Zach Parise scored a power-play goal 1:06 into overtime, and the New Jersey Devils beat the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 Wednesday for their third win in four games. Parise took a feed from Patrik Elias and snapped a shot into a wide-open net behind goalie Nikolai Khabibulin. Ilya Kovalchuk scored a short-handed goal in the second period and added an assist on Parise's winner for the Devils (24-17-2), who jumped over Toronto into sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Ales Hemsky scored for the Oilers (16-22-4), who are falling deeper out of contention in the West. Edmonton has lost four straight and 11 of 13. There were few chances at either end until midway through the first period when Edmonton's Taylor Hall was sprung for a partial breakaway, but he was stopped on a pad save by Johan Hedberg. New Jersey took a 1-0 lead eight minutes into the second when Kovalchuk picked off Jeff Petry's pass and went in on a short-handed breakaway. Kovalchuk beat Khabibulin high to the glove side for his 17th goal of the season, and New Jersey's NHL-leading 11th short-handed tally. The Devils nearly doubled their lead with three minutes remaining in the second when Elias tipped a shot through Khabibulin's legs, but the goalie reached behind in time to smother the puck. Edmonton tied it 8:32 into the third when Hemsky fired a shot from the top of the circle on the power play and beat Hedberg for his fourth of the season. Capitals 1, Penguins 0: A first period goal from Jason Chimera and some brilliant goaltending by Tomas Vokoun helped the Washington Capitals blank injury-riddled Pittsburgh Wednesday, sending the Penguins to their sixth consecutive loss. Pittsburgh outshot the Capitals 30-21 but could not solve Vokoun, who recorded his second shutout of the season with some acrobatic saves to improve his record to 17-10. “Vokoun certainly made a couple of huge stops,” Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. “Came up big in the third period. In a 1-0 game, obviously he's the guy that shined pretty bright for them.” Chimera scored with just over four minutes left in the first period, beating Marc-Andre Fleury on a breakaway high to the stick side following a turnover. Washington and Pittsburgh are tied with 46 points but the Capitals own the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference courtesy of having one more win.
