Despite an early two-goal deficit Saturday at Nashville, the New Jersey Devils came back to steal a 3-2 win, their second straight victory via the penalty shootout.
Saturday evening was an eventful one for New Jersey's David Clarkson, who picked up a five-minute major for boarding early in the game, a penalty that proved costly when Colin Wilson's power-play goal gave the Predators a 1-0 lead. Nashville (2-1-1, 5 pts.) doubled its lead through Jerred Smithson not two minutes later, and the Devils (3-1-0, 6 pts.) were in a hole.
Ilya Kolvalchuk would slice the lead in half on a power-play goal of his own a minute into the third before Clarkson redeemed himself with an equalizer past Pekka Rinne's glove side with just over 12 minutes to play in regulation.
After a scoreless overtime period, Kovalchuk and Zach Parise each tallied in the shootout as Johan Hedberg stopped Cal O'Reilly and Matt Halischuk to secure the victory.
The win allowed the Devils to keep pace with the Islanders for third place in the Atlantic Division, with the two teams even at six points through four games. Visit In Lou We Trust for complete Devils coverage.