David Clarkson scored two goals, Ilya Kovalchuk added his fourth of the season, and Johan Hedberg stopped 23 shots against his former club as the New Jersey Devils defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1, Sunday night.
The win capped off two crucial victories against the Penguins leading to a shift in the Atlantic Division standings and Eastern Conference standings. While the season is only a quarter of the way through, this weekend will undoubtedly be seen as a missed opportunity for the Penguins.
Despite coming out strong in the first period, the Penguins found themselves down entering the first intermission; mainly, thanks to Johan Hedberg and David Clarkson.
Hedberg stonewalled Sidney Crosby four minutes into the opening frame on a backhand chance in front. Two minutes later he stopped a blistering wrist shot from James Neal before controlling the rebound and preventing Zach Boychuk from getting his first point in a Penguins’ uniform. Hedberg then denied Brandon Sutter with a glove save during a two on one rush.
Eventually the Devils got a chance of their own, and David Clarkson cashed in with his eighth goal of the season. Clarkson and Patrick Elias created a two on one chance when Deryk Engelland got caught pinching in the offensive zone. As Engelland tried to back check, Clarkson glided towards the slot, left of Tomas Vokoun, and beat the goaltender glove-side with a wrist shot.
The Devils extended their lead to two when Ilya Kovalchuk scored during another odd-man rush. Paul Martin failed to get the puck deep allowing Stefan Matteau to push the puck up to Kovalchuk who fired a wrist shot past Vokoun’s stick side.
The Penguins took a penalty less than a minute later which, subsequently, ended with a puck in their net again. James Neal’s cross-checking penalty set up a point shot from Marek Zidlicky. The puck was redirected by Elias and initially stopped by Vokoun’s left pad; however, Vokoun lost track of the puck and Clarkson, who was left alone by the defensemen, pounced on it in the crease for his second goal of the game.
The third period started with a bang for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Dan Bylsma reunited Chris Kunitz with James Neal and Evgeni Malkin, leading to a power play goal fifteen seconds into the period.
Evgeni Malkin stopped at the blue line and found Kunitz streaking towards the net. Kunitz only held the puck momentarily before finding James Neal who sniped a one-time shot from the faceoff dot to the left of Hedberg.
Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, the Devils refused to allow another goal. Hedberg shut the door and the Devils walked out of Pittsburgh with a three point lead in the division over the Penguins and a five game winning streak
- Sunday night’s contest, marked Matt Cooke’s 900th NHL game of his career.
- Evgeni Malkin’s assist on James Neal’s goal was his 13th of the season, tying him with Martin St. Louis for tops in the league.
- Sidney Crosby won 19 of 24 faceoffs.
Three Stars
- David Clarkson
- Johan Hedberg
- James Neal
Photo courtesy of NHL.com
Game notes courtesy of the Pittsburgh Penguins
