-- Brodeur came within 1.7 seconds of his first shutout of the season, and the New Jersey Devils held on for a 2-1 victory over the winless Atlanta Thrashers on Wednesday night.
Jeff Friesen put New Jersey ahead late in the first period. Scott Gomez gave the Devils some insurance when he banged in a rebound just over a minute into the third.
Brodeur was on the verge of celebrating a shutout until Ilya Kovalchuk scored off a scramble in front of the net with 1.7 seconds remaining. The Thrashers pulled their goalie and gained a two-man advantage when Friesen went off for high sticking.
"At least they didn't have time to score a goal to tie it up,'' Brodeur said. "Too bad it wasn't a shutout. But a win's a win at this time of year.''
Atlanta wouldn't know anything about that. The Thrashers have lost their first seven games, managing only one point with an overtime defeat. "I don't think we could have competed much harder,'' coach Curt Fraser said. "We're not far away, but it seems like we have a mountain to climb before we win a game.''
The Devils have won four of their first five games despite scoring just 11 goals.
"We had a lot of scoring chances,'' coach Pat Burns said. "We will get some finishes on these chances and have some more goals.''
Brodeur didn't have to make many tough saves as the Thrashers continually fired high or wide on their best chances. He stopped 24 of 25 shots that did find their way on net.
Atlanta tightened its defense, which has allowed a league-high 31 goals. But the offense, which was averaging 3.3 goals per game, couldn't break through against the Devils until it was too late.
"There's no question we should have won that game,'' Dany Heatley said. "We had more than enough chances to finish it. We were all over them in the second and third period.''
Kovalchuk's fifth goal of the season only meant the fifth one-goal loss for the Thrashers in what is shaping up as another dismal season.
"We've got to find a way to get one step better,'' Fraser said. "We're just inches away from a win.''
Friesen scored his first goal at 14:38 of the first, taking advantage when both Atlanta defensemen wound up together along the boards after Slava Kozlov gave the puck away.
Gomez sent a pass to Friesen, who broke in alone down the middle ahead of Kovalchuk and Patrik Stefan, both failing to cover on the backcheck. Friesen fired a shot over the right shoulder of goaltender Milan Hnlicka, who left the top of the net open by flopping to the ice.
Gomez scored his first goal at 1:09 of the third, banging in a rebound after Atlanta's Franticek Kaberle failed to clear the puck in front of the net. "It was right there,'' Gomez said. "I took a swipe at it and it went in. It was good to get that first one out of the way.''
Hnlicka had 25 saves in one of his better efforts of the season. "I felt really good, really confident,'' he said. "It's just a matter of scoring a couple more goals and keeping it the same way on the defensive side and it will turn around for us.''
| SCORING |
PENALTIES |
First Period: 1, New Jersey, Jeff Friesen 1 (Scott Gomez, Brian Rafalski), 13:38.
Second Period: None.
Third Period: 2, New Jersey, Scott Gomez 1 (power play) (Scott Niedermayer, Brian Rafalski), 1:09. 3, Atlanta, Ilya Kovalchuk 5 (power play) (Dany Heatley, Vyacheslav Kozlov), 19:58. |
First Period: Y Butsayev, Atl (obstr hooking), 2:05; J Mckenzie, Njd (major fighting), 4:28; F Lessard, Atl (major fighting), 4:28; T Stevenson, Njd (major fighting), 7:31; C Tamer, Atl (major fighting), 7:31; O Tverdovsky, Njd (hooking), 8:51; S Niedermayer, Njd (goalie interference), 9:08; T Stevenson, Njd (major fighting), 13:40; J Cowan, Atl (major fighting), 13:40; F Kaberle, Atl (high sticking), 19:26.
Second Period: S Niedermayer, Njd (hooking), 6:26; D Snyder, Atl (hooking), 12:21; D Tjarnqvist, Atl (obstr hooking), 19:01; P Elias, Njd (interference), 19:15.
Third Period: Y Tremblay, Atl (holding), 0:25; J Friesen, Njd (high sticking), 19:39. |
Attendance: 10,641.
Referees: Dave Jackson, Eric Furlatt.
Linesmen: Angelo D'Amico, Scott Driscoll.
