New Jersey 5 - Pittsburgh 3

Devils Climb To Top Of Standings

The New Jersey Devils have completed their run to the top of the standings and are geared towards playoff positioning after hanging on for a 5-3 victory in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh netminder Fleury continued some shaky play with a weak goal to Jamie Langenbrunner just 4:32 into the contest. He would hold the fort the rest of the period. Sid "the kid" Crosby was able to pull the Pens even just 1:04 into the second period, however "Little" Brian Gionta silenced the crowd before they could sit down just 34 seconds later. Patrik Elias capped the period scoring with a powerplay blast from the point off an offensive zone faceoff. In the third the Devils were able to extend the lead to 5-1 on the strength of goals by Zach Parise and Scott Gomez. Pittsburgh made a valiant attempt to tie the game and seemed to grab some late momentum with goals by John Leclair and Ryan Malone, however it was too little too late as the Devils were able to hang on and Martin Brodeur was able to preserve the win.

Thanks for knocking both games out last night Viper! I know we had just been missing each other in the past.


1 2 3 Total
Devils 1 2 2 5
Penguins 0 1 2 3

Shots on Goal: PIT: 30, NJ: 29

Scoring

First Period
NJ, Jamie Langenbrunner, 4:32

Second Period
PIT, Sidney Crosby (Armstrong), 1:04
NJ, Brian Gionta (Elias, Martin), 1:38
NJ, Patrik Elias (Gomez), 17:46 (PP)

Third Period
NJ, Zach Parise (Brylin, Langenbrunner)), 5:21
NJ, Scott Gomez (Elias, Rafalski), 11:46
PIT, John Leclair (Ruutu, Fleury), 15:48
PITT, Ryan Malone (Gonchar), 17:25


Three Stars

1. NJ, Patrik Elias, 1 G, 2 A
2. NJ, Scott Gomez, 1 G, 1 A
3. Jamie Langenbrunner, 1 G, 1 A