All season, Brian Gionta has been the one offensive constant for the Devils. Gionta continued his career season by notching a goal and assist in New Jersey's 2-1 win over Pittsburgh at Continental Airlines Arena Thursday night.
Coming off back-to-back losses in which they were outscored 12-4, the Devils got back to playing the solid two-way style they're known for. They only permitted 14 shots, allowing Martin Brodeur to see the puck without any trouble. In his 28th consecutive start, the Devil netminder was sharper making 13 saves after being pulled in consecutive games for the first time since 1996-97.
"That first goal he couldn't do anything about," Coach Lou Lamoriello told the AP. "Marty was Marty. He played well, and he was there when he had to be."
The win also was a milestone for Brodeur, who tied Jacques Plante for fourth on the all-time NHL wins list with 435.
Though they were able to get the much needed victory with ninth place Atlanta just six points behind, it was far from easy against the last place Penguins. Already having been blown out 6-3 at Pittsburgh this past Saturday, the Devils fell behind for the fourth straight game when Jani Rita banked in a shot off defenseman Ken Klee at 8:53. Rita's unassisted goal was his fifth of the season.
With the Devils struggling to generate any offense, Pittsburgh outshot them 7-6 in an uneventful first.
Continuing to have problems with the Pens' forecheck early in the second, the Devils were fortunate not to fall down by two goals thanks to two key Brodeur stops on Colby Armstrong and Michel Ouellet.
It allowed them to tie it when John Madden converted a Patrik Elias rebound for his 12th at 5:51. The play was setup by Gionta on the rush, who fed Elias at the left point. After Elias spun around and fired a wrist shot from the slot off Marc-Andre Fleury, a hustling Madden whistled the puck upstairs.
Finally playing with more jump, the Devils controlled the tempo and outshot Pittsburgh 8-3. They also would take the lead late in the period when Gionta beat Fleury on a breakaway. With the teams skating four-on-four, Gionta stole the puck and sped ahead, firing a slapshot inside the far post to put his team in front with 2:35 left. It was his team-leading 36th of the season. He nearly setup Elias for another goal but Fleury stoned Elias' breakaway try. Fleury finished with 21 saves.
With New Jersey playing a near flawless third in which they allowed only four shots, Gionta's team best seventh game-winner stood up to pull them within six points of the idle Flyers for fifth in the East.
Notes: Jason Wiemer made his Devil debut replacing Viktor Kozlov in the lineup. Acquired from Calgary at last week's trade deadline, the rugged winger played eight shifts on the fourth line with Erik Rasmussen and Cam Janssen. ... Rookie defenseman David Hale returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch for three straight games. Replacing veteran Tommy Albelin, Hale was even with two hits in 11:02 of ice-time. ... Richard Matvichuk (back) missed his seventh consecutive game. ... Devils (34-24-8, 76 pts) host Ottawa (44-15-6, 94 pts) Sunday.
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