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Devils Ride Hot Streak to Division Title
2006-04-19
The New Jersey Devils won their 11th straight game Tuesday night to win the NHL's Atlantic Division, rallying from a three-goal deficit with a huge third period to beat host Montreal 4-3. That catapulted the Devils to the top of the division and to the third seed in the Eastern Conference. Jamie Langenbrunner capped a stunning third-period comeback with the winning goal 2:23 from the end of regulation time. "I don't think it's sunk in," Langenbrunner said. "We were basically so far out of it even three weeks ago that somehow we won this division and have home ice is -- I think we're all a little bit in shock about that. But we definitely earned it." Brian Gionta had three points, including his franchise-record 47th and 48th goals. The Devils, battling for one of the last playoff positions a month ago, won their sixth division championship in nine seasons in spectacular fashion. "To win 11 in a row at the end of the year is quite an accomplishment, especially the schedule we were playing, against pretty much all playoff teams," Langenbrunner said. "We're excited about the way we're playing, but this team is built to play in the playoffs and that's what we base our accomplishments on and we're excited about our opportunity now." The Devils finished with 101 points, the same as Philadelphia, but won the division with more victories. They will play the New York Rangers in the playoffs; the Rangers wound up with 100 points after losing 5-1 to Ottawa, which finished first in the East by a point over Carolina. The Flyers beat the New York Islanders 4-1 and looked like they had the division crown in hand -- until New Jersey rallied. In other Eastern Conference playoff matchups, Ottawa faces defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay, which lost 4-1 to Washington on Tuesday night; Montreal opens at Carolina; and Philadelphia opens at Buffalo. The Hurricanes lost to the Sabres 4-0 to wind up second in the conference. In the West, top-seeded Detroit lost 6-2 at Nashville, but carries the most points (124) into a first-round matchup with Edmonton. Dallas, a 5-4 overtime loser at Columbus, plays Colorado in the playoffs. San Jose takes on Nashville, while Anaheim opens at Calgary. In other games Tuesday night to wrap up the season, it was Florida 2, Atlanta 1 in overtime; Toronto 5, Pittsburgh 3; and Chicago 3, St. Louis 2 in OT. Devils 4, Canadiens 3 The Devils, who trailed the division-leading Flyers by 19 points on Jan. 6, registered the biggest comeback to claim a division title since the league divided into two conferences with the 1974-75 expansion. Detroit held the previous record, overcoming an 18-point deficit in 1993-94. Flyers 4, Islanders 1 Jeff Carter put the visiting Flyers into fifth place in the East, beating Garth Snow on a breakaway with 7:22 left. Carter picked up the puck near the blue line, skated in alone on Snow and beat him with a backhander for his 23rd goal. R.J. Umberger had a goal and an assist, Simon Gagne and Michal Handzus added empty-net goals, and Robert Esche made 31 saves for the Flyers, headed to playoffs for the 11th straight season. Senators 5, Rangers 1 At New York, Dany Heatley scored his 50th goal, helping the Senators pass the Hurricanes in the overall standings. Heatley, in his first season with the Senators, reached the 50-goal mark for the first time and extended his Ottawa single-season record. The loss knocked the Rangers out of first place in the Atlantic and down to sixth in the East. The Rangers dropped their season-high fifth straight in regulation and will have to start their first postseason appearance since 1997 on the road. Sabres 4, Hurricanes 0 Chris Drury scored to reach 30 goals for the first time in his NHL career and Martin Biron got his first shutout of the season. J.P. Dumont had two goals and Brian Campbell added another for the visiting Sabres, who completed their regular season with five straight victories. Capitals 4, Lightning 1 At Tampa, Jeff Halpern scored twice and Brent Johnson stopped 42 shots. Washington's Alex Ovechkin got his 54th assist of the season on Halpern's first goal to finish with 106 points -- the third-highest total by a rookie in NHL history. He also had 52 goals, third all-time for a first-year player. Predators 6, Red Wings 2 At Nashville, Paul Kariya's first goal was denied by video review, but he scored three more that counted for his ninth career hat trick, and the Predators snapped the Red Wings' 20-game points streak. The Red Wings, with the Presidents Cup already in hand, hadn't lost in regulation since March 7. They came into the regular-season finale with a chance to match the 1979-1980 Montreal Canadiens' streak of at least one point in 21 straight games. But the Predators finished with the NHL's best home record at 32-8-1 by downing the league's best road team with their first victory over Detroit at home this season. Blue Jackets 5, Stars 4, OT Sergei Fedorov's 14th career overtime goal, 35 seconds into the extra period, gave host Columbus a victory. Fedorov tied Mats Sundin's NHL record for overtime goals. Mark Hartigan's one-timer from the point with 56.6 seconds left in regulation tied it for the Blue Jackets. Panthers 2, Thrashers 1, OT Mike Van Ryn's overtime goal, his second score of the game, lifted the host Panthers. Van Ryn took a pass from Joe Nieuwendyk in the left circle and his slap shot went over the shoulder of Adam Berkhoel at 1:34 of overtime. Roberto Luongo had 39 saves for the Panthers. Maple Leafs 5, Penguins 3 At Toronto, Mats Sundin scored two goals and added two assists to finish his best offensive season since 2002. The 35-year-old Sundin finished with 78 points (31 goals and 47 assists) in 70 games. Darcy Tucker added his 28th goal, a career high, and Jeremy Williams scored his first NHL goal in his first game. Sidney Crosby scored his 39th goal and added an assist to give him 102 points in a sensational rookie season for the Penguins, who finished last in the East. Blackhawks 3, Blues 2, OT At Chicago, Kyle Calder scored at 3:20 of overtime as two of the NHL's worst teams concluded their seasons. St. Louis won just one of its last 19 games and finished with the NHL's worst record for the first time since joining the league in 1967-68. St. Louis also missed the playoffs for the first time since 1979. The Blues had qualified for 25 straight seasons, the NHL's longest active streak.
Slovakia's Handzus to miss remainder of NHL season (2006-10-23)Devils Ride Hot Streak to Division Title (2006-04-19)2 (11285)
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