It was a hideous game, tryptophan on ice, yet to the Devils it was beautiful. They finally have a winning streak, which they will try to stretch to three tomorrow afternoon at Nassau Coliseum.
“We’re trying to get our confidence back, which was really shattered,” goalie Johan Hedberg said after last night’s 2-1 shootout victory over the Flames in Newark.
Hedberg has channeled his annoyance at being passed over in a 3-2 loss in St. Louis Saturday, Martin Brodeur’s first full game out of his latest injury absence. He has allowed only one goal in the subsequent consecutive victories.
Hedberg blanked the then-league-leading Caps Monday and thwarted all three Flames’ shootout opponents last night to give the Devils their first consecutive victories this season.
“These two are really big for us. We have some ground to make up,” Hedberg said.
The victory, spoiling the first return to Newark for former Devils coach Brent Sutter, saw Ilya Kovalchuk make amends for a shotless and listless night by scoring the shootout winner on New Jersey’s first attempt.
Kovalchuk hasn’t scored a regulation-time goal this month, since Oct. 24, a 13-game drought that includes one OT winner, also his lone power play goal this season.
In his previous shootout bid, a 5-4 loss to Buffalo Nov. 10, Kovalchuk fumbled away the puck to seal defeat. Last night, he drilled a wrister over the glove of goalie Henrik Karlsson.
“It was a little better than last time,” Kovalchuk said. “I really wanted to go [in the shootout].”
The victory was also New Jersey’s third straight at home, after losing their first seven of the season in Newark. One victory came against Edmonton in overtime, this one against Calgary in a shootout.
“East against West, we don’t care if they get a point as long as we get two,” Hedberg said. “If we can keep the feeling and the work ethic up, we’re going to be in good shape.”
The Devils opened the scoring with their ninth straight goal at home, going back to the final three of that 4-3 OT victory over Edmonton Nov.12. They blanked the Caps 5-0 Monday in Newark, and David Clarkson put them in front a 13:06 of the first last night, when Mattias Tedenby’s rebound shot went in off his leg.
That goal was Clarkson’s second in three games and third in seven. Many of his higher-reputation teammates would envy that pace, such as Kovalchuk, now 2-3-5 in the 14 games since John MacLean sat him out one game Oct. 23 for being late to a team meeting. Clarkson’s goal stood up until Rene Bourque steered in Mark Giordano’s point shot at 1:18 of the third for his 10th.
After the Devils squandered an overtime power play, Hedberg stacked the pads to halt Niklas Hagman’s shootout. Kovalchuk put the Devils on top, and Hedberg refused to bite on dekes by Alex Tanguay and Brendan Morrison.
Devils are offering a Black Friday ticket plan from 8 a.m. through 9 p.m. tomorrow. Each ticket purchase, over $100, will receive an additional 50 percent value in other Prudential Center events — one-quarter of the extra available for Devils’ tickets, another quarter for other sports events, another quarter for family shows, and the final quarter for concerts. . . . Devils follow tomorrow’s visit to Long Island by playing host to Flyers Saturday afternoon.