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Hossa, Dupuis help lift Thrashers past Devils

Feb 16, 2008 - 5:14 AM By Joe Rizzo PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

NEWARK, New Jersey (Ticker) -- If All-Star Marian Hossa is looking for a new contract, he sure made a great case to the Atlanta Thrashers on Friday.

Hossa scored the tying goal with 19 seconds left and extended a 10-round shootout before Pascal Dupuis netted the winner as the Thrashers rallied for a 4-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils, pushing them back into a first-place tie in the Southeast Division.

With trade rumors constantly swirling around him despite Atlanta's position in the air-tight Southeast race, Hossa put it all aside to bang a loose puck over the goal line with netminder Johan Hedberg pulled for an extra attacker and push Atlanta past regulation for the third straight game.

"No pressure at all," Hossa said. "I know there is negotiating going about my contract, but when I jump in the dressing room with the guys, I forget about the contract and just prepare for the game as usual. I don't even think about the contract."

With the shootout extended to a fourth round, Hossa blistered a slap shot from between the faceoff circles, beating goaltender Martin Brodeur to the glove side.

Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner responded with a goal to further extend the bonus format, and each team was thwarted five straight times before Dupuis drove hard at Brodeur and lifted the puck high over his left shoulder.

On New Jersey's last attempt to stay alive, Arron Asham's shot missed the net, giving the Thrashers their first win in four attempts against the Devils this season (1-2-1).

Hedberg stopped 30 shots, while Brodeur made 29 saves.

Hossa had converted just one of his first nine shootout attempts this season and was 9-for-28 for his career before scoring with the unorthodox move.

"It's not that easy," Hossa said. "I used it for the first time in so many games. I saw lots of guys taking slap shots, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. It's not always the best choice."

Dupuis had failed on his only career shootout attempt before being chosen 10th in the format.

"We had these guys come in and get (Brodeur) tired a little bit, and then I come in and I score," Dupuis joked. "That was the plan. He's so good, you have to shoot. It ended up being in the right spot. That's my strength, that's what I do in practice, and I usually hit that spot.

"You can't say we stole it, because we never quit."

John Madden got a lucky break on the goal that had given New Jersey the lead with 11:15 left in the third period. Madden's sharp-angle shot went off the paddle of Hedberg's stick to change direction once, then hit the shaft and bounded into the net.

Madden was credited with his 15th goal of the season.

"I don't know where it went," he said. "I just threw it at the net. I knew it went in."

Zach Parise and Brian Gionta also scored for the Devils, who are 2-1-2 in their last five games and 4-2-2 over their last eight.

All-Star Ilya Kovalchuk registered his 40th goal of the season and Todd White also tallied for Atlanta, which passed Washington to tie Carolina for the top spot in the Southeast with 62 points on identical records of 29-27-4. The Capitals and Florida Panthers each have 60 points, while the fifth-place Tampa Bay Lightning have 56.

"Every game, it's like a playoff-style game," Atlanta coach Don Waddell said. "They've all been close. Since the (All-Star) break, we're 6-2, and every game's been a one-goal game, except one game we scored an empty-net goal to win 2-0. This is the type of year where it's playoff hockey and you have to be ready every night."

With 3:06 left in the first period, Parise - from behind the net - found Patrik Elias alone in front, but Hedberg made a glove save. On the same shift, Hedberg stopped Elias' slapper from the top of the slot, but Parise backhanded it around the prone netminder for his 21st goal of the season.

Gionta made good on a power play at 3:09 of the second period, blasting a slap shot from the top of the left circle over Hedberg's left shoulder to make it 2-0.

Three seconds after the ensuing faceoff, tough guys Eric Boulton of Atlanta and Mike Rupp of New Jersey got into a long fight.

Boulton's late flurry in the encounter quickly rallied his team, as Kovalchuk scored at 3:59 to halve the deficit, popping in the rebound of Chris Thorburn's left-wing shot off a rush.

Kovalchuk reached the 40-goal plateau for the fourth straight season.

With rookie defenseman Tobias Enstrom in the penalty box midway through the second period, Atlanta's Eric Perrin got behind the defense on Brodeur, who smothered the shorthanded breakaway attempt from close range to preserve New Jersey's 2-1 edge.

But Todd White broke through from the top of the crease to tie it with the Thrashers on a power play at 11:31, redirecting a sharp-angle offering from along the right end line by Mark Recchi for his 12th goal.

Hedberg preserved the tie with 14:35 left in the third period, narrowly getting his left skate on defenseman Mike Mottau's one-timer off a 2-on-1 shorthanded rush with Madden.