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Devils eke by Lightning on Kovalchuk's tally

Mar 3, 2011 - 4:58 AM Newark, NJ (Sports Network) - Ilya Kovalchuk scored halfway through the third period to help the New Jersey Devils take a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Prudential Center.

Henrik Tallinder scored the other goal for the Devils, who have won two straight since losing to Tampa last Friday by a 2-1 decision. Martin Brodeur stopped 15 shots in the win.

"We just have to keep working hard out there," said Kovalchuk. "We had to make some adjustments but we outplayed them and I think we deserved those two points."

Dominic Moore scored the lone goal while Dwayne Roloson made 25 stops for the Lightning, who had a three-game winning streak snapped.

"We had a lot of opportunities in the first and second periods that we didn't take advantage of," said Tampa Bay head coach Guy Boucher.

Trailing by a goal in the second, New Jersey tied the game with 1:15 left in the middle session as Tallinder held the puck in the high slot, faked a shot then blasted it past Roloson for his fourth goal of the year.

The Devils then took a 2-1 lead halfway through the final frame as a pass from the right boards by Travis Zajac slid to the slot where Kovalchuk one-timed it home for his 22nd goal of the season.

Brodeur needed to stop just six shots in the final frame to preserve the lead as the defense kept Tampa from establishing any consistent pressure and New Jersey won for a 10th time in the past 11 games.

After a scoreless first period that saw Roloson stop six shots and Brodeur three, Tampa scored at the 4:41 mark of the second on the power play when a shot from Pavel Kubina at the right circle hit off of Moore in front and dribbled into the net.

Game Notes

Tampa plays in Boston on Thursday...New Jersey hosts the Penguins on Friday...The Devils took three of the four games with Tampa this season...David Steckel made his debut with the Devils, who acquired him on Monday from Washington for Jason Arnott and a second-round pick.