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DEVILS 4, Coyotes 3
Win puts New Jersey first place in the East
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Claude Lemieux scored two goals Saturday night, including the game-winner with 5:44 left, to help the New Jersey Devils extend their unbeaten streak to eight games with a 4-3 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes.
Scott Gomez -- the NHL's leading rookie scorer -- and Patrik Elias scored for the Devils, who won their sixth straight at home. The victory gave New Jersey sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference with 57 points, two more than Toronto.
New Jersey, 6-0-2 in their last eight, dominated long stretches of the game -- outshooting Phoenix 42-16 -- but needed the second Lemieux goal to secure the win.
Shane Doan and Jyrki Lumme scored for Phoenix, the NHL's top road team with a record of 12-8-2.
The Devils outshot the Coyotes 17-2 in the first period. Phoenix however made the most of its chances to grab a 2-1 lead.
Doan opened the scoring at 2:34 as he took a feed from Trevor Letowski to beat Martin Brodeur from the slot.
The Devils pulled even when Gomez scored at 5:02 to cap a long period of sustained pressure around the Phoenix net. Gomez wheeled through the slot to rip a shot past former Devils goalie Sean Burke.
Lumme put Phoenix up 2-1 at 6:10 on a fluke goal. The initial shot by Dallas Drake hit the end boards and bounced right to the Coyotes defenseman for a tap-in score.
In the second, the Devils continued their shot dominance by reeling off the first nine shots for a 26-2 advantage. The pressure paid off as Elias and Lemieux scored 26 seconds apart to give New Jersey a 3-2 lead.
Jeremy Roenick scored a goal at 6:58 of the third, very similar to Phoenix's first goal, to pull the Coyotes even 3-3. A shot by Keith Tkachuk hit the end boards and rebounded right to Roenick for his 21st.
That set the stage for Lemieux's game-winner. Lemieux scored on a one-timer from the left circle on a feed from Brendan Morrison as the power play expired.
Devils captain Scott Stevens was scratched for the first time this season, missing the game with an undisclosed illness.
Summary
-----------------------------
Phoenix 2 0 1--3
New Jersey 1 2 1--4
-----------------------------
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Phoenix, Doan 14 (Letowski), 2:34. 2, New
Jersey, Gomez 11 (Sykora, Arnott), 5:02. 3, Phoenix, Lumme 5 (Drake,
Tkachuk), 6:10. Penalties: Oliwa, N.J. (fighting major), 2:50; Debrusk,
Pho (fighting major), 2:50; Carney, Pho (interference), 7:41; Pandolfo,
N.J. (slashing), 13:19.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 4, New Jersey, Elias 13 (Lemieux,
Niedermayer), 5:28. 5, New Jersey, Lemieux 14 (Gomez, Morrison), 5:54.
Penalties: Letowski, Pho (Ob holding the stick), 9:41; Rafalski, N.J.
(hooking), 9:41.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 6, Phoenix, Roenick 21 (Tkachuk, Lumme), 6:58.
7, New Jersey, Lemieux 15 (Morrison, Odelein), 14:16. Penalties: Drake,
Pho (high sticking), 12:16; Bombardir, N.J. (interference), 15:36.
Shots on goal:
---------------------------------
Phoenix 2 7 7--16
New Jersey 17 14 11--42
---------------------------------
Power-play Conversions: Pho - 0 of 3, Njd - 0 of 3. Goalies: Phoenix,
Burke (42 shots, 38 saves; record: 4-6-0). New Jersey, M Brodeur (16, 13;
record: 24-9-5). A:17,153. Referees: Fraser, Degrace. Linesmen: Collins,
M Pare.
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS
Phoenix New Jersey
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
Alatalo 0 0 -1 2 Arnott 0 1 +2 3
Carney 0 0 -2 0 Bombardir 0 0 +2 0
Daigneault 0 0 +1 0 Brylin 0 0 even 3
Debrusk 0 0 even 1 Elias 1 0 -1 4
Doan 1 0 -1 1 Gomez 1 1 +3 10
Drake 0 1 even 0 Holik 0 0 even 3
Gill 0 0 -2 0 K Daneyko 0 0 -1 3
Green 0 0 -2 3 Lemieux 2 1 +2 3
Letowski 0 1 even 1 Madden 0 0 -2 3
Lumme 1 1 +1 2 Mckay 0 0 even 1
Neckar 0 0 +1 1 Morrison 0 2 +2 2
Numminen 0 0 even 1 Niedermayer 0 1 -1 0
Quint 0 0 -1 0 Odelein 0 1 +1 0
Roenick 1 0 +2 3 Oliwa 0 0 -1 0
Sullivan 0 0 -1 0 Pandolfo 0 0 -1 1
Tkachuk 0 2 +1 0 Rafalski 0 0 +1 3
Tocchet 0 0 even 0 Souray 0 0 -1 1
Ylonen 0 0 -1 1 Sykora 0 1 even 2
Essensa Hamstring Stevens Unknown
Adams Nose Injury Nemchinov Abdominal
Suchy Healthy Sharifijanov Healthy
Oliver Healthy Pederson Healthy
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