Devils rally to stab Pens in overtime

Pittsburgh blew an early 2-0 lead.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- In a matter of minutes, the New Jersey Devils went from leaving with no points to earning two.
Brian Gionta scored the game-winner with 2:36 to play in overtime after Patrik Elias had tied the game with 20 seconds to go in regulation to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 Sunday afternoon.
"I'm sure a lot of people were counting us out with two minutes left," defenseman Colin White said. "We had been in this situation before and always seem to come up a little bit short. The timing could not have been better to get two points."
The Devils, who also got a goal from Jay Pandolfo, moved into sole possession of sixth place in the Eastern Conference with fourth straight win and fifth in their last six games.
"It was a great win to finish a great week," winger Jamie Langenbrunner said.
Crosby scores
Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist and Ryan Whitney added two assists for Pittsburgh, which led 2-1 through most of the final 40 minutes of regulation.
"We were 20 seconds away from being able to say what a great game we played," Penguins coach Michel Therrien said.
The Devils' chances for a comeback were nearly lost when Crosby had a breakaway on Martin Brodeur with 21/2 minutes remaining in regulation during a 4-on-4 situation.
However, Brodeur said he noticed while studying game film that Crosby liked to shoot high during penalty shots. Sure enough, the Penguins' rookie attempted to flip a shot to the goalie's glove side, and Brodeur made the save.
36 wins
Brodeur had 24 saves for his 36th win of the season.
That play allowed New Jersey to make its late-game heroics. The tying goal came while the Devils had two extra skaters after pulling Brodeur during a power play following a hooking minor to Pittsburgh's Josef Melichar with 1:26 left in the third.
After the Penguins twice missed open nets on long shots, Elias scored while in the slot when he got his stick on a puck that had been shot by Brian Rafalski at the right point. The puck hit goalie Marc-Andre Fleury but spun over his head into the net.
Gionta got the game-winner when he scored his 42nd goal of the season after picking up a loose puck at his own blue line, skating down the left wing and firing a slap shot past Fleury.
The game's first three goals were scored in a span of 2:18 from the closing two minutes of the first period through the initial moments of the second.
Crosby gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead when his wrist shot from the right circle went into the upper left corner of the net with 1:55 to play in the opening period.
Crosby then assisted on the next goal, making a nifty backhand pass from behind the net to Colby Armstrong.
The Devils, who beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 less than 24 hours earlier, closed within 2-1 early in the second period on Pandolfo's goal.
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