Devils Crush Kings
Colin White had an enjoyable night in what has been a trying season for the New Jersey Devils’ defenseman.
The light-scoring White had a goal and an assist to help the Devils end a three-game losing streak with a 6-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night.
White took a puck in the right eye in training camp and missed the first 20 games of the season. He still has blurred vision in the eye and is resigned to the fact the condition may never improve.
White was all smiles following the offensive outburst that included his first goal in 126 games.
“I wouldn’t expect it too often,” White said. “It’s nice to chip in every now and then. I stopped looking at the number when it reached 100 games. I hope it doesn’t take this long for another one. Every kid growing up would love to be a goal scorer, to be Wayne Gretzky. That’s not in everybody’s cards.”
The goal was the 16th in 497 games for White.
“Even Whitey got one,” Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner said. “It’s been a while for him and he’s excited. We had a lot of different people scoring tonight.”
David Clarkson, Patrik Elias, Karel Rachunek, Travis Zajac and Sergei Brylin also scored as the Devils got goals from six players while Martin Brodeur made 23 saves.
Brian Boyle, Jack Johnson and Lubomir Visnovsky had goals for the Kings, who were 5-1-1 in their previous seven road games.
The Devils spent most of the first period in the Kings zone but put only one puck past goalie Jason LaBarbera. White sprung Clarkson with a lead pass and he sped into the right circle, using Kings defenseman Brad Stuart as a screen to get the tally at 4:43.
New Jersey scored four times in the second period to take a 5-2 lead.
Elias got his fifth goal in the last five games 2:30 into the period to make it 2-0.
Boyle, an emergency recall from Lowell of the AHL on Saturday, celebrated his NHL debut with a goal at 8:38, trimming the Devils’ lead in half.
“It’s pretty neat,” Boyle said. “I’m still trying to take it in. It hasn’t really hit me yet. It’s nice to score, but you want to win, obviously.”
Defenseman Rachunek, set up perfectly by Langenbrunner, pushed New Jersey’s lead back to two goals at 9:53.
Boyle played playmaker, feeding Johnson for a score at 12:57 to pull the Kings within one again.
White and Zajac scored the next two as the Devils widened their lead to three goals.
Only 33 seconds after Johnson’s score, John Madden won a faceoff from Anze Kopitar in the Kings zone. The puck went cleanly to White at top to the left circle and he hammered it home.
Zajac made it 5-2 with 4.4 seconds left in the period.
Jean-Sebastian Aubin replaced LaBarbera to start the third period and the Kings pressed aggressively to get back into the game. Visnovsky gave them hope, scoring with 5:03 remaining before Brylin tallied at 16:43 to close it out.
“We had the work ethic we needed in the third period,” Kings coach Marc Crawford said. “We were a little too casual. You need attention to detail in your play all the time. We got it in the third period and made a little bit of a push but that was the type of intensity we needed from the first period on.”
Notes: The Kings had not played in New Jersey since a 3-2 overtime win on Feb. 15, 2004. … Kings captain Rob Blake returned to L.A. for treatment of a non-displaced fracture of the left ankle. The injury occurred when he blocked a shot in a game on Jan. 15. He played the next six games – and scored the winner Thursday in the Kings’ 3-1 victory over the Islanders. Tests Friday revealed the break and Blake is expected to miss at least two weeks. … The Kings also recalled D Peter Harrold from Manchester of the AHL and placed LW Ladislav Nagy on injured reserve with a neck injury. … Brodeur improved his career record against Los Angeles to 8-4-1. … LaBarbera faced the Devils for the first time.
by: Staff Writers – Email Us
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