After a wild first period, a confusing second period, and a scrappy third, the Devils were able to walk away with a win and even their record at 3-3 (.500) over the feisty Pittsburgh Penguins.  Devils forward Arron Asham's third period and decisive goal came as a result of hard work and good puck movement by three guys who have played well recently, including Zach Parise, Patrik Elias, and Asham himself.

Parise was the only consistent force in the Devils offense until the Devils exploded for 11 goals in the last six periods of play, including a 6-5 thriller over the Atlanta Thrashers.  Linemates John Madden and Jay Pandolfo continue to impress in the new offensive-minded system.  The checking tandem combined for four more points in the game (2G, 2A) and played well on both sides of the puck throughout the contest.

The Devils came out of the gate soaring, scoring the games' first two goals within 3:12 of each other.  A bad luck play which led to a Maxime Talbot goal quickly threw the Devils into a tailspin.  Before the Devils knew it what happened, they had taken a bad penalty by Madden and allowed the feisty Penguins to tie the game, 2-2, going into the second period.

The second period was a sloppy one on the part of both teams, as there were 22 minutes worth of penalty time handed out and six straight handed out to Pittsburgh to start the period.  The Devils were only able to capitalize on two of the eight Penguins mistakes though, while the Pens netted three of their seven man advantages. All four goals in the period were scored on the man advantage as the referees wanted a 'no-touch' style of play, calling every infraction.  2006-2007 rookie of the year Evgeni Malkin scored the last powerplay goal of the wild period to even the score at four apiece, resembling the first period's 2-2 ending.  Captain Sidney Crosby and defenseman Sergei Gonchar assisted on his 5-3 two man advantage.

Both teams came out ready to fight in the third period.  Both teams fought hard, unwilling to yield what everyone seemed to know would be the game winner.  Head coach Brent Sutter's decision to leave the scrappy Asham out with Parise and Elias paid off as the trio tic-tac-toed the puck around the net for a bang-bang goal at 10:32, with Parise hitting Asham right in front of the net for the game winner.  The play would not have happened without the experience of Elias, who was credited with one of the two assists on the play. The Penguins fought hard for the final 10 minutes, but aggressive checking from the Devils forwards thwarted every Penguins opportunity. The Devils also missed two or three wide open nets in the final minutes of play, which would have put the game out of reach.

Devils star goaltender Martin Brodeur finished the game with 26 saves on 30 shots, definitely not Brodeur-esque numbers, looking average in four of his five starts this season. In the third period though, he showed why he's the best in the game by locking down for the final 10 minutes and holding on for his second win of the season. Pittsburgh's goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury kept his team in the game by making some sprawling saves, finishing with 30 saves on 35 shots.

The Devils quickly packed their bags for Philadelphia tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m.  Expect another high scoring affair if the Devils are to keep pace with newly signed Daniel Briere and his hot-start Flyers, who were in first place coming into tonight with a 4-1 record on the season.

Until tomorrow,

Dude Joel

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