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John Madden, Martin Brodeur lift Devils into conference lead
2008-02-25
John Madden's overtime goal powered the New Jersey Devils to a 2-1 victory over the Washington Capitals and into first place in the Eastern Conference on Sunday. Madden scored with 49.6 seconds left in overtime to give New Jersey a fifth consecutive victory and the sole possession of the conference lead for the first time in seven years. "It went through a maze of guys," Capitals netminder Brent Johnson told reporters when asked about Madden's winning goal. "I don't know if it hit this crossbar or the post, but it must have dropped right in front of my pad. Madden just got his backhand on it, quick. I thought my pad was down, but the puck slid right under my pad." New Jersey netminder Martin Brodeur stopped 37 shots for the victory. "Marty gave us a great opportunity to get our game in order," Devils coach Brent Sutter told reporters. "In the first two periods we did a lot of puck watching, we didn't forecheck like we needed to and we seemed to be facing our net a lot in the first two periods. Then in the third period we started moving, and our forecheck got better." Both regulation goals came in the third period. Jamie Langenbrunner put New Jersey ahead with a powerplay goal 39 seconds into the period before Alexander Semin equalized for Washington about two minutes later. * Teemu Selanne scored three goals and had two assists in the Anaheim Ducks 6-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. * The Calgary Flames beat Minnesota 2-1 to overtake the Wild for the Northwest Division lead. Daymond Langkow and Craig Conroy scored the goals and Miikka Kiprusoff made 38 saves to give the Flames a fourth successive win over the Wild. * The San Jose Sharks scored on all three shootout attempts to edge the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1. Jeremy Roenick provided the winner after Penguins netminder Ty Conklin stopped 36 shots in regulation and overtime. * Scott Gomez had a goal and two assists in the New York Rangers' 5-0 victory over the Florida Panthers. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 23 shots for the shutout. * Andrew Cogliano's third-period goal gave the Edmonton Oilers a 3-2 home victory over the Colorado Avalanche. Edmonton had also battled back from 2-0 down. * Ilja Bryzgalov saved 35 shots and the Phoenix Coyotes shut out the St. Louis Blues 2-0. (Writing by Gene Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
Rangers continue dominance of Devils, Penguins rout Senators (2008-04-09)Penguins beat Thrashers to take share of top spot (2008-03-03)John Madden, Martin Brodeur lift Devils into conference lead (2008-02-25)Rangers strike early to crush Sabres (2008-02-17)Rangers score five consecutive goals to upset Canadiens (2008-02-04)
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