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Gomez scores in OT as Devils avoid disheartening loss

Jan 14, 2007 - 3:57 AM UNIONDALE, New York (Ticker) -- Scott Gomez helped keep the New Jersey Devils from hanging their heads in shame.

Gomez scored at 3:40 of overtime and Martin Brodeur made 27 saves as the Devils recorded their fifth win in six games, a 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders.

Locked in a goaltending duel between Brodeur and Rick DiPietro, the Devils broke through with 78 seconds remaining in the third period as John Madden netted his sixth goal of the season on a wrist shot from the right faceoff dot. Madden fed the puck to Sergei Brylin before receiving a drop pass and finding the top left corner of the net.

However, the Islanders refused to surrender, staging a late attack before tying the contest with less than a second to go on a goal by Miroslav Satan.

"That last minute, it was chaotic," Brodeur admitted. "I just looked behind me and the green light was on."

After Brodeur made a save on defenseman Tom Poti's shot through a screen, the puck bounced around in the slot. It ultimately found its way to Satan, who banked it off Brodeur's left skate from the right side of the net with seven-tenths of a second left in the third, knotting the game at 1-1.

"We played hard and we finally got a break," Satan said. "It was an instinct play. I swung at it and the puck went in."

New Jersey blue-liner Colin White made a tremendous play to prevent a breakaway with two minutes remaining in overtime, and the Devils capitalized on a turnover shortly thereafter to escape with the victory.

Islanders defenseman Bruno Gervais received a drop pass from Satan near his own net but gave it away to Patrik Elias in the right faceoff circle.

"I just picked a side," Elias said. "I know (Gervais) didn't see me."

The Devils captain passed it down to Gomez, who tapped it in from alone on the right side for his eighth goal of the season and second in as many nights.

"It was definitely all Patty," Gomez said. "Great players make plays like that. Patty faked everyone out and fed it to me."

Selected as a reserve for his ninth All-Star Game earlier in the day, Brodeur did not face a shot in overtime en route to his league-leading 27th win for New Jersey, which also was held scoreless through two periods in Friday's 2-1 triumph over Atlanta.

"The way we bounced back, sometimes you can look at that as turning points in the season, the way we came out on top," Brodeur said. "We never give up. We have character."

The Devils, as is their custom, slowed down the pace for most of the contest, drawing both praise and frustration from Islanders coach Ted Nolan.

"That was a typical game against them," Nolan said. "For 55 minutes, it was pretty dry. It was like playing chess."

DiPietro made 28 saves for New York, which fell to 0-2-2 when tied after two sessions. DiPietro also lost a duel with Brodeur two weeks ago at Nassau Coliseum, dropping a 2-0 decision that included an empty-net goal.

"Marty's a great goaltender," DiPietro said. "It's great to go toe-to-toe with him, but we only got one point."