|
 "I let my parents handle the whole thing," Palmieri said. "I
didn't want any added distraction to it."
Thanks to his goal with 2:23 remaining in overtime, Palmieri sent
his cheering section home happy.
The 22-year-old exploded past defenseman Eric Gelinas, dipped behind
the net, and scored on a wraparound to give the Ducks a 3-2 victory,
the team's seventh win in a row. Palmieri caught a break, as the
puck deflected off the stick of defenseman Jon Merrill and past
goaltender Cory Schneider.
"I wasn't sure what it hit off; it might have ramped up off his
stick and off one of their guys," Palmieri said. "I thought I could
beat him to the post. He's a good goaltender and he met me there. It
just took a lucky bounce. It was pretty nice.
"It was pretty memorable for me and my family and my friends."
Palmieri also had the primary assist on Mathieu Perreault's goal
that put the Ducks ahead 2-1 midway through the third period. He
dove to make the pass to the crease, where the puck bounced off the
skate of Gelinas and right to Perreault, who quickly stashed it
through the legs of Schneider.
"It kind of ping-ponged through (Gelinas') skates there and it
throws everyone off for a second and pops right to their guy,"
Schneider said. "He just buries it. I'd like to seal that off a
little better and come up with a big save, but it kind of hit a
skate there and threw me off for a half-second. That's all it
takes."
The Devils were able to send the game to overtime when defenseman
Andy Greene scored on a power play with 5:02 remaining in
regulation. He had a gaping net to deposit the puck after right wing
Jaromir Jagr made a scintillating cross-ice backhand pass to the
left circle.
After jumping to a 1-0 lead on right wing Michael Ryder's goal early
in the second period, the Devils were largely overmatched by the
Ducks. The Devils generated just eight shots on goal over the final
32 minutes of regulation and overtime.
Still, they found a way to earn a point against one of the NHL's top
teams.
[to top of second column] |
"It was a weird game," Devils center Patrik Elias said. "It
seemed like we had a lot of energy but we didn't use it the
right way. To me, it seemed kind of ugly. There was not too much
passing going on, no clean breakouts. That's when you start
feeling good. It just felt like we were chasing the puck for
whatever reason. But we'll take the point."
The consolation point moves the Devils (14-15-7) to within one
point of the third-place Philadelphia Flyers in the Metropolitan
Division.
The Ducks (25-7-5) have 55 points, second most in the NHL behind
the league-leading Chicago Blackhawks (25-7-6), who earned a
point in a 3-2 shootout loss against the Vancouver Canucks on
Friday night.
The Ducks have arguably the NHL's top line with Dustin Penner,
Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, but they were held off the
scoresheet by the Devils. That didn't slow the Ducks, who were
once again picked up by their depth players and defenseman Cam
Fowler, whose second-period goal pulled the team into a 1-1 tie.
"That's what balance does," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said.
"When Getzlaf's line hasn't scored in the last couple games, the
other lines pick it up. That's a great trait, where you don't
have to rely 100 percent on the one line."
Ducks right winger Teemu Selanne had two assists and goaltender
Jonas Hiller made 21 saves, including eight when his team was
under pressure for the most part.
"We've got something special with this group of guys," Perreault
said. "We've been playing very well and everybody seems to be
healthy. I think it's looking very good for us."
NOTES: With Ducks RW Teemu Selanne retiring after the season,
this is very likely the last time he and Devils RW Jaromir Jagr
will play against each other. They could meet in the Olympics,
but Finland and the Czech Republic are not in the same group in
Sochi. ... Devils RW Damien Brunner left the game in the first
period with a right knee injury and did not return. ... Devils D
Bryce Salvador, who has been out since Oct. 22 with a fractured
foot, took part in the team's morning skate and will travel to
Washington for Saturday's game against the Capitals. ... The
same can be said for LW Ryane Clowe, who has missed all but six
games this season with a concussion.
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reserved.]
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