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Madden's early strikes lead Devils to win

Oct 7, 2007 - 3:44 AM By Richard Menning PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SUNRISE, Florida (Ticker) -- After a setback in their first foray in the state of Florida, the New Jersey Devils capitalized on their second chance in the Sunshine State.

John Madden scored twice and Kevin Weekes turned aside 32 shots to lead the Devils to a 4-1 victory over the Florida Panthers on Saturday.

The Devils, trying to rebound from a loss at Tampa Bay on Thursday, struck quickly as Madden took a perfect feed from Arron Asham on an odd-man rush and fired a wrist shot that beat goaltender Tomas Vokoun to the glove side 62 seconds into the game for his first goal of the season.

"It felt good to get it going right away," Madden said. "You create chances and you have to make the most of them."

After defenseman Cory Murphy netted his first career goal midway through the first period to tie the contest at 1-1, the long-time checking center of New Jersey struck again.

Madden took advantage of a risky move by Vokoun during a power play to regain the lead at 3:32 of the second period. Caught behind the net on a clearing attempt, Vokoun lost control of the puck, and Madden was in the right spot to convert a wraparound for his second goal of the game.

"This is a game of bounces, and sometimes it's just a matter of getting those bounces to go your way," Madden said.

Weekes, drafted by the Panthers in 1993, overcame a 21-9 shot advantage by Florida in the opening session. The 32-year-old netminder, who spent the last two seasons with the New York Rangers, was in net for the first time since January 11.

"They had a little flurry there at the beginning and it kind of caught us on our heels," Weekes said. "(The first period) was an awakening, but we hung in there and played hard the rest of the way."

"He came up huge for us. He gave us a chance to win," New Jersey coach Brent Sutter said. "Sometimes you need a hot goaltender, and Weekes was it tonight."

From that point on, however, the Devils picked up the pace in their own zone, creating more chances while limiting the Panthers to only five shots in the second period with tighter checking.

"We went from a defensive mode (in) that first period to one where we started to get more chances in their end, and it changed our mind set," Weekes said. "We basically took the play to them after that."

Florida then made a critical mistake late in the period and New Jersey capitalized to go ahead, 3-1.

With Rob Globke in the penalty box serving a bench minor for too many men on the ice, New Jersey defenseman Andy Greene poked in the rebound of an initial blast by Patrik Elias from just inside the blue line. The shot at 17:44 came straight back off the end boards to Vokoun's right, and Greene was in the right place at the right time for the conversion on the short side.

"It seemed like the puck had eyes," Vokoun said. "Some nights you get those bounces and some nights the other team does. Tonight, it seemed like they got some lucky bounces on a couple of those (goals)."

"Tomas has got to get them," Florida coach Jacques Martin said. "He misplayed the puck out of the net on the second one, and then the third one, the same thing - it's a shot off the board. We beat ourselves."

Martin thought he was seeing two different games.

"The first period was an outstanding performance, and then after that, we tried to be fancy, and you can't be successful that way," Martin said. "We didn't get any saves either. Tonight, we gave them three goals."

The lone bright spot for Florida was Murphy, who last season won MVP honors in the Finnish Elite League and quickly became a crowd favorite at the BankAtlantic Center with his tying goal.

"Obviously, it's special for me, but it would have been nicer to get the win," Murphy said. "It's exciting for me and something I'm sure I'll remember."

Playing in his 200th career NHL contest, New Jersey's Mike Rupp left the ice late in the second period after taking a stick to the face from Florida defenseman Ruslan Salei.

There was no word on his condition after the game.