The Newark Bounce has become the Devils’ home-ice advantage. Last night, it helped them turn a blanking into their third straight victory.
“You can use it to your advantage,” said defenseman Mike Mottau, who did just that, scoring with 6:23 left to give the previously-blanked Devils the chance to beat the Sabres 2-1 in the shootout.
The comeback victory sends the Devils into Nassau Coliseum tonight with a three-game winning streak, as they seek to beat the Islanders for the first time in four meetings this season.
Last night’s key sequence saw Mottau, owner of one previous NHL goal, leave his station on defense to hunt puck down in the right flat, poaching Colin White’s left point carom off the end boards and beating Ryan Miller on the open side.
“It’s not so much a set play, but we’re talking about getting pucks to the short side, so that shinpads and rebounds come into play,” Mottau said. “There’s an instinct to move down when that play happens. We were down a goal and looking for more offense.
“It came right off the boards to me and I whacked it back in.”
Mottau’s gamble followed 29 previous failed Devils shots on Ryan Miller, including an Arron Asham penalty shot, and answered Alex Kotalek’s second-period goal. Zach Parise won the game in the shootout as Martin Brodeur stopped all three Buffalo shooters.
“We’ve been playing well and we have the confidence that if we keep going and going, it’s been happening. But we definitely need more offense. We can’t rely on games like that,” Brodeur said.
For the second straight home game, fans (third sellout) were treated to a penalty shot, with the same result – a save. On Dec. 16, Brodeur halted the Flyers’ Daniel Briere. Last night, Buffalo’s Ryan Miller stopped Arron Asham.
Dmitri Kalinin was called for hooking Asham as the winger was kicking a puck in his skates to his stick, a stride ahead of Kalinin. On the penalty shot, the first for the Devils in their new arena, Asham looped left, then swung back to the middle, shooting into Miller’s left shoulder at 16:26 of the first.
Asham’s penalty shot was the 29th in Devils history, with only 11 successful, and only one (Scott Gomez, Dec. 31, 2005 vs. Toronto’s Ed Belfour) in their last 12.
The Devils enjoyed a 13-2 shot advantage in the first, yet failed to capitalize.
The Sabres took the lead at 4:36 of the second when Alex Kotalik’s right-wing shot clanged in off the left post, and the Devils’ 14-6 shot edge meant little.
It stayed that way until Mottau went deep for White’s carom, just as the Devils seemed headed for their eighth zipping of the season.
“It’s tough, but we’re finding ways, through 60 or 65 minutes. That a sign of a good team. We’re sticking to our game plan and finding ways to win,” John Madden said.
The latest way includes those lively boards.