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Devils rally to end Stars' streak, extend their own

Nov 29, 2007 - 4:28 AM By Joe Rizzo PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

NEWARK, New Jersey (Ticker) - The Dallas Stars are hot. The New Jersey Devils are a little hotter.

Dainius Zubrus scored midway through the third period to snap a tie and cap a comeback as the Devils rode the momentum from their perfect road trip to a 4-2 victory over the Stars on Wednesday in their return home to the Prudential Center.

Zubrus' goal finished off a 2-on-1 rush and a rally from a two-goal deficit for the Devils, who extended their winning streak to five games - including a 4-0-0 road trip that concluded Saturday at Tampa Bay.

Dallas had won six straight and recorded points in its previous eight, including a 6-0-1 mark since Brett Hull and Les Jackson took over as co-general managers on November 13. The Stars, however, missed matching the franchise-record winning streak of seven games.

With just over nine minutes remaining in the third, Zubrus blocked a shot, got up and skated away with the puck on a 2-on-1 rush with Jamie Langenbrunner. Langenbrunner carried the puck up the right wing and into the offensive zone before passing across the slot to Zubrus, who lifted it over the blocker of goaltender Marty Turco at 10:57 for his fifth goal of the season and a 3-2 edge.

"(Langenbrunner) was patient, he bought me some time (so) I could get closer to (Turco)," Zubrus said. "He got me into a shooting position. The pass was perfect right on the tape. I was able to get it off right away."

"It's a real nice pass when you can one-time it off the off-wing like that," Turco said. "They made two good plays. But 2-on-1s late in the game we try to just avoid that."

New Jersey allowed the first two goals of the contest in the opening period, then halved the deficit at 8:52 of the second as David Clarkson scored on a wraparound after fighting off a defender along the end boards. But it was a two-man advantage the Devils successfully killed with five minutes left in the session that sparked the comeback.

Defensemen Sheldon Brookbank and Colin White took penalties 23 seconds apart, but the Devils thwarted the efforts of the Stars' power play. Brian Gionta capitalized with 72 seconds left in the period, beating Turco between the pads with a one-timer from the bottom of the slot off Patrik Elias' feed from below the left faceoff circle.

"That 5-on-3 was massive," Devils coach Brent Sutter said. "Marty (Brodeur) made some great saves and the guys on the ice were great. Then we got that second (goal) and we were on our way."

"I was trying to get to the front of the net off a shift," Gionta said. "He made a great pass. Patty laid it out there nice for me. At the beginning of the year, 2-0, we would have packed it in right there."

Brodeur preserved the tie with roughly 15 minutes left in the third, coming out of the crease to poke-check away the puck from Brenden Morrow, who had gotten behind the defense during a power play.

The Stars made the first mistake of the game, when Jeff Halpern was penalized for hooking Zubrus at 10:33 of the opening period. But Stu Barnes erased the miscue just nine seconds later, when he beat Brodeur between the pads from a very sharp angle on the right side off a rush.

It was Barnes' first goal of the season and the 250th of his career, but just his 10th shorthanded.

"The last few games, it's started to come around a bit," said Barnes, who had not scored shorthanded since the 2005-06 season. "We've been finding ways to win lately. It hasn't always been the perfect formula, but we've found ways to win."

Just under three minutes later, Jussi Jokinen scored from a similar angle on the left side. Jokinen rushed up the wing, got to the bottom of the circle and released a wrist shot along the ice that found its way under Brodeur's glove with 6:20 to go in the first.

But they never again beat Brodeur, who finished with 19 saves.

"These guys did a great job getting the goals back," said Brodeur, who was honored by the team prior to the game for recording his 500th career win while the Devils were on their road trip. "They did a great job on the 5-on-3. We didn't let this 'little thing' affect our game."

"We caught some momentum with the 5-on-3, but Marty saw the puck and made some good saves," Turco said.

Zach Parise scored an empty-netter for New Jersey, which halted a two-game skid at home.

Turco turned aside 22 shots for the Stars, who fell to 2-1-0 on their season-high six-game road trip.

"It wasn't our best effort, but we had a chance," Turco said.

"The 5-on-3 was the difference in the game," Dallas center Mike Ribeiro said. "We're pretty good here, and we don't want a losing streak."