Game Summary - November 6, 2008

Devils Beat Lightning 4-3 in a Shootout

That noise you heard last night was the collective sigh of relief by all Devil's fans when Kevin Weekes stopped two out of three shots in a shootout agains the Lightning last night, getting his second win in as many starts. Panic began to set in over the New Jersey area when it was announced that future Hall of Fame goaltender Martin Brodeur was having surgery on his elbow to repair a torn distal bicep in his catching arm and he would miss up to four months.

Jussi Jokinen opened the scoring at 16:28 of the first period. Weekes would turn away eight of the nine shots fired at him in the opening period, while his counterpart, Mike Smith, turned away all eight of the shots he faced.

A bit more action in the second period, which saw New Jersey tie the game at the 16:05 mark with a goal by David Clarkson. They would take the lead at 18:44 with a goal by Patrick Elias on the power play.

New Jersey brought on the offense in the second period, firing 16 shots at Smith, while the Lightning mustered up seven shots toward Weekes.

In the third, Jokinen scored his second of the night on a power play at 10:52. This tied the game at 2. Just over four minutes later, Jay Pandolfo scored his second of the season, giving the Devils the lead again. However, just one minute thirty seconds later, Martin St. Louis would tie the game again, and that's how it stayed.

The overtime produced four shots per side, but none could find the back of the net.

In the shootout, Vincent Lecavalier scored on Weekes, but he stopped shots by Jokinen and Vaclav Prospel. Zach Parise hit the goalpost, but Elias and Jaime Langenbrunner both scored on Smith, giving Jersey the win 4-3.


Columbus Comes from Behind to Beat the Oilers

Columbus held a two goal lead at one point in the game, but required some late game heroics to capture a win in this game.

Late in the first period, Ales Hemsky took an interference penalty, setting up a two minute power play for the Jackets. Thirty-five seconds into the power play, Kristian Huselius would score, giving Columbus the lead 1-0 going into the locker room.

Early in the second, Columbus took a 2-0 lead when Derick Brassard scored just 2:31 in. However, the Oil would come back just over three minutes later when Andrew Cogliano scored with Jason Chimera in the penalty box. And then, at 16:28, Ethan Moreau scored a short handed goal to tie the game at 2 apiece.

The Oilers would continue their assault on goaltender Steve Mason, scoring two goals in just 20 seconds. Hemsky and Kyle Brodziak would score, giving Edmonton a two goal advantage early in the third.

The Jackets came back, however, with goals by R.J. Umberger and Fredrik Modin just under a minute apart to tie the game. It would stay that way until some late game heroics by Manny Malhotra. Malhotra scored his first goal of the season with just over a minute left in regulation to give Columbus back the lead, and that's how the game would end.



Anaheim Keeps on Scoring: Beats the Blues 5-2

Anaheim has figured out how to score goals. They have had a good defense in the last few years, but their offense wasn't the most powerful. The third-lowest goal scoring team last year has suddenly found themselves on top of that list, and want to stay there. They continued that quest must to the dismay of the St. Louis Blues.

Rob Niedermayer got the scoring started early, when just thirty-six seconds into the game, he shot one past netminder Chris Mason. St. Louis would come back just two minutes later with a goal by Patrik Berglund. Beglund scored his third goal of the season, getting one past Jonas Hiller, making his first start.

St. Louis would keep it close through the early minutes of the second, trading power play goals by Teemu Selanne and Andy McDonald, to keep the game all tied up. However, Corey Parry and Ryan Getzlaf would add two more goals to the Ducks total in the second, and head to the dressing room up 4-2.

Things tightened up in the third, with the only goal being scored late - an empty netter by Getzlaf.

Anaheim center Getzlaf continued his assualt on the stats sheet, adding two goals and an assist and giving him a share of the NHL total points lead with Evgeni Malkin of the Penguins. Teemu Salanne also extended his points streak to eight games.