Devils find home remedy against Capitals, but Niedermayer is casualty

November 4, 10:56 PMNew Jersey Devils ExaminerJoe Rizzo

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Bergfors (right) celebrates a goal with Parise (9) and Andy Greene.
(AP Photo/Rich Schultz)

The New Jersey Devils figured out how to win a game at home.  Now they need to learn how to stop getting players injured every game.

Rookie Niclas Bergfors scored power-play goals less than four minutes apart in the later half of the third period to break a tie and propel the Devils to a 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals, but center Rob Niedermayer became the latest casualty.

• Boxscore: Devils 3, Capitals 2 - Nov. 4, 2009
  

Niedermayer set up Brian Rolston's tying goal 3:33 into the second period but played only 1:42 in the third period before leaving with an undisclosed injury as the Devils won at the Prudential Center after starting 1-4-0 in Newark.

Niedermayer joins left wings Jay Pandolfo and Patrik Elias, and defensemen Paul Martin and Johnny Oduya among the regulars that are injured.  Niedermayer played a 53-second shift in the third period and then did not return for the final 15-plus minutes of the game.

Bergfors notched the first multi-goal game of his career as New Jersey scored more than two goals for the first time at home this season.  Their knack for winning close games continued, as Tomas Fleischmann tallied with 97 seconds left to close the gap to 3-2, but the Devils held on.  Six of their nine wins have been by one goal.

Washington played without two-time Hart Trophy winner Alexander Ovechkin, who is out week-to-week with an upper body strain.  The Capitals did not want for offensive chances, registering 28 shots on goal.  With 1:49 remaining, Alexander Semin left the penalty box and was fed for a clean breakaway that Brodeur thwarted with his left pad. 

Fleischmann scored with a heavy wrist shot from the top left of the slot into the top right corner of the net off a faceoff just seconds later. Washington pulled Simeon Varlamov after winning the faceoff but could not generate a quality chance.

Bergfors' first goal was a slap shot from the top of the right circle that beat Varlamov high to the glove side to make it 2-1 with 8:40 remaining in the game. 

“It was a great break-in," Bergfors said.  "Zach (Parise) gift-wrapped it for me and I got it upstairs.”

Parise originally was credited with the goal that made it 3-1 as he was stationed in front of the net when the puck went through Varlamov's pads.  Travis Zajac took a slap shot from the right point that Bergfors deflected at the top of the slot with two Capitals engulfing him.

“Travis’s shot hit my stick and it was kind of lucky,” said Bergfors, who doubled his season goal output.  "You get more confidence, of course. It’s a huge part of it. When you get a turn on the power play like this, you have to take advantage.”

Coach Jacques Lemaire kept changing the right wing on the top line through the first two periods before giving Bergfors a shot at it in the third.

“I think it’s getting better and better," Bergfors said.  "It’s going the right way right now. We kind of broke the home streak right there.”

“Now we’ve won two out of three (at home),” joked Brodeur, who finished with 26 saves.  “(Bergfors) has been playing really well, now he’s getting on the scoresheet.  He’s just a little more comfortable than he was in the past.”

Parise found the difference in the power play.

“We were taking shots from the point, getting screens, and moving the puck into the zone better,” Parise said.

Looking Ahead

The Devils, 7-0-0 on the road, have a chance to continue to build their home mark Friday when they host the New York Islanders in a game in which Elias is likely to play, barring complications.  Should Elias decide to sit out again, he will have another chance for his season debut Saturday in Ottawa.

New Jersey's seven straight road wins to start the season match the second-best effort in league history, something the Pittsbugh Penguins have also equaled.  The Buffalo Sabres set the record of 10 in 2006-07.  The Penguins have won all their games in regulation, while the Devils and the record-setting Sabres benefited from shootouts en route to their marks.