-- A sure glove hand and a quick stick carried Chris Drury and the surprising Calgary Flames.
Drury scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period Tuesday night in a 3-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils. The Flames won for the second straight night following their 4-2 win over the New York Islanders. Drury had the winner in both games.
This time, he broke a 2-2 tie at 3:21 of the third period. Drury gloved down a puck that popped in the air off the stick of Devils defenseman Scott Niedermayer. Drury then snapped a shot past Martin Brodeur for the deciding goal.
''I just happened to the right guy in the right spot the last two nights,'' Drury said. ''I was just able to grab this one, get it down and up in a hurry.''
Brodeur tried to hold his ground as long as possible.
''He just took a whack at it,'' the Devils goaltender said. ''I stood up as long as I could. He just shot it right over my glove. I thought it was going wide.''
Mathias Johansson and Stephane Yelle also scored and backup goalie Jamie McLennan made 31 saves, 20 in the third period, as the Flames extended their unbeaten streak to four (3-0-1).
Mike Danton and Colin White scored for New Jersey, which could have equaled the franchise record for best start (8-2 in 1993-94) after 10 games with a victory.
McLennan withstood fierce Devils pressure in the third period without allowing a score. He snagged Sergei Brylin's point-blank shot with just under 13 minutes remaining and denied Jeff Friesen's redirection in the closing minutes.
''New Jersey came at us hard in the third, especially after the go-ahead goal,'' said Flames coach Greg Gilbert. ''They were throwing pucks from everywhere. Jamie stood tall again tonight and made the big saves when we needed them.''
The Devils turned up the intensity after Drury's goal, and that did not sit well with New Jersey coach Pat Burns.
''I just think basically we were not mentally prepared to play the game,'' Burns said. ''The way we could have played for 60 minutes wasn't there for 60 minutes. It was there for 20 (in the third). We probably would have won the game if we had played that way.''
Danton scored the lone goal of the tightly played opening period. Danton whipped a shot from the left faceoff dot past McLennan's glove at 11:29.
New Jersey outshot Calgary 5-4 in the period as both teams focused on defense.
Calgary picked up the offensive tempo in the second and got goals from Johansson and Yelle to take a 2-1 lead.
Johansson swatted in a rebound while being checked to the ice at 8:13. Blake Sloan set up Yelle's goal with a good pass. Sloan circled behind the Devils net and fed a backhander through the crease right to Yelle's stick at 15:51.
White pulled New Jersey even at 2 only 50 seconds later. White intercepted an attempted clear at the blueline and fired a weak, bouncing shot through a screen that eluded McLennan.
| SCORING |
PENALTIES |
First Period: 1, New Jersey, Mike Danton 2 (Jim Mckenzie, Turner Stevenson), 11:29.
Second Period: 2, Calgary, Mathias Johansson 2 (Jordan Leopold, Craig Berube), 8:13. 3, Calgary, Stephane Yelle 2 (Blake Sloan, Chris Clark), 15:51. 4, New Jersey, Colin White 2 (Unassisted), 16:41.
Third Period: 5, Calgary, Chris Drury 6 (Jarome Iginla, Rob Niedermayer), 3:21. |
First Period: R Niedermayer, Cgy (slashing), 12:56.
Second Period: J Friesen, Njd (hooking), 1:54; B Rafalski, Njd (interference), 12:39; B Gionta, Njd (hooking), 17:52.
Third Period: R Niedermayer, Cgy (interference), 5:07; K Daneyko, Njd (holding stick), 12:43.
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Attendance: 12,315
Referees: Brad Watson, Mike Leggo.
Linesmen: Jean Morin, Tim Nowak.
