Bergfors proves Devilish to Caps
Published Thursday November 5th, 2009
Niclas Bergfors scored two power-play goals 3:13 apart in the third period to break open a tie game and send the New Jersey Devils to a 3-2 victory over the Alex Ovechkin-less Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.
Just seconds after Alexander Semin's hooking penalty gave the Devils their third advantage of the game, Bergfors took a pass from Zach Parise in the right circle and whistled a rising shot over Semyon Varlamov's glove with 8:40 left to make it 2-1.
Bergfors then deflected in Travis Zajac's long shot with 4:50 remaining to give the Devils a two-goal edge.
The Devils ended Washington's streak of nine straight games with a point (6-0-3) that started with a shootout loss at New Jersey on Oct. 12. The Capitals also has earned points in eight consecutive games against the Devils (4-0-4), but they have dropped three in a row overall - following overtime losses to the New York Islanders and Columbus.
Ovechkin, the NHL MVP the past two seasons, sustained an upper-body strain on Sunday against Columbus and is considered week to week. Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau said Ovechkin told him he felt much better Wednesday.
Ovechkin missed just the fifth game of his five-season NHL career, his third absence caused by injury. Washington is 1-4 without him.
Brian Rolston also scored, and Martin Brodeur made 26 saves for New Jersey, 2-4 at home. The Devils are 7-0 on the road.
Tyler Sloan scored in the first period, and Tomas Fleischmann brought the Capitals to 3-2 with 1:37 remaining. Varlamov stopped 30 shots.
Washington opened the scoring in the first when defenceman Sloan scored his first of the season and second in his NHL career.
Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner failed to get the puck out of the zone at the left point, and Chris Clark kept it in with some hard work. Mathieu Perreault - in his NHL debut - moved the puck into the slot and sent a pass left to Sloan, who also sees time at forward. Sloan showed precise offensive skill when he squeezed a shot between Brodeur and the left post with 2:50 left in the period.
Panthers 3 Hurricanes 0
At Sunrise, Fla., Tomas Vokoun made 31 saves for his second straight shutout, Steven Reinprecht opened the scoring early in the third period, and Florida extended Carolina's winless streak to 10 games.
Vokoun beat St. Louis 4-0 on Saturday.
Cory Stillman added a power-play goal and an assist, and Reinprecht also had an assist. Defenceman Bryan Allen scored an empty-net goal with 2:01 left.
Cam Ward stopped 22 shots for Carolina, 0-6-0 in the road.
The Panthers have won three straight after opening 2-7-1.
Carolina, 0-7-3 during its losing streak, hasn't won since beating Florida 7-2 on Oct. 9 in its fourth game of the season.
Sharks 3 Blue Jackets 2 (SO)
At Columbus, Ohio, defenceman Dan Boyle scored the lone goal in a shootout, and Evgeni Nabokov stopped all three Blue Jackets shooters to give the San Jose its sixth straight win and eighth in its last nine games.
Nabokov made 26 saves in regulation and overtime, then stopped attempts by Nikita Filatov, Anton Stralman and Rick Nash in the tiebreaker to improve to 10-3-1.
Joe Thornton scored and Dany Heatley added a power-play goal for San Jose. Nash had a power-play goal and Jason Chimera also scored for the Blue Jackets.
Sabres 3 Islanders 0
At Buffalo, N.Y., Ryan Miller made 24 saves for his second shutout of the season and 14th overall, and Thomas Vanek had a goal and assist for the Sabres.
Derek Roy and Paul Gaustad also scored to help the Sabres (9-2-1) rebound from a 5-0 loss to the Islanders on Saturday on Long Island.
Former Sabres goalie Martin Biron made 36 saves for the Islanders (5-5-5), who had their winning streak snapped at four.
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