-- Patrik Elias redeemed himself and wiped the frown from coach Pat Burns' face with one shot.
Elias made up for a penalty late in the third period by scoring the game-winning goal 1:16 into overtime to give the New Jersey Devils a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night.
Burns, the New Jersey Devils' perfectionist coach, shot Elias a withering glare when the wing was called for playing with an illegal stick late in the third period. Burns turned livid when that penalty allowed Nashville's Andreas Johansson to score with 1:59 remaining and send the game into overtime.
"I didn't check the sticks and I should have," Elias said. "It's my responsibility. I take all the blame."
But Elias went from goat to hero when he took a pass from Scott Gomez and drove around defenseman Francis Bouillon, who dived to block the shot. The puck deflected off Bouillon's stick past Mike Dunham to give New Jersey its third straight win.
"It almost cost us two points, but in the end we were able to get it back," Elias said.
Burns, who said he knew the stick was illegal from the start of the game, tried to defuse the situation when Elias came back to the bench after Nashville's tying goal.
"Everyone expected an uproar, but I knew I had to throw him back out there," Burns said. "He came to the bench and we told him to lift his head up. You learn from these things."
Colin White and Sergei Brylin scored second-period goals and Martin Brodeur made 22 saves for the Devils, who have opened the season with three straight wins for the sixth time in team history.
Adam Hall scored for Nashville, which fell to 0-2-0-2. The Predators, who have suffered consecutive overtime losses, dropped the final three games last season to stretch the overall losing streak to seven.
While still winless, the Predators did make some progress by picking up a point in each of the past two games.
"We're not getting the two points, but we're getting one and that's better than nothing," Predators coach Barry Trotz said. "It's hard to come back against New Jersey and we were down 2-0. We were able to battle back, so there were lots of positives."
White beat Dunham with a point shot through a screen at 2:26. Devils forward Brian Gionta and Predators defenseman Andy Delmore battled for position outside the crease, blocking Dunham's line of sight as White unloaded his shot.
Brylin connected for a power-play goal, New Jersey's first of the season, at 8:50. John Madden sprung Brylin for a breakaway score with a blue line-to-blue line pass.
The Devils had two players serving penalties when Hall scored his first NHL goal at 16:29. Pointman Kimmo Timonen fed the puck to Hall at the bottom of the left circle. Hall drove hard to the net and drilled the shot past Brodeur.
Johansson had the lone goal of the third period as he beat Brodeur from a sharp angle.
| SCORING |
PENALTIES |
First Period: None.
Second Period: 1, New Jersey, Colin White 1 (Joe Nieuwendyk, Sergei Brylin), 2:26. 2, New Jersey, Sergei Brylin 2 (power play) (John Madden, Oleg Tverdovsky), 8:50. 3, Nashville, Adam Hall 1 (power play) (Kimmo Timonen, Scott Hartnell), 16:29.
Third Period: 4, Nashville, Andreas Johansson 3 (power play) (David Legwand, Andy Delmore), 18:01.
Overtime: 5, New Jersey, Patrik Elias 2 (Scott Gomez), 1:16. |
First Period: K Skrastins, Nas (hooking), 6:38; J Mckenzie, Njd (holding), 9:58; S Niedermayer, Njd (roughing), 13:42.
Second Period: S Hartnell, Nas (tripping), 7:52; B Houlder, Nas (hooking), 8:50; P Elias, Njd (hooking), 10:40; J Pandolfo, Njd (holding), 15:15; C White, Njd (roughing), 15:33; C Hulse, Nas (hooking), 19:36.
Third Period: S Hartnell, Nas (tripping), 7:52; B Houlder, Nas (hooking), 8:50; P Elias, Njd (hooking), 10:40; J Pandolfo, Njd (holding), 15:15; C White, Njd (roughing), 15:33; C Hulse, Nas (hooking), 19:36.
Overtime: None.
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Attendance: 12,363.
Referees: Mark Wheler, Mike Hasenfratz.
Linesmen: Derek Nansen, Pat Dapuzzo.
