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Parise, Madden lead Devils in rout of Thrashers

Feb 7, 2009 - 5:35 AM ATLANTA (Ticker) -- The New Jersey Devils put an end to their bad fortune against the lowly Atlanta Thrashers in emphatic fashion.

All-Star Zach Parise and John Madden each recorded a goal and an assist as the Devils bounced back from their first loss in over three weeks by cruising to a 5-1 victory over the Thrashers on Friday.

Travis Zajac, David Clarkson and Brian Gionta also scored while Patrik Elias set up two goals for New Jersey, which posted its ninth win in 10 games three nights after suffering a dreary 5-2 setback to the Washington Capitals.

"We had to make sure that we didn't let that sit in our minds," Parise said. "We didn't play well. We knew we had to play better. We did that tonight."

The Devils had recorded a season-high eight-game winning streak from January 13-30.

Colby Armstrong tallied for Atlanta, which has lost five of six and is 1-for-32 on the power play over its last nine games.

"I felt if we had been sharper on the power play earlier, it could have been a different game," Thrashers coach John Anderson said. "When you go minus-2 on your power play, it's not a good sign."

After posting a 1-0 triumph on October 16 in the first matchup of the season, the Devils absorbed a myriad of misfortune in the ensuing two meetings with the Thrashers.

An offensive outburst in a 6-1 win on November 1 drastically was overshadowed by an injury to star goaltender Martin Brodeur. A four-time Vezina Trophy winner, Brodeur left in the second period of that contest with a tear in his distal biceps tendon.

The 10-time All-Star has not played since, and the team is hoping his return can come as soon as February 26, when the Devils host the Colorado Avalanche.

New Jersey's most recent contest against Atlanta, which owns the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference, came as quite a wake-up call. Kari Lehtonen registered his first shutout of the season as the Devils suffered an embarrassing 4-0 setback on January 8.

Since then, they have not missed a beat.

Lehtonen did not experience any success in this one, surrendering three goals in the first period and yielding two more in the second before being replaced by Johan Hedberg.

"I don't think (Lehtonen) was very sharp tonight," Anderson said. "A couple of those goals didn't stand a chance on him. We need him to make big saves for us."

Madden, meanwhile, was thrilled to get revenge for a setback that seemingly sparked his team's current stretch of success.

"They beat us, 4-0, when we last played," Madden said. "We knew we had to play hard against them. We wanted to come out and play a better game. Our first period was how we wanted to (come out and) play."

Zajac opened the scoring at 4:34 of the first, and Madden and Clarkson netted goals in a 91-second span midway through the session to give New Jersey a commanding 3-0 bulge.

"This is disappointing because we played against them so well in Jersey," Lehtonen said. "They obviously played better tonight, but we didn't rise to the occasion."

Armstrong got Atlanta on the scoreboard 2:05 into the second, but Parise scored his team-leading 30th goal of the season just 1:44 later, firing a wrist shot past Lehtonen from the right faceoff circle during a man advantage.

"We recognized opportunities to put the puck on net during our penalty kills," Devils coach Brent Sutter said. "Good things happen when you put the puck on net."

Gionta capped the scoring at 8:08 of the second with a snap shot from the low slot that went by Lehtonen. The goal prompted Anderson to pull the Finnish netminder, who finished with 19 saves.

"I don't think we're playing very well," Lehtonen said. "They got a half a dozen scoring chances on our power play. We just played horrible. I know I wasn't at my best, but I still felt fairly good. They just outworked us. We just have to keep going forward."

Hedberg came on and stopped all seven shots he faced.

Making his first start in eight contests, Kevin Weekes made 31 saves.

"Our team played well tonight," Weekes said. "We killed off a lot of penalties. It's never easy to kill penalties in this league. That's what happens when you work extra hard. (It) plays a big role in your success."