Devils Force Tie In Ottawa
The New Jersey Devils were satisfied leaving Ottawa with a tie.
Bobby Holik scored with less than three minutes remaining in regulation to lift New Jersey to a 2-2 tie with the Senators on Monday.
"This is one of the hottest teams in the NHL," Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur said. "And this is a building where we have a lot of history in the last couple of years."
|
Holik beat goaltender Ron Tugnutt with a shot from the top of the faceoff circle at 17:19 of the third period after the Devils fell behind 2-1 on second-period goals by Marian Hossa and Rob Zamuner.
The goal was Zamuner's first for Ottawa, after suffering through three straight losing seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
"I haven't been relaxed," Zamuner said. "In the past couple of games, I was just trying to relax and have fun. It always makes it easier when you score."
Brodeur, who shut out Tampa Bay on Saturday, kept the Devils in the game in the first period, when the Devils' defense allowed several quality scoring chances.
The Devils opened the scoring with less than four minutes left in the first period when Krzysztof Oliwa took a pass from rookie Scott Gomez and chipped a backhand just inside the far post.
In the second, Hossa scored his fourth of the year, unassisted, when he picked up his own rebound and beat Brodeur at 6:58.
Zamuner gave Ottawa the lead five minutes later on a pass from Daniel Alfredsson, beating Brodeur between the pads.
"Hossa is playing well," Senators coach Jacques Martin said. "Zamuner gives us more guts. I'm very happy with his play."
The Senators appeared to be headed for their fifth straight win before Holik scored his fourth of the year, banging home a pass from defenseman Brian Rafalski.
Although New Jersey leads the all-time series 17-7-4, the Senators are 3-1-1 against the Devils since their first-round of New Jersey in the 1996 playoffs.
"We know this team is fast," Holik said. "We can't get into a high-scoring game with this team."
©1999 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed