3-2 shootout win over Ottawa

The New Jersey Devils blew a late 2-1 lead with 1 minute to play in the 3rd period, but managed to pull out a shootout win thanks to the shots of Zach Parise and Brendan Shanahan. The Devils clinched their 3rd division title in 4 seasons and reached the 50 win plateau for the first time in franchise history. Technically the Devils had clinched the division midway through the 3rd period when the rival Rangers actually helped the Devils by beating the Flyers.

I just have to say that shot by Shanahan in the shootout was picture perfect, and Parise undressed Auld on the first shootout goal.

The Devils played strong on both ends last night, although the fact that they have been giving up numerous late goals in the last week is a bit of a concern. The Devils were down 1 through the first period, but goals by Brian Rolston and Brian Gionta gave the Devils the lead all the way until the final minute of the game. For Gionta it was the 20th goal of the season, making him the fifth Devil on the year to hit the 20 goal mark (Parise, Elias, Langenbrunner & Zajac). Brodeur reached win #556 in his #998th game, stopping 28 shots including two crucial saves in the shootout.

The Eastern Conference playoff contenders are now all known, although the exact seeds of some of the teams is still to be determined. The Devils, due to Washington clinching the 2nd seed last night, will be playing either the Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers or Carolina Hurricanes who are all tied with 97 points currently. The Devils have one game left in the season, hosting the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday afternoon.

*I went ahead and updated the playoff poll to see who everyone would want to play now in the first round.

Devils vs. Senators 4/9/09 7:30 PM

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Having lost seven of the last nine games (2-6-1), the New Jersey Devils are looking to correct the mistakes that have been plaguing them for the past 3 weeks with a win against the Ottawa Senators tonight. The Devils have beaten the Senators five straight times dating back to 2007 and need just one point to clinch the Atlantic Division title. Helping the Devils in their cause tonight will be Patrik Elias, who has missed the last four games with leg muscle tightness.

Elias will return to the line of Zubrus and Gionta and should provide the Devils with additional firepower, having 31 goals and 47 points this season. Along with the return of Elias to the line-up will be the return of Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond, or PL3 as he is known among Devil fans. Bobby Holik and Mike Rupp will both be healthy scratches tonight while Niclas Havelid will miss his second consecutive game with lower body soreness. I have to say I’m a bit suprised Sutter is sitting Holik to play PL3, but I can understand leaving Pandolfo in the line-up as he’s been playing well.

The Devils should be looking to get the win tonight by any means necessary as they will continue to hear whispers of another late season collapse until they turn it around. Martin Brodeur also needs to find some consistency in his game, going 9-1 when returning Feb. 26th from injury to going 3-7-1 since March 17th’s all time record.

Now Marty doesn’t deserve all of that blame as the defense has been pretty bad of late, but Marty needs to get his game in order as there is no room for error in the playoffs. I know Marty probably knows this more than anyone else so I have faith he will.

The pressure was temporarily lifted from their shoulders with the 2 straight questionable wins, but a loss to a bad team such as Toronto can quickly make you realize that they have not corrected the issues of the past month yet. The Devils should just be concentrating on one game at a time at this point, and given that they face the red hot Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday to finish the season, it makes this game even more important.

Let’s Go Devils!

4-1 Loss to Toronto

The Devils failed in their attempt to clinch the Atlantic Division title with a 4-1 loss to the Maple Leafs on Tuesday night. This was actually the first game I was unable to watch this whole season, so I won’t make any judgments on the game since I didn’t see any of it (feel free to comment though!). From the clips I’ve seen however it looks like the Devils slipped back into their play that resulted in six straight losses not long ago.

Martin Brodeur has continued his shaky play of late, giving up four goals on 18 shots. The highlight of the game came when Christian Hanson of Toronto, son of “Slap Shot” hockey movie legend Dave Hanson, scored his first career NHL goal on Marty in the first period. The Devils outshot the Leafs 48 to 18, but only converted on Jamie Langenbrunner’s 29th of the year. Jamie’s goal in the 2nd period was his 4th goal in the last 3 games.

The Devils did not get help from the Florida Panthers, who could have helped the Devs clinch the Atlantic Division title with a win over the Flyers. The Devils also missed out on their first 50 win season in franchise history. It also has put the second seed in the Eastern Conference further out of reach since Washington won their game tonight against Atlanta.

The Rangers also won their game over the Canadians, but at this point in time the Rangers cannot finish higher than the 7th seed, making the Devils opponents for the first round either the Flyers, Penguins or Hurricanes. The Hurricanes rolled over the Islanders tonight 9-0 outshooting them 57-12. At this point a match-up against the Flyers doesn’t seem that bad. The Devils will look to rebound on Thursday night in Ottawa against the Senators.

In honor of Christian Hanson’s first NHL goal I figured I’d leave you all with a great Slap Shot clip:

Devils vs. Maple Leafs 4/7/09 7 PM

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Fueled by two consecutive wins following a six game losing streak, the Devils are looking to clinch the Atlantic Division title tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Devils will need to win the game or force the game to overtime to clinch the division. The Devils can also clinch the division with a Philly loss to Florida tonight. If the Devils do indeed clinch the Atlantic Division title, it will be their 3rd title in the past 4 seasons and their 8th in the last 12 seasons. The Devils are also 1 win away from a total of 50 on the year, which would beat the franchise record of 49 wins from the 2006-2007 season.

The line-up tonight will be the exact same line-up from Saturday night’s win, which means both Patrik Elias and Niclas Havelid will be sitting out tonight. Elias will miss his fourth consecutive game in a row with leg muscle tightness, and Havelid will miss his second straight game due to lower body soreness. Although all Devil fans would love to see Patty back in the line-up tonight, with only 2 games left after tonight it may be smart to keep him out the rest of the regular season so he will be ready for the playoffs.

Coach Sutter has said that the team is taking it day-to-day with each player and that he doesn’t plan to rush them back into the line-up but he would like them to play a regular season game before the playoffs start. Both Andy Greene and Jay Pandolfo will be playing tonight to fill in for the two injured players.

The Devils have played Toronto three times this year, losing 2 of the games in a shootout and winning one in overtime. Both Zach Parise and Jamie Langenbrunner are looking to continue their scoring ways, Zach with 44 goals and 93 points on the year and Jamie with 28 goals including 3 in the last 2 games.

The Devils currently have 102 points on the year, two behind the Washington Capitals for second overall in the Eastern Conference. If the playoffs started today the Devils would be playing the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round. There is however a bunch of big games tonight for playoff contenders, with every team in playoff contention playing tonight. After tonight’s game the Devils will travel to Ottawa on Thursday and will finish the season off at home on Saturday against Carolina.

3-2 win over Buffalo

The Devils kept the momentum moving from their overtime win on Friday against Tampa with a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres last night. The Devils basically ended the Sabres season, although they still could make the playoffs by winning out the season and the Rangers/Panthers both losing the rest of their games. Jamie Langenbrunner followed up from his terrific 2 goal effort on Friday night with the game winning goal in the second period last night. Jamie is inching closer to 30 goals for the first time in his career with 28 goals currently.

The Devils were looking to clinch the Atlantic Division title with help from the Senators beating the Flyers, however the Flyers were able to push the game into overtime where they eventually lost, giving them a point in the process. The Devils are guaranteed to have home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs with the win last night, and they need just 1 more point to clinch the Atlantic Division title.

As far as the game is concerned, I believe the Devils dominated the first two periods but began to fall back in the 3rd which led to two Sabres goals. Throughout the first 2 periods the Devils controlled the tempo of the game and were dominating physically. Colin White played a very good game, throwing his body at anyone around the net. Mike Mottau also had a few big hits in the game, but I was really impressed with the play of Andy Greene. For someone who hasn’t played much this year and was only playing because Havelid was given the night off to rest, Greene looked very comfortable and his ability to bring the puck in the offensive zone led to the Clarkson’s goal in the first.

I have also been impressed with the line of John Madden, Jay Pandolfo and Brendan Shanahan. These guys know their roles which is to play defensively first, but they do have the chemistry to make things happen in the offensive zone. Chico Resch actually said during the game that Shanahan loves playing with Pando and Mad-Dog and that they all are comfortable on the same line.

Marty played solid all night, stopping 35 shots in the game. He played exceptionally well when he had to in the 3rd, stopping 21 of the final 23 shots he faced. The win was career #555 and his 17th win on the season.

A scary moment for Sabres fans was when Parise went behind the net while goalie Ryan Miller was playing the puck and accidently took Miller down. Tim Connolly made sure Parise paid the price by laying him out on the ice from behind shortly after. This was a big issue for Sabres fans since a similar event occurred between Scott Gomez and Miller earlier in the year which led to Miller’s ankle injury. Parise reportedly apologized to Miller soon after and explained it was an accident.

The Devils are off until Tuesday, where they will host the Toronto Maple Leafs at The Rock. No word has been said yet as to whether Patrik Elias will miss his 4th consecutive game, as well as whether Niclas Havelid will be playing. I’ll keep you guys updated as soon as any info is available and I’ll have a preview of the game on Tuesday.

Devils vs Sabres 4/4/09 7 PM

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The New Jersey Devils will try to use the momentum from the thrilling 5-4 overtime win against the Buffalo Sabres tonight. The Sabres are still technically alive for a playoff spot, trailing the New York Rangers for the 8th seed by 4 points with 85. The Devils are also looking to clinch the division title with a win and some help from the Senators against the Flyers. This pretty much sums up to what should be an exciting game as both teams have something they are playing for.

Devil fans will also get to see #35 Scott Clemmensen back on the bench. I am a big fan of Kevin Weekes and I believe he is a solid backup, but it is good to know we have a 25 game winner on the bench just in case Marty needs a rest. Tom Gulitti reported that Clemmensen is actually missing his own bobble-head night tonight with the Lowell Devils. I’m sure Scott would rather be up in the big league near playoff time anyway.

The ZZ Pops line, with 8 points in the win last night, are looking to continue what has been an already great season. Jamie Langenbrunner has career highs already, with 27 goals and 40 assists. Travis Zajac has also rebounded very well from a sophmore slump with 20 goals and 42 assists. The MVP of the team Zach Parise is the star of the line, currently 5th in the league in points with 92. Parise has 43 goals and 49 assists on the year.

Buffalo actually helped the Devils chase of Capitals for the 2nd seed last night with an overtime win in Washington. Sabres goalie Ryan Miller is 3-0-1 since returning from an ankle injury. The Devils can tie the Capitals for the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference with a win tonight as the Caps are off.

5-4 OT win over Lightning

The Devils snapped a six game losing streak with a much needed win over the Tampa Bay Lightning last night. On a night where the Devils celebrated Martin Brodeur’s win #552, it was only fitting that Marty was given the night off but eventually had to come in the game to get the win. Kevin Weekes, who let in a soft goal in the first period, went down in the opening minute of the 2nd period and had to leave the game due to a leg injury.

Hopefully the injury is nothing major, although Weekes did look to be in intense pain as he couldn’t put weight on the injured leg when leaving the ice. The injury means that the Devils will be calling up Scott Clemmensen to backup Marty.

To say this game did not have numerous odd twists and turns is an understatement. The turning point in the game had to be Brendan Shanahan’s penalty shot goal in the 2nd period. With the Devils down 2-0, Shanahan nearly made the game 2-1 on the power play but it turned out that it was not a goal. Shortly after Mike Mottau dumped the puck in off the glass and it took a weird bounce towards the net, forcing goalie Karri Ramo to throw his stick towards the puck which gave the Devils a penalty shot. Sutter chose to go with the veteran Shanahan who scored five-hole on Ramo getting the Devils on the board.

Jay Pandolfo played a good game, netting his first goal since December 30th. The biggest factor of the night however was the ZZ Pops line, contributing 8 points overall as opposed to the 6 points they had during the 6 straight losses. Jamie Langenbrunner had 2 goals and an assist, while Zajac had two assists, one of which was the beautiful pass that connected with Parise for the game winning goal in overtime.

Parise also had 2 assists on the game bringing his season point total to 92 points. Zach is only 4 points away from tying Patrik Elias’s team record of 96 points. Zach also did his best Ovechkin impression after the goal, jumping into the glass and getting mobbed by his teammates. The look on many of the players faces was a look of relief to finally get a win. It is pretty clear that when this line is productive the Devils win games.

Marty Brodeur certainly did not look comfortable having to come in as a replacement, but he did get the job done. Marty allowed 3 goals on 10 shots in his first relief appearance since March 1998. Although the team admitted that the game was not one of their best, they got the much needed win and the team definitely showed more intensity than games past.

The Devils now have 100 points on the year and can clinch the division title tonight with a win and Flyers loss to Ottawa. This is the fifth time in six seasons the Devils have reached the century mark. The Devils will be facing the Buffalo Sabres tonight at 7 PM. Buffalo is looking to keep their slim playoff hopes alive, as a loss tonight would put the 8th seed in the playoffs further out of reach.

Devils vs. Lightning 4/3/09 7:00 PM

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A little over two weeks ago on St. Patty’s Day in the Rock, history was made when Marty Brodeur held the Chicago Blackhawks to two goals and sealed win #552. At the time it was easy to say most Devil fans were on cloud 9. Since that game, the Devils have managed to go 1-6-1, with six losses in a row going into tonight.

Tom Gulitti has reported that Patrik Elias will not be playing along with Martin Brodeur, who will get the night off to enjoy the events. It is a bit odd that Marty won’t be playing on his own night. At the same time it’s understandable to give Marty a break as the Devils are playing back to back games with Buffalo on Saturday. Kevin Weekes, who is 7-5 with a 2.40 GAA, could use a start to stay fresh as he hasn’t started since March 18th.

The good news is that the Devils will be at home, where they are 26-11-1 this season. The crowd should also be good to celebrate Marty’s win. The blessing in disguise was announced yesterday when Vinny Lecavalier chose to undergo season ending surgery. Tampa has dropped 4 in a row and being without their second leading scorer and captain certainly doesn’t help their chances. The Devils have beaten the Lightning all three times they faced each other, and Weekes has won two of them.

There has been a decent amount of rumors floating around that Lou might fire Brent Sutter due to this recent collapse, but Lou came out yesterday and confirmed that thought has not even crossed his mind. I think people forget that Lou fired a perfectly good coach in Claude Julien to get Brent Sutter. Brent has also stepped up taking full responsibility for the downturn and has said that “I want the heat put on me” as he feels accountable for the slump.

Sutter is a stand up guy and I have no complaints for him as a coach, I just wish our players would follow his example. There is too much leadership on this team with former cup winners and future hall of famers that this sort of thing should not be allowed to continue. The bottom line is we will find out tonight at 7 PM when the puck drops at the Prudential Center. Let’s go Devils!

*Just a note: Tonight’s festivities will be hosted by Mike Emrick and will last around 15 minutes. Devils ownership, his teammates and Commissioner Gary Bettman will present Marty with a few gifts. It is not known if Marty will address the crowd.

State of Panic

If you would have asked any Devil fan just two weeks ago if they thought the team would struggle and drop 6 games in a row near the end of the season, I’m sure you would hear plenty of laughs. Not only has this become true, Devil fans worldwide are panicking like the second coming of Y2K and rightfully so. The Devils continued their passive style of play to a 6-1 loss at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

As a New York Mets fan, it’s sad to say I’m getting used to seeing my team fall apart late in the season. The Mets have done it twice in the last two seasons, and it seems as if the Devils are poised to do the same. Since the big win #552 on Mar. 17th, the Devils have gone 1-5-1. One of the main reasons that the Devils have been in this downward spiral is the lack of discipline. The Devils have taken a whopping total of 70 penalty minutes in the last 4 games. Add to that that the defense has given up an average of 41 shots in the last 4 games, and Marty giving up 22 goals in the last 6 games, it sums up to a team that has utterly fallen apart in all areas at the worst possible time.

Last night was the first game of the year that I was tempted to turn the game off early but I didn’t. Now I know a great deal has been said that the Penguins are favored by the referee’s, and I believe the ref’s did do a poor job last night, the fact of the matter is Pittsburgh was the better team and wanted it more. I have to say Evgeni Malkin is just as exciting to watch as Ovechkin if not more so. The guy can fly with or without the puck.

The only goal in the past two games was scored by Brian Gionta, who aside from Parise I believe is the best forward on the team right now. He has been stepping it up the past couple of games and deserved to get rewarded. The loss of Elias definitely hurts but this team needs to find a way to step up on Friday whether he plays or not.

Playing a bad team like the Tampa Bay Lightning on the night you are celebrating Marty’s 552 record should be a definite win. I believe it’s going to be a make or break night as they have been unbeatable at home aside from the hiccup last week and a seven game losing streak just cannot happen. Having said that, I’m starting to question my faith in the team at the moment.

6-1 Loss to the Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins ensured that more will be said about a New Jersey Devil’s collapse with a 6-1 win on Wednesday night. The Penguins, knowing the pressure was on the Devils to pull out a win, jumped on the scoreboard early with 2 goals and essentially controlled the flow of the game from then on. Brian Gionta managed to end the Devils scoring drought with a goal in the first, but the lack of a capable defense and offense led to a shooting contest for Pittsburgh.

The offense of the Devils put up a meager 24 shots to go with the lone goal which translated to an easy night for Marc-Andre Fleury. Sidney Crosby continued his point streak to 16 games with a goal and assist and is just 1 point shy of 100 points on the year. Evgeni Malkin also was a huge factor, dominating the game when he was on the ice and had a power-play goal.

The highlight of the game for Devil fans had to be Brent Sutter walking across the ice to yell at the refs. Now Sutter had a good reason to be yelling as Hal Gill came off the bench at the end of the period and went after Clarkson who had been in a scrum with Crosby earlier. Sutter’s complaint was that a brawl could have broke out because the ref’s didn’t have things in order, which is true but it is still sad to see that Sutter has more intensity than the rest of the team. Maybe Dainus Zubrus will finally wake up after being knocked around the entire game yesterday.

There were a few questionable or missed calls from the game last night. Zach Parise was struck in the face with a stick in front of a ref but there was no call. The Mike Rupp penalty that led to Sidney Crosby’s goal in the 2nd was very questionable but the fact of the matter is even with the missed calls the Devils would have lost. The Devils have been outscored 22-7 during this six game losing streak and the offense was anemic again last night.

Brent Sutter said after the game that this Penguins team is a “different team” and he is definitely right. The Devils, with 98 points and the Atlantic Division lead currently, need to start checking their rear-view mirror for the red hot Penguins with 92 points. The Devils are going to have to turn things around Friday night at home against Tampa Bay. The night should bring a decent crowd as the Devils are honoring Martin Brodeur for setting the all-time wins record.

Here’s a video of Clarkson putting down Guerin in hopes to cheer Devil’s nation up (It seemed like Clarkson and Guerin both said something along the lines of “good fight” to each other after which is pretty cool):