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Parise lifts Devils in shootout

Nov 16, 2008 - 9:01 AM NEWARK, New Jersey (Ticker) -- Just as it appeared the New Jersey Devils were ready to collapse, Zach Parise rescued them once again.

Parise scored the lone goal of the shootout in the first round as the Devils edged the Washington Capitals, 6-5, on Saturday to split their home-and-home series.

Scott Clemmensen made 25 saves before denying former Devil Viktor Kozlov, Alex Ovechkin and Boyd Gordon in the bonus format as New Jersey won for the second time in seven games since reigning Vezina Trophy winner Martin Brodeur suffered a serious elbow injury.

"It was real big," Parise said. "We needed to snap out of that losing streak we were in. ... We capitalized on our scoring chances. I guess we've been kind of fragile lately, but tonight, we rebounded after they scored. We bounced back, we didn't feel sorry for ourselves. That was the difference between tonight and other games."

"We're fairly happy with our game," Devils right wing Brian Gionta added. "We were playing pretty decent, we just weren't finding a way to win the game. Tonight, we did. We just kept battling and shaking off what happened."

Patrik Elias scored twice and Travis Zajac recorded three assists for his fourth career three-point game for the Devils. Gionta, captain Jamie Langenbrunner and David Clarkson also tallied.

"The positive thing is, we scored a lot of goals tonight," Elias said. "Three out of the last four games, we had a lot of chances. Tonight, we skated well, moved the puck well, created good opportunities and created a few chances and put the puck in."

Ovechkin scored two goals, including one that tied the game with one second remaining in the third period.

"It's unbelievable," Ovechkin said. "Your emotion just flies back. Everybody just went down (toward the goal)."

Tomas Fleischmann and Kozlov also tallied while Nicklas Backstrom added a goal and four assists for Washington, which surrendered more than two goals for the first time in seven contests.

"I think when you get 10 points in three games, it's safe to say you're on your way," Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said of Backstrom. "He was fabulous. That's what he can do. You can tell he had his legs tonight. That's why that line played almost every second shift, and the last 10 minutes and overtime."

Clemmensen turned aside a snap shot by Kozlov on Washington's first opportunity in the shootout before Parise deked to the right and slid the puck past netminder Jose Theodore in the opposite direction. In the next round, a hard wrister by Ovechkin was stopped by Clemmensen, and Elias was unable to get a backhander past Theodore.

"I just wanted to shake it up," Parise said. "Theodore kind of owned me these last couple of games. I just wanted to get away from backhand."

Making his second straight start in place of Kevin Weekes, Clemmensen secured the victory by poking away Gordon's attempt.

"He's playing great for us," Gionta said. "(Clemmensen) and Weekes are stepping up and they're playing great for us back there."

The Capitals played without Alexander Semin, who sat out with an undisclosed injury he suffered in a 3-1 win over the Devils on Friday and was unable to add to his league-leading total of 13 goals.

Gionta's tally with 8:20 remaining in the third to give New Jersey a 5-4 lead, but Ovechkin's equalizer gave Washington a chance to overcome its worst defensive showing since a 5-0 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on November 1.

"Tonight, we showed what this team can be made of - the character. We can tackle adversity," Langenbrunner said. "We have to find a way to continue that. It's been a tough stretch. There's been some battles."

Ovechkin scored his first goal of the game with 51 seconds left in the first, deflecting a shot from defenseman Tyler Sloan past Clemmensen to give Washington a 2-1 lead.

Langenbrunner evened it just 41 seconds into the second session, and Elias converted with the man advantage at 3:27, when he tapped the puck past Theodore while in the crease. Kozlov forged a tie with 3:17 left in the period.

"(Elias) created scoring chances, which is what we need to do," Devils coach Brent Sutter said. "We talked about that it could take 65 minutes tonight."

Elias and Backstrom traded goals in a span of just over two minutes early in the third before Gionta took a pass from blue-liner Johnny Oduya and unleashed a wrister from the left faceoff circle that beat Theodore with less than 8 1/2 minutes remaining to put New Jersey ahead.

"I think as the game goes, it's a good result," Ovechkin said. "We got some points. Tonight, I think we played the first 10 minutes, not our game. The second 10 minutes, we played our game. (Theodore) played well, he made great saves and kept us in the game."

Theodore finished with 28 saves.

"I think they wanted the win more than us tonight," Theodore said. "I think, two games in two nights, we worked hard. You just try to keep it close as a goalie. There were a lot of point-blank shots, but my job is to make the big saves when it counts."