The New Jersey Devils won for the second time in three games in a shootout victory over the Winnipeg Jets by a score of 3-2 on Sunday night at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Johan Hedberg made 23 saves and stopped all three Winnipeg attempts in the shootout to lead the Devils to only their second win in nine games without top goaltender Martin Brodeur.
"When we got to the shootout, I knew that we were in good position to win the game," said Hedberg. "I had to bounce back. There's no time for getting down and feeling sorry for yourself. I had to get back out there. I really needed this, and maybe now I can put a few good games together."
Ryan Carter and Stephen Gionta scored in regulation time for the Devils and Patrik Elias scored the only goal in the shootout. New Jersey, which lost 6-3 at Carolina on Saturday night, came out flying despite the back-to-back games, and hadn't scored the first goal in nine games but got the first two against the Jets.
“I’m just happy we won,” Devils coach Pete DeBoer said. “I thought it was a gutsy effort by our group – seven games in 11 nights and playing last night on the road and Winnipeg sitting here rested, waiting for us. To come out with the start we had, I thought our guys really dug deep.”
New Jersey is now 2-6-1 in their last nine games and is holding on to the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference with a 12-9-5 overall record. The Devils will now have a home-and-home series with the Philadelphia Flyers, starting with a 7:30 p.m. match-up on Wednesday night. They will then travel to Philadelphia on Friday for a 7 p.m. face-off.
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