Devils Push Penguins to Brink of Elimination

~New Jersey National

Last night, the New Jersey Devils skated themselves into the driver seat of their opening round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. New Jersey put on another outstanding defensive effort as they took the contest 4-1.

The Penguins opened the scoring a minute forty-three into the game on a nice goal by Mike Modano. However, the Devils third line took their turn to play the hero in the series as Jan Hlavac scored the first of his two on the night just over a minute later. The Devils weren't done there as they scored twice more before the first period was over. Andrew Cassels scored his first of the postseason and Hlavac netted his second of the game.

Captain, Mats Sundin, scored his second short-handed goal of the series, in the second period, as the Devils penalty kill continued to dominate the Penguins powerplay.

The Devils hope to close out the series tomorrow night on home ice, but they know that Pittsburgh is probably the most lethal team in the CTCHL and that they won't go down without a fight.

Game Notes

-Goaltender, Marty Turco was named 1st star. It was the second time he has achieved that accomplishment this postseason.

-Mats Sundin's goal in the second period was his 4th of the postseason. He sits second in playoff scoring behind Detroit superstar, Mario Lemieux.

-The Devils powerplay was also held without a goal as they went 0-3. Their playoff powerplay percentage has now dropped to 8.3%.