This loss should haunt the Devils during the All-Star break they already started before the game began. The first team that couldn’t beat the Sabres at home this winter, they will stew, winless in three, until next Tuesday’s showdown with the Rangers.
“We’re not an elite team yet,” Martin Brodeur said after the Devils fell 2-1 in a shootout to the Sabres at Prudential Center. “We’re middle of the pack.
Gracious hosts for a Sabres squad that arrived with a team record 12 straight road losses, the Devils started off like a team that already started the All-Star break.
“In the first period, we were sleeping,” Ilya Kovalchuk said.
Last night’s loss made it three straight games with one goal each, and the Devils are 1-2-1 on this six-game homestand they hoped would ignite their season.
“Obviously, we’re not happy,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “You see an opportunity maybe to separate yourself a little bit [from the pack].
Their bad fortune came in the form of the opening goal, the only one Brodeur would allow. Nathan Gerbe’s wild left wing slap resounded off the glass and fell in front of Brodeur’s net, where Jordan Leopold was first to pounce for an open-netter and his eighth of the year at 16:34 of the first.
“By the time I saw it, it was already in front of the net,” Brodeur said.
The home team managed to tie it on Patrik Elias’ power play goal at 10:22 of the second. Kurtis Foster’s right point shot hit Sabres’ defenseman Tyler Myers where it hurts, and Zach Parise shoved the rebound to Elias in the right circle for his 18th.
Brodeur had to be sharp to deny Myers and Andrej Sekera early in the third, and Kovalchuk put his best chance over the crossbar from close range. Adam Henrique rang a post, but Ville Leino found a rebound in the slot that Brodeur halted, too.
Thus encouraged with their first road point since Dec. 3, the Sabres added their second. Kovalchuk improved to 6-of-7 in shootouts, but Ryan Miller stopped Parise, Elias and Henrique, while Jason Poiminville forced sudden-death and Gerbe ended the Sabres’ losing streaks, five straight overall — all on the road.
“Learn from these [three losses] quickly and then forget about it,” Elias said. “Enjoy the rest and hopefully come back fresh.”