DEVILS HANG ON TO AVOID ELIMINATION
The New Jersey Devils are still alive in the Stanley Cup chase because of a player who spent most of the season off the ice working his way back from an Achilles tendon injury.
Travis Zajac scored at 5:39 of overtime and the Devils avoided elimination and sent yet another Eastern Conference first-round series to a seventh game with a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.
“It’s fun to be back competing and playing at this time of year,” said Zajac, whose season was limited to 15 regularseason games because of an Achilles injury in August that required surgery.
The Devils will be playing in a Game 7 in Florida on Thurs- day because Zajac scored his biggest goal of the season on a counterattack against Panthers goalie Scott Clemmensen.
Zajac cleared the puck from in front of a harried Martin Brodeur and started a rush up the ice.
Zach Parise took his crossice pass and gave the puck to Ilya Kovalchuk, who found Zajac skating down the left wing for a shot along the ice into the net.
“Kovy gets the puck at the far blueline and draws a couple of guys to him,” Zajac said. “He made a really nice play to me and I just wanted to get a quick shot on net. I was lucky to beat Clemmer there.”
It sparked a wild celebration in the corner and sent both teams packing for a trip to Florida.
“It’s been a frustrating year for him,” Parise said of Zajac, who had played in 401 straight games before his injury. “It’s got to be rewarding and satisfying for him to get that one. He’s played really well for us in the series. He’s a good guy to play with. He makes my job easier. He makes Kovy’s job easier.”
Clemmensen was outstanding, making 39 saves in an emergency start for the injured Jose Theodore.
“I think he missed it, the shot,” Clemmensen said of Zajac’s last shot. “My D also may have gotten a stick on it. I don’t think he was shooting where he wanted to, but it went under the pad. I thought he was trying to shoot it high.”
Steve Bernier and Kovalchuk also scored and Martin Brodeur made 14 saves for New Jersey, which squandered a two-goal lead before forcing a deciding game.
“They are fun to be part of,” Brodeur said of playing in Game 7s. “When you’re a kid, you always go out and say, ‘This is Game 7 for all the marbles.” It brings back good memories because of that. You don’t need to be nervous. You need to embrace the situation and make the best out of it.”
Kris Versteeg and Sean Bergenheim tallied for Florida, which was looking for its first series win since 1996.
“We’re fine,” Panthers coach Kevin Dineen said. “We’re going back home. This is where we are. It comes down to one game.
“Obviously, you go to overtime and you’d like to put things to bed, but that’s the nature of it. It will make for a very exciting game on Thursday.”
The Devils outshot Florida 42-16 before a sellout crowd.
Despite being outshot 29-10 in the opening 40 minutes, the Panthers rallied from a 2-0 deficit and entered the third period tied at 2-all. The Panthers took only four shots in the second and tallied on two of the first three.
Versteeg cut the deficit to 2-1 at 7:05. The tying goal by Bergenheim came at 12:49 after the referees ignored a slash by Bergenheim that knocked Kovalchuk to the ice. It led to a 4-on-2 rush.
The Panthers did not discuss the nature of Theodore’s injury.