Devils 3, Capitals 2 FINAL SO

Clarkson tied Monday's game with his second goal of the season.

They trailed 2-0 in the first period against a high-powered Capitals offense, but these Devils have a way of sticking around until the very end.

On Monday, Brian Rolston scored and David Clarkson tied it with 6:26 left in regulation before the Devils extended it to a shootout, where for the second time in three games Zach Parise, Jamie Langenbrunner and Martin Brodeur took care of the rest.

Parise and Langenbrunner both scored and Brodeur stopped two of three, including Alexander Ovechkin's final shootout attempt, in the Devils' 3-2 comeback win at Verizon Center.

The Devils (3-2-0) swept their three-game road trip after losing their first two games on home ice, and moved above the .500-mark for the first time this season. Jersey's Team has won three in a row, sending Washington (2-2-2) to its fourth straight defeat (0-2-2).

The tying goal came as a result of outstanding pressure by Clarkson's line with Dainius Zubrus and Niclas Bergfors. It all paid off when Bergfors set up Clarkson's second of the year, a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle at 13:34.

"We just kind of cycled, holding onto the puck, moving it up to the point, getting it back," Clarkson told MSG. "The shift's kind of a blur. I was so tired by the time the puck went in the net. I don't know how long that shift was, but it was a great shift for us We cycled, we continued to flow and we ended up benefitting from it. Hard work pays off and we put one in the back of the net."

Parise and Langenbrunner both scored shootout goals in Thursday's 4-3 win at Tampa Bay and repeated the feat Monday in Washington. Parise beat Jose Theodore through the five-hole to tie, and Langenbrunner gave the Devils the lead after Brodeur had denied Alexander Semin.

Brodeur had 31 saves in the game, then used a pad stop on Ovechkin's backhander to become the first goaltender to reach 30 career shootout victories.

The Devils had knack for clutch plays during the three-game trip: Travis Zajac forced overtime with one second remaining in regulation at Tampa Bay and Clarkson broke a 2-2 tie with 3:35 left in regulation at Florida on Saturday.

Parise came close to ending Monday's game in overtime after drawing a penalty on former Devil Brendan Morrison. Parise got three swipes at the 4-on-3 OT winner: he hit the outside of the net, was robbed by Theodore's catching glove, then flipped the puck over the top of the net with 2:22 remaining.

Brodeur was a key ingredient in the New Jersey penalty kill that went 5-for-5, including 53 seconds of a Caps' 5-on-3 early in the third period when the Devils trailed by a goal. Three straight penalties kept them on their heels in the final frame, but hard work kept them alive.

Goals by Mike Green and Mike Knuble had the Capitals ahead early. Ovechkin, the two-time reigning MVP, entered the game with 10 points in five outings and collected two assists in the first period.

But in the second, the Devils killed off Ilkka Pikkarainen's holding minor at 3:34 then went to work on offense. Rob Niedermayer, who extended his points streak to four games (2g-2a), passed cross-ice to set up Rolston's second of the season from the right circle at 8:18.

"I think we started to play better in the second period," said head coach Jacques Lemaire. "When we started the game, we gave them the puck too much. We didn't control it, we didn't skate with it. We were playing a little too passive. In the second period, the guys started to put it together and then it was a much better game on our part."

Washington had opportunities to pad its lead, but Brodeur and the Devils held their ground.

Bryce Salvador took a roughing minor at 4:05, and Brodeur was given two for high-sticking Brooks Laich as Brodeur tried to swat a loose puck from his crease on the PK. The Devils silenced Washington's ensuing two-man advantage to keep the score, 2-1, before Clarkson knotted it at 2.

NJD NOTES
The Devils took their first three road games for the first time since 1989-90 (4-0-0)…Clarkson stretched his points streak to four games (2g-3a-5pts). He had one assist In his first five games last season…New Jersey was 2-2-0 versus Washington last season, including two shootout victories…The Devils were held without a PPG for the first time in 2009-10, and won for the first time after allowing the first goal (1-1-0)…New Jersey is 3-1 in its last four games, all of which have been decided by one goal…Parise and Langenbrunner each have one GWG in the shootout this season…Devils return to Prudential Center to face Atlanta on Friday and Carolina on Saturday.