Kovalchuk ends drought in Devils' win over Rangers

Ilya Kovalchuk ended a three-week scoring drought to help the New Jersey Devils beat the visiting East-leading New York Rangers 4-1 on Tuesday. Kovalchuk broke through on a snap-shot just 49 seconds into the game, his first goal since recording a hat-trick against Buffalo in February, and the Devils came on strong in the third period to top them. New Jersey's leading points scorer, Kovalchuk set an early aggressive tone by taking five of his team's first 11 shots. "That was the longest I went without a goal," Kovalchuk told reporters, having also finished with an assist. "It was hard especially since we weren't doing well, so you put a little more pressure on yourself. Maybe I was over-passing sometimes, and [on Tuesday] I was shooting." New York's (42-16-7) Derek Stepan tied the game 1-1 in the second period but New Jersey (37-24-5) dominated the third with goals from David Clarkson, Ryan Carter and Patrick Elias. Martin Brodeur stopped 25 shots to win his goaltending duel with Henrik Lundqvist, who also had 25 saves, while the Devils ended a stretch that had seen them lose five of their last six contests. The much-needed win was the first in a series of battles against New York opposition for New Jersey, who lost 1-0 to the Islanders on Sunday and will face them again today and Saturday.