VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Denis Pederson's power-play goal midway through the third period snapped a tie and the New Jersey Devils held the Vancouver Canucks to a record-low eight shots Wednesday night in a 2-1 victory that extended their unbeaten streak to five games. The eight shots were the fewest by one team since Calgary had eight in a 3-0 loss to Detroit on Oct. 27, 1995. The NHL record is believed to be seven by Washington in a 4-1 loss at Philadelphia on Feb. 12, 1978.
"I don't know what happened, they outplayed us," said Canucks winger Alexander Mogilny. "They didn't give us anything and we didn't create anything. We couldn't any flow going and there was just nothing happening. It was awful."
Vancouver were limited to eight shots just three days after collecting eight goals in a shutout victory at St. Louis. The previous franchise low was 12 shots, set three times, most recently in a 3-0 victory Dec. 20, 1977, over the New York Rangers.
The game was tied at 1-1 when Vancouver winger Martin Gelinas received a double-minor for high-sticking at 5:17 of the third period. A little more than three minutes later, Pederson grabbed a loose puck off a goalmouth scramble and lifted it over goaltender Mike Fountain, who was rolling around inside his own net.
"(Scott) Niedermayer threw it to the net. It was bouncing around, (Randy) McKay had a shot at it, it hit the post and it was just laying there with a couple of guys down. All I did was take it to my forehand and put it over the goalie," Pederson said. "In a game like this, that's how it is. It was almost like being in overtime where the next goal wins it. That's how a lot of overtime goals go in, just a scramble after a lot of hard work."
Fountain, who blanked the Devils in his NHL debut Nov. 14, finished with 28 saves.
New Jersey tied a franchise record with its fourth straight road win and posted just its fourth victory in 19 games at Vancouver (4-13-2). The eight shots also were the fewest allowed in team history, eclipsing the mark of 12 set against Winnipeg in a 3-1 loss Feb. 24, 1988.
"I don't think it was boring. It was winning hockey and that's exciting to me," said Devils coach Jacques Lemaire. "We had everybody going in the right direction, doing their job and that's how you can hold a team to that few shots.
"When you play an offensive team, you can't go out and think that you're going to win the game if you give them 40 or 45 shots and Vancouver's got good scorers on that team. You've got to keep it down to 25 shots or so if you want to have a chance to win."
New Jersey grabbed a 1-0 lead on Steve Sullivan's first goal since March 26. It came two seconds after Adrian Aucoin's holding penalty ended, but Aucoin had not joined the play when Sullivan poked his own rebound past Fountain at 1:24 of the second period.
The Canucks tied it less than four minutes later when Gino Odjick was credited with his second goal of the season and second in as many games. His centering pass from behind the net deflected off Martin Brodeur and squeezed just inside the left goalpost.
"It's a good thing that my mistake didn't change the result of the game," Brodeur said. "He came in, threw it in front, it went off my blocker and snuck in behind me. It happens. It's a good thing it wasn't a game-clincher."
Brodeur had no trouble recounting Vancouver's scoring chances.
"They had five shots from the blue line, Gino's goal from behind the net, one screen shot, Naslund from the corner and that's it. I remember every one, that's the amazing part," he said.
An apparent go-ahead goal by Vancouver's Dana Murzyn was disallowed at 6:29 when Pavel Bure barreled into Brodeur and was penalized for goaltender interference.
"It's not the end of the world, but it happened and we're not very happy about it," said Canucks coach Tom Renney. "We'll have to educate ourselves a little more on how to play against that system.
"We became frustrated against their system, especially their counter-attack," he continued. "I think the Devils generated lots of offense tonight. They didn't play boring hockey, but we didn't do our part. We didn't penetrate like we wanted to and we never did any good work down low. There's a lot we can go to school on after tonight's game."
New Jersey improved to 7-3 in one-goal games, while the Canucks fell to 6-8.
Jon's 3 stars:
1. Scott Niedermeyer
2. Mike Fountain
3. Steve Sullivan
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