 5, Blackhawks 1
‧ Flyers 3, Red Wings 2
‧ Flames 5, Canadiens 4
‧ Avalanche 7, Wild 1
‧ Stars 5, Canucks 2
‧ Oilers 3, Sharks 2, SO
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