Devils 4, Penguins 3 (SO)

Goals:
First Period: Evgeni Malkin, Penguins (PPG) (Recchi, Crosby) Second Period: Andy Greene, Devils (PPG) (Elias, Rafalski) (FIRST CAREER GOAL)
Sergei Brylin, Devils (Oduya, Gomez)
Third Period: Sergei Gonchar, Penguins (Short) (Staal)
Travis Zajac, Devils (Langenbrunner, Parise)
Michel Ouellet, Penguins (Malkin)

Shots on Goal: 39-24 Devils

Penalties: Devils - 8 minutes, Penguins - 10 minutes

Hate to give the Penguins a point, but better to take 2 of them yourself and add an extra point between the teams in the standings.

Scrappy, hard-fought game. Emotion was running high in the closing moments of the thid period and overtime. Nice to see these two developing some hatred for each other.

Patrik Elias scores the only goal of the shootout as Brodeur shuts out the high-flying Penguins. Currently from Pittsburgh, but that's about to change it seems.

As much as this game pissed me off at times, it was pretty dang exciting. Devils should have won it in regulation, but a costly error allowed the Pens to tie it up. It's easy to get upset about allowing a shorthanded goal, but Pittsburgh is one of the best at scoring them. Lots of flashy talent.

But like I said, although it got erased and I had to start typing all over again, if you throw enough pucks at Fleury, he is susceptible to let some of those in. For all their offensive superpower, they have no reliable goaltending and it was nice to see the Devils destroy the Pens on shots on goal, shooting a lot and allowing single digits in every period. Well done. Not that the Devils were without their flaws, because they had some, but they were playing with Gionta (get well soon, little guy!) and Colin White (surprise!) but still played a pretty decent game.

Nice to see Martin Brodeur get to 40 wins this year. What a workhorse. Now that the winning is back in order, it's time to win and not let the other team get a point.

Reds 1, Yankees 1 (10) -- Tigers 9, Reds 7

The Reds remained undefeated, against one of the better teams in the league, Spring Training or not. HUGE game by Bobby Livingston, starting and pitching the first 3 innings and allowing 5 hits, but no runs and he even struck out a guy. Very solid outing which is a very big deal for him if he wants to make the team. He mowed down some of the best hitters in the game. Very impressive. The Lizard was also impressive, although allowing the only run.

Reds hitters at the top of the order were 1/12, and Jeff Conine was 2/3. Go figure that out. Votto got the RBI.

----

And then the Reds finally lose. It had to happen, but does that make these tears any more manageable? I argue not, good sir.

Harang gets the loss, and it was well deserved. He sucked it up big time. 3 innings, 7 hits, 4 earned runs, and 2 homers. He did strike out one, though, so I guess he makes the team after all. Nobody else after him pitched all that well, except Billy Bray locked up the ninth inning with 2 K's. I like that kid and sadly, he will be better than Majew, but that's easy these days. He could be something special.

Adam Dunn finally got a homer, but Bubba Crosby one-upped him getting a 3-RBI homer of his own. Hamilton and Gil got triples. Wooo!! I'm all aboard the Hamilton train, and not really because of drugs. But he is playing dang well. He wants it so bad and has earned it as far as I can tell. Let's hope so, because you know the Reds brass is keeping him anyway.

Mock Draft

Yahoo! Rd. 3 says the smart money remains on JaMarcus Russell:

Yet to make a move on adding a new quarterback, although dealing disgruntled former All-Pro wide receiver Randy Moss could open the door for a late move by Calvin Johnson to the top spot. Let's face it: How likely are the Raiders to pass on a 4.3 (40-yard dash) wide receiver with that kind of size and production if quarterback isn't the most pressing need? They still could make a move for a signal caller, especially if Houston's David Carr becomes available.

This is one of the more confusing draft takes thus far. Is he advocating for Russell, as it says, or is he advocating for Johnson, which he seems to be? Hmm.....