Newark, NJ- The New Jersey Devils scored three times in the third period, and goalie Kari Lehtonen stopped 36 of 37 shots to lift the Devils to a 3-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres Monday night.
Buffalo scored their only goal of the game in second stanza. With rookie John Carlson in the Devils penalty box for roughing, Alexander Semin netted his third goal of the year at 13:49. Following a series of wide shots at goal, Semin picked up the loose disc and wristed the puck over the blocker of Lehtonen. Dennis Wideman and Anze Kopitar picked up the assists.
The game took a turn towards the Devils (13-6-2) in the third period.
The third period opened with Marc Savard and Sidney Crosby getting mad at each on the opening faceoff. Savard, who hasnt done a thing since he came over in a recent trade, bothered Cindy up and down the ice before Cindy had enough. The two unusual combatants fought to a draw. But the fight did spark the Devils offense.
The Devils got their rally started at 6:47. With the Sabres (12-6-3) killing a Henrik Zetterberg roughing infraction, Brian Rolston put in his 10th goal of the season. Shane Doan and Lubomir Visnovsky earned the assists on the power play goal.
At 10:19, the Devils took the lead. Valtteri Filppula took a shot towards Jaroslav Halak that was deflected by Mason Raymond on the way to the net. Halak made the save, but gave up a juicy rebound that Filppula scoped up and sent it home. Ryan Wilson picked up the secondary assist on the play.
The Devils added an insurance marker at 17:04. Doan sent a shot towards the Sabres net, but it was blocked by Alex Pietrangelo. The puck deflected to Carlson at the point. The rookie slapped a shot over the glove of Halak to make the final score 3-1. It was Carlsons first in the BRHL2.
Playing with trade rumors all around him, Lehtonen was awesome in the pipes for the Devils, earning his 8th win of the season.
The Devils get right back into action tomorrow night as they travel to Ottawa to face the Senators (14-7-1).
SWAMP THINGS- The Devils had 40 shots on goal, with Patrik Berglund having 9 of them13,839 was the attendance.
