Brian Gionta has been the Devils money man all season. That continued when he notched a clutch power play goal 28 seconds into overtime to help New Jersey defeat Carolina 4-3 at the RBC Center Tuesday night. The goal was his 10th game winner of the season, tying him with San Jose's Jonathan Cheechoo for the league lead.
The win was the Devils' eighth straight and assured them of qualifying for their ninth consecutive postseason.
"I tell you what, if there is any team we've had that deserves to get into the playoffs, and we've had some great ones, (it's) this team," Devils Coach Lou Lamoriello told the AP. "The way they responded in the whole second half of the season and overcame so many little things."
That included Patrik Elias missing significant time due to Hepatitis A and Larry Robinson resigning as coach in December due to stress. It also included franchise goalie Martin Brodeur missing time due to a knee injury and then returning early to play through it before returning to form.
Still, these Devils persevered despite these distractions along with some unusual peaks and valleys, which made it uncertain they would reach this point.
"We knew time was on our side when there were disappointing times," Brodeur said after his 37 stops allowed him to become the first NHL goalie to win 40 games five different seasons. "But we've turned it around and this was really rewarding."
"It took awhile," Gomez said. "A lot of people kind of counted us out at the beginning. It took us a little longer than we wanted, but it's an honor to make the playoffs."
In a wild game which swung back and forth, Jamie Langenbrunner put them ahead for the third time when he connected on the power play with 4:27 left. Off a turnover forced by Gionta, Elias fed a vacated Langenbrunner in the slot, who fired his 17th past Martin Gerber.
But with under a minute left and the Devils on the power play, the shorthanded Hurricanes drew even when Erik Staal stuffed in his own rebound past Brodeur with 46 seconds remaining in regulation. Needing to score down a man, Carolina pulled Gerber for an extra attacker. After some hard work by Rod Brind'Amour and Bret Hedican along the boards, Staal tied it with his 45th to force OT.
It didn't take long though for the Devils to end it. Still on the power play, Elias worked the puck to Gomez, who fired a slapper which Gionta redirected inside the post for his team-leading 45th goal. It pulled him within one of Pat Verbeek's Devils record of 46 set back in 1987-88. He has three games left to try to shatter it.
While the Devils' most clutch mighty mite aims at history, the team is hot on the trail of the archrival Flyers, who held onto fifth place in the East with a 4-3 win over Pittsburgh. With 97 points, they lead the Devils by two points, which sets the stage perfectly. The Devils will host the Flyers back-to-back times three days apart starting Thursday night.
The Flyers have one game at hand but if the Devils can sweep that series, they could pass them. One thing is certain. It should be intense.
Notes: With a goal and assist, Gionta extended his career best point streak to 12 straight. During that span, he has nine goals and eight assists for 17 points. ... John Madden and Grant Marshall each had a goal and assist. ... Defenseman Richard Matvichuk sat out due to a groin injury. Rookie David Hale skated in his place. ... Viktor Kozlov returned to the lineup replacing Cam Janssen. ... Carolina is now 30-7-2 at home. Combined with Ottawa's 3-2 OT win over Boston, they dropped a point behind the Senators for first in the East. ... Devils (43-27-9, 95 pts) host Flyers (43-24-11, 97 pts) Thursday and Sunday before finishing up at Montreal next Tuesday.
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