Pascal Dubuis beat Martin Brodeur with the decisive goal in the 10th round of the longest shootout in Devils history and Johan Hedberg denied Arron Asham on the other end, giving Atlanta the 4-3 come-from-behind win in New Jersey. The Devils had taken a 2-0 and then 3-2 lead before the Thrashers tied the game on separate occasions. Despite the loss, New Jersey gained one point, advancing into a first place tie with Pittsburgh in the Atlantic Division. The Devils remain four points behind idle Ottawa, their next opponent on Saturday night’s second half of a back-to-back stretch.

John Madden scored with 8:45 left in regulation, but Marian Hossa, who is a hot commodity in NHL trade rumors, tied the contest at 3-3 with 19 seconds remaining. Madden and Hossa caught fortunate bounces from the opposing goaltenders’ sticks. Madden deflected the puck off Hedberg and into the net, whereas Hossa found a loose rebound after teammate Eric Perrin fired the puck at Brodeur.

Zach Parise opened the scoring in the first period. Patrik Elias and captain Jamie Langenbrunner assisted on Parise’s 21st at 17:10. After solid puck movement, Parise eventually backhanded the rubber past Hedberg.

In the middle stanza, Gionta extended the Devils edge to 2-0 (at 3:09). Travis Zajac and Dainius Zubrus helped Gionta’s power play effort, his 15th thus far. Gionta has now scored back-to-back goals (after netting game winner in overtime on Wed. night) for the first time since Nov. 28 and 30.

Just 50 seconds later, sniper Ilya Kovalchuk generated his 40th goal for the fourth straight year, assisted by linemates Chris Thorburn and Perrin.

Later in the period, Thrashers forward Todd White took advantage of David Clarkson's carless holding infraction. Mark Recchi and Hossa assisted on White’s 12th on the power play.

“We put ourselves in a good position,” defenseman Mike Mottau said afterwards. “It slipped away. We had our chance to win it and they (Thrashers) came through in the shootout.”

Although the Thrashers dominated in overtime, Brodeur stopped all five shots, sending this contest into a shootout for the seventh time this season (4-3).

That set the stage for the Devils longest shootout playoff in history.

“That was three rounds longer than the Devils’ previous shootout-high of seven rounds in a 4-3 loss to Colorado on Dec. 9, 2005 at the Meadowlands,” Devils Bergen Record Beat Writer Tom Gulitti said. The Devils lost that shootout, 1-0, failing to get any shots past Avalanche rookie Vitaly Kolesnik in the tiebreaker in just his second NHL start.”

In the tenth round, Devils head coach controversially elected Asham as his shooter, after Dupuis scored for the Thrashers.

David Clarkson, Johnny Oduya, Paul Martin and Jay Pandolfo had not been selected to shoot, yet Sutter went with the former Islanders forward, who missed the net on his attempt.

“Yeah, it’s disappointing, we had an opportunity to jump into sole possession of first place,” Parise told reporters after the game.

The Devils traveled to Ottawa right after the loss for their second matchup with the Senators in less than a week.

“Every player has to be at the top of their game,” Parise said about the upcoming season series finale (Devils 1-2-0 versus Senators thus far).

Mottau echoed Parise's thoughts.

“We need to get back to basics, play Devil hockey, and get a good road win,” Mottau said about the daunting task facing New Jersey on Saturday night.

Notes:

• The Devils' three offensive units each produced a goal and nine points by nine skaters, all offensemen.
• After producing a point in each of the first seven February contests, the Devils blueliners failed to produce a point on Friday night.
• Brian Gionta finished the season series with three goals and two assists against the Thrashers, while Ilya Kovalchuk manufactured four goals and four assists in the four games.

Even Stevens

• The Devils ousthot the Thrashers 33-32 and led 17-16 in scoring chances.
• New Jersey was 1 for 4 on its power play after failing to score on five chances last game.
• However, the Devils penalty kill stopped 2 of 3, allowing a power play goal for the first time in the last five games.
• Atlanta scored its first power play after a five game power-play scoreless drought.

Streaking:

• New Jersey's two game winning streak was snapped last night.
• The Devils have now lost two straight shootout playoffs, including a 3-2 effort on Feb. 6.
• On the other hand, Atlanta won its third consecutive game and third straight shootout contest.
• With the win, the Thrashers moved into a first place tie in the Southeast with Carolina, who holds the tie breaker. If not for the senseless divisional rule, no team from the Southeast would have qualified for the postseason. Although Carolina holds the third seed, it has 62 points, one less than eighth-place Buffalo (63).

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