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Devils ride milestones to triumph over Kings

Jan 11, 2009 - 7:21 AM By John Reger PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- A busy day that included attracting a storied veteran ended with a night filled with milestones.

Hours after New Jersey reportedly agreed to a contract with veteran left wing Brendan Shanahan, Brian Rolston scored in his 1,000th game and All-Star Zach Parise netted his 100th career goal to help the Devils vanquish the Los Angeles Kings, 5-1, on Saturday.

Travis Zajac recorded a goal and two assists, Patrik Elias and captain Jamie Langenbrunner each netted a tally and set up another and Parise added an assist for the Devils, who began a season-high, six-game road trip by halting a two-game losing streak.

"We moved the puck well, and we had guys around the net and went to the net," New Jersey coach Brent Sutter said. "That was the difference. The last two games, we've gotten away from that, but we were assertive tonight.

"And our power plays got some key goals for us. Our focus was good tonight, and we were prepared to play. We came here with the mind set that we have to start this trip right, and we took a step forward, but we still have a ways to go."

Starting in place of Scott Clemmensen for the first time in 15 games, Kevin Weekes turned aside 34 shots. His only blemish came when Derek Armstrong tallied early in the third period for the Kings, who had won two of three.

"I always say the wins are more important than the shutouts themselves," Weekes said. "Tonight, our guys did a lot of good things. Not only that we scored five goals, but our last goal, Zach Parise got hit really hard in our zone. He sacrificed himself and then we went down to score the goal on a 2-on-1, so that's indicative of how well we played and how everyone else contributed in front of me, and how much a difference that makes."

The Devils, who were coming off an embarrassing 4-0 home loss to the lowly Atlanta Thrashers on Thursday, scored three power-play goals.

"We've been a little bit off the last couple of games," Langenbrunner said. "It was nice to simplify things a little bit and play more like a team."

They capitalized on their second opportunity with the man advantage with 5:58 left in the first period to take a 1-0 lead. Three seconds into Kings defenseman Matt Greene's holding penalty, Zajac beat rookie netminder Jonathan Quick from the doorstep after collecting the rebound of Langenbrunner's initial attempt.

New Jersey made Los Angeles pay for Sean O'Donnell's hooking penalty early in the second period, scoring four seconds into the infraction. Zajac won a faceoff and sent the puck back to Elias, whose shot flew over the right shoulder of Quick 67 seconds into the session for a 2-0 bulge.

"Too many penalties, taking too many undisciplined penalties, the hooking and the holding," Kings coach Terry Murray said. "It was same as last game vs. Anaheim, and it came back to be the same thing tonight."

The Kings' penalty-killing unit, which was ranked eighth in the NHL at 83.4 percent entering the contest, proved to be ineffective.

"The penalties are an issue," Los Angeles' Brian Boyle said. "They are the kind of penalties you don't want to take. We just have to be more disciplined. You want to kill those penalties and get things going again, but they took advantage of our penalties."

Just 71 seconds afterward, Parise netted his milestone tally, flipping a backhander over Quick's left shoulder.

Returning to the lineup after missing 13 games, Armstrong cut the deficit to 3-1 just 77 seconds into the third, but Rolston registered the Devils' third power-play goal 6:29 into the session to restore the three-goal cushion.

"It's amazing, it flies by," Rolston said of the milestone. "It's been a great journey and I've been fortunate to play as long as I have. It takes a lot of good luck and people helping you along the way. It's nice to get a goal as well."

Langenbrunner converted passes from Zajac and Parise midway through the third to notch his ninth goal of the season and secure the victory.