Devils 4, Penguins 2
Ilya Kovalchuk remained hot with a goal and two assists and defenseman Anton Volchenkov scored his first goal in more than 22 months as the host New Jersey Devils defeated the red-hot Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 on Sunday.
Zach Parise pitched in with his fifth goal in four games to go along with an assist for the Devils, who matched a season high with their fourth straight victory. It was only the second loss in 11 games for Pittsburgh.
Kovalchuk has three goals and seven assists in his last four games. Goaltender Martin Brodeur made 28 saves and had an assist for New Jersey, improving to 5-2-1 in his last eight starts.
Patrik Elias set up Kovalchuk 2:12 into the game to give the Devils the lead for good. Kovalchuk also assisted on Volchenkov’s goal at 9:33 of the first period, his first since April 1, 2010.
Dainius Zubrus scored the Devils’ league-leading 13th shorthanded goal 2:28 into the second period for a 3-0 lead. Pittsburgh starting goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was replaced by Brent Johnson after surrendering three goals on 12 shots.
Defenseman Matt Niskanen and Evgeni Malkin scored power-play goals for the Penguins against the NHL’s top penalty-killing unit. Malkin’s 14th goal in 14 games made it 4-2 with 8:17 left in the game.