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Parise lifts Devils over Penguins in overtime

Oct 12, 2008 - 4:46 AM PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- Zach Parise scored with 38 seconds remaining in overtime to give the New Jersey Devils a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.

The Devils peppered goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury throughout the contest, outshooting the Penguins, 49-15. For a while, Fleury's brilliant play appeared to be enough to give the Penguins a victory in their home opener.

But before a 68th straight sellout crowd in Pittsburgh, Patrik Elias scored late in the third and Parise earned New Jersey the extra point late in the extra session.

"We played an awesome game and we got rewarded," said Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur, who made 14 saves en route to earning his 540th career win - 11 short of Hall of Famer Patrick Roy's all-time record. "You don't get rewarded all the time for efforts like that, but we did tonight.

"We got a lucky bounce, but we deserved it. (Fleury) played well, it's too bad for him, but we'll take this win. He was on top of his game today."

Travis Zajac lifted a cross-ice pass from the defensive zone to Parise, who beat two defenders before unleashing a slap shot from the left side that beat Fleury and dropped Pittsburgh to 2-4-1 in its last six home openers.

"I was just trying to flip it up and let (Parise) try win a battle, and somehow it landed in the right spot," Zajac said. "I was just trying to get it up towards him. We did everything we had to to win."

"It's tough to swallow," Fleury said. "That one goal, to give up that one goal to tie up the game and then (the Devils) come up with the win, it was a tough one. I just tried to keep the game close and make the key saves for the guys."

Fleury, who made 47 saves, was impenetrable until Elias forged a 1-1 tie with 2:29 remaining in the third period. Elias fired a wrist shot that bounced off defenseman Hal Gill's skate and fluttered over the netminder's outstretched body.

"We just kept rolling and even stopped matching in the third period," Elias said. "When you work hard, good things happen in the end. There was no sense of panic."

It was the only blemish against Fleury in the period, during which the Devils outshot the Penguins, 20-2. Parise and Elias combined for 18 shots overall, eclipsing Pittsburgh's game total.

"We stayed with it," Devils coach Brent Sutter said. "We played a heck of a hockey game here tonight. We skated well with the puck, checked very well and we were good in our own zone. Everyone right down the line, from the goaltender on out, played well."

After Brian Gionta took a hooking penalty, Miroslav Satan netted a power-play goal with 8:08 left in the first to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. Evgeni Malkin's shot from the point ricocheted off several players in front of the net before reaching Jordan Staal.

Staal then pushed the puck toward Satan, who tapped it in from the right side of the net for his first tally as a Penguin.

"Being up one goal almost the entire game and then lose it in the end, it's definitely tough to take," Satan said. "We'll have to learn from it for future games.

"In the first period, we played well, went to the net and got a power-play goal out of it and the lead. And then in the second, it changed and it seemed like they took all the momentum, and we had a tough time controlling the puck from that point on."

The Devils outshot the Penguins, 15-4, in the second but could not break through against Fleury. Although the second of New Jersey's two power plays in the period generated several chances, it could not get the equalizer past the 23-year-old netminder.

Fleury reminded many why Pittsburgh gave him a seven-year, $35 million contract extension in July. He missed all but 35 games in 2007-08 with a high ankle sprain but returned in time to lead the Penguins to the Stanley Cup Finals.

"Marc-Andre Fleury gave us a point tonight," Penguins coach Michel Therrien said. "That's the only reason we got a point."

Captain Sidney Crosby, who recorded two shots on goal, was held in check as New Jersey improved to 16-5-0 in its past 21 visits at Mellon Arena.

"We didn't deserve to win. (Fleury) was the only reason we were in that game," Crosby said. "Without Marc, we don't even get a point. We didn't deserve it, and it's funny how it works that way.

"We didn't do what it takes to win that game. We have to make smarter decisions and force them to make mistakes and things like that, and we didn't do that."