Devils stumble into Olympic break

By Bud L. Ellis

Maybe the distraction of playing in the Olympics has gotten to the New Jersey Devils.

The Devils closed the pre-Olympic portion of their schedule with another loss on Saturday night, a 5-2 defeat at Carolina that wasn’t as close as the score indicated. New Jersey trailed 4-0 before getting on the board in the third period, dropping its fourth game in its past five and falling 13 points behind Washington in the Eastern Conference.

Goaltender Martin Brodeur was pulled after giving up his fourth goal on just 22 shots. Brodeur will play goal for Team Canada in the Olympics in Vancouver. Several other Devils will play in the Olympics, including U.S. team captain Jamie Langenbrunner and newly acquired winger Ilya Kovalchuk, who will play for Team Russia.

Zach Parise put the Devils on the board at the 7:26 mark of the third period, pulling New Jersey within 4-1. Brian Rolston scored a power-play goal later in the third for the Devils.

New Jersey opens the post-Olympics part of its schedule March 2 at San Jose.

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Sunday, February 14, 2010 at 11:59 am by bud

Tags: Brian Rolston, Carolina Hurricanes, Ilya Kovalchuk, Jamie Langenbrunner, Martin Brodeur, National Hockey League, New Jersey Devils, San Jose Sharks, Zach Parise