As well he should. And also perhaps the MVP of the league, though there was pretty much no doubt Sid the Kid was going to snag that one. But dang, THIRD in MVP voting??? That's just a sin, especially considering Luongo got 2nd, and the only feat he accomplished was eating Brodeur's dust in setting wins for a season. Pssh.
Nice goat, Marty.
I hear it, a voice from the distance. It's Kelly Clarkson. What the flip? Wait......she's singing. What's the song? I think it's called "Since You've Been Gone." I think, yes, she must be, asking me via song. I think it's a personal message directed towards me. How odd.
Hmm.........what's happened since I've been gone? What's happened in the span of a month?
Well..............
The Mavericks blew one of the best records in the NBA by losing in the first round to the Golden State Warriors. #1 losing to #8 had NEVER happened in the history of a 7-game series. That was painful.
Three days later, the New Jersey Devils lost to the Ottawa Senators, who I proclaimed would be the next Stanley Cup Champions. They got off to a bit of a bumpy road, losing the first game of the Finals to the Anaheim Ducks, but I still believe they are the better team. If Ottawa prevails, it will be the second year in a row that the Devils have lost to the eventual Stanley Cup Champions. Not an encouraging stat, but it does soften the blow a bit.
The Reds, since I posted, have been downright awful and it's a new problem all the time. Hitting goes flat, defense goes awful, pitching goes softball. You name it, it's happened. Sitting at 19-33 is not a pretty sight, that's for sure. They returned basically the same ballteam as 2006, although probably a little improved. Who would have guessed? Well, they are right where many pundits predicted, in dead last. Sad to see it happen like that.
Thankfully, the Raiders haven't played any games, so they haven't had a chance to go awry.
But dang, do I not deserve some love? I'd like to think so, after having 3 of my 4 teams crash and burn so badly in such a short span of time. Being such a diehard fan, I thought I'd be losing my mind, wallowing around in depression, but thankfully I'm doing a lot better than I thought I would be. Not sure how, but that's how it goes. I guess life > sports. Or something like that. That's what we tell the grandkids, anyway.
Alright I had a huge post but then it got erased, so that blows.
In short, the Devils had to win this game. Not technically, but you don't want to go down 2-0, especially losing both at home. That goal in double overtime by Jamie Langenbrunner may have changed this series around.
The Devils flat-out dominated the first period, leading in shots on goal by 16-5. Then they stopped. The rest of the game, the Senators outshot the Devils 40-17. While it was bad, it wasn't as bad as it seems due to the many missed shots by the Devils, whether due to aim or deflection. So it was a little more even than it appears, but it was pretty bad to put up 4 shots on goal in the 2nd and 3rd periods. The defensive dominance in the first period gave way to goaltending dominance, with Brodeur stopping 43/45 shots for the 3rd star when it probably should have been the first star.
The goal with 3/10ths of a second left in the first period was huge for the Devils. If they don't get that goal, they don't win the game. It helped a lot.
Still annoying that the Devils sat back and waited for the Senators to come at them. They got lucky they only let in 2 goals, but Brodeur was back there making sensational plays. But that's not the way to play the game, as John F. definitely agrees with me over at In Lou We Trust. Go check his blog out every dang day because it blows mine away. Props to Tom Lycan as well for posting within seconds after the victory was completed.
It was a good win, but it could have been a terrible loss due to the fact that the Devils exhibited no offensive pressure throughout the rest of the game. I would imagine that to be fixed come Game 3.
I wasn't around for hardly any of this game, so I won't pretend like I was. And I'm fairly glad I wasn't, to be honest.
Sure, the Devils came back from 4-0 down to get to 4-3, and then from 5-3 to get to 5-4. But it might as well have been 5-0. A loss is a loss. Not that the positives for the Devils are non-existent, they were able to come back to get within striking distance and they do know that they can score on Emery if they try. But, like I say, a loss is a loss.
Everyone talks about how this series will go the distance, how it will be extremely balanced, how it will be a low-scoring affair. None of that really applied to Game 1, and the Devils might not have the firepower to go the distance for they are surely not the better team.
The thing that bothers me the most is Martin Brodeur's performance. I don't know the whole story, I don't know if the defensemen are more to blame than he is or who is to blame, I will leave that up to the other blogs who know a heckuva lot more than I do. What I do know is that 4 goals were scored on Martin Brodeur, in a row, on 9 shots in the period. We cannot afford to have Brodeur "find himself" somewhere in the middle of the series, he needs to find himself right now. Who knows, chances are high that he will bounce back considerably well in the next few games of the series, and that would be incredible if he could do so. But this may the beginning of the end for his postseason dominance. I just don't understand how it happens. Everyone warned about it, Ottawa was much deeper and much better than Tampa Bay. While they didn't have a single best line, they had infinitely better players. And that was proven, as the #1 line went wild in New Jersey. It's just tough when they clawed back with 3 solid goals, to give up another one right away to put it away at 5-3. And that goal made the difference as Parise was able to get a late goal in the game. For nothing, to be sure, but it could have been for something. Brodeur did get better after that first period, but who wouldn't? When I stopped in to check the score, saw it was 4-0 in the first, I was almost positive I would see a different goaltender in net. I realize it's Brodeur, but still, I was a little surprised. He was able to get somewhat of an edge back, but that's hard to deal with. It's nice to know the Devils can score, that's pretty cool. But they need to play extremely better if they are to have a chance with this team, this team that is dang, dang good. They could be gone pretty soon if they don't.
This one was fun to watch, as it was actually on TV.
Although he let in two goals as opposed to shutting them out, Brodeur was the man in this game. Sure, Gionta got two goals and huge ones at that. But Brodeur made the difference and should have been the first star of the game, stopping 32 of 34 shots. He was dang good. Richards had his number, twice turning 2-goal leads into a single goal difference, both times on the power play. That is one aspect that the Devils will have to clean up. They took way too many penalties, and it cost them twice in this game and it could have been even more times, but thankfully that was all they were allowed. Still, this is a problem area. A lot of the time they were just skating around and poking at pucks instead of attacking the puck or at least the puck-carrier. Way too much time spent in the Devils zone.
As for the positive things, the Devils got a lot of rushes. They were content to play in their zone or in neutral ice, but recognized when they had the opportunity and took advantage of it. Elias had a nice pass to Gionta and Gionta was able to rip it past Holmqvist. Looked like a basic shot, but Holmqvist didn't square it up and he paid the price. That was a power play goal, as was the next one as Rafalski slammed one in there at the beginning of the 2nd period to make it 2-0. Richards came back with a goal. Then Gionta got his second one of the day on an extremely easy play. He and Elias were in front of the net and Kuba crashed into Holmqvist while Gionta was plenty patient with the puck, finally putting it past the goalie when he had no chance to stop it. Richards then got another power play goal and that was it for the scoring. No scoring in the third period, but still intense action. The Devils actually looked better at the end of the game when Tampa pulled the goalie. That was pretty weird. But they were able to control the final few minutes and celebrated the moving on to the Eastern Semis to face the Ottawa Senators.
It's weird because I watched the game, and I've hardly seen any Devils games this year, and I don't have much to write about. It was cool. It was very nerve-wracking at the end of the game, when I was waiting for the inevitable tie game because the Lightning always get 3 goals. But not this time. 12 goals the first 4 games, and 2 goals the next 2.
A winnable, but hard series is coming up with Ottawa. Due to re-seeding, the #1 Sabres will face the #6 Rangers while the #2 Devils will face the #4 Senators. I was very nervous about this series with Tampa Bay and their offense, but the Devils were able to roll off 3 straight wins and they looked decent at times and very good at other times. I am particularly glad to see Brodeur back on top of things, he seems to be in the zone. Ottawa has a very capable offense as well and a goalie who doesn't mind dropping the gloves and decking somebody in the face. Should be a good series. Rock on.
There it was. The game we've all been waiting for.
If you look at the stats, particularly the 31-14 shots on goal in favor of Tampa Bay, you never would have guessed that this was the game the Devils win 3-0. It just didn't look like it. But it was all about Martin Brodeur, and to a lesser extent, about the multitude of blocked shots by the Devils defensemen.
It's hard to complain when you win 3-0, that's for sure. The extremely low shots on goal tally was a nuisance, though. But you can't say the Devils didn't play smart hockey. They did. They contained and were physical. The defense had lapses as they always do, and some of them almost cost the Devils, but Marty was there making 31 saves on 31 shots. It's about dang time. That gets everybody pumped up, and a huge win to push the series in the Devils favor. They will be riding the momentum high tomorrow afternoon as they try to wrap it up in Florida. Andy Greene got the scoring going midway through the first, Gionta had a nice goal on a very nice play midway through the second period, and Gomez threw one into the empty net in the late stages of the game.
Not much else to say, it was beautiful. The energy was definitely there, and the intellect as well. What was annoying happened at the end of the game when Torterella thought it appropriate to rack up as many game misconducts and fighting penalties as possible, sending out the goons to rough up the Devils players. It was a classless act, and one that hopefully not only gets the Lightning revved up, but also gets the Devils ready to deliver some punishment. I understand he needs to send a message to his team, but that was pretty dumb. Other than that, no complaints about the game. A good one, a truly good one.
The Devils are the only team left in the East still battling in a series and that outcome will decide many things in the East due to re-seeding. Either the Devils will host the Senators or the Sabres will host the Lightning.
With the Devils up 3-1 during the 2nd period, I jokingly made a comment that the game would go into overtime. When that happened, I was a little surprised. When overtime started, I made the comment (again, somewhat jokingly) that the Devils were guaranteed the win since Tampa Bay only scored thrice a game. Once again, I was right. Very weird. There it is again. Tampa Bay scored 3, the Devils just need to find a way to get more goals. They have done that twice out of the four games thus far and hopefully can find two more times in their soul.
Those self-seeking comments aside, just a HUGE sigh of relief right now. With the Devils up 3-1 and looking alright, goals in middle-to-late stages of the second period for Tampa Bay made it seem like the inevitable loss was coming. Brodeur was able to batten down the hatches in the third period and in overtime as the Devils got the overtime goal to even the series. What a huge goal. What a huge game. It just had to happen, and it did. There is quite a difference between a series being at 2-2 as opposed to 3-1. And we find ourselves tied, quite luckily I might add.
Even though they got the win, the Devils still did not inspire me. They just happened to win. They didn't quite accomplish many of the things they set out to do, namely being more physical as well as keeping St. Louis & LeCav in check. But they did win, and that makes it all the more better. If they would have lost, I would be harsher, it's true. As would we all. But I don't see much in the win to get excited about, it was the same story, just ended up with New Jersey scoring more often this time. Not anywhere as promising as Game 1, but that doesn't mean we can't get back there. I think it will help going back home, but maybe not. Nobody goes to watch.
It started off promisingly enough. There was no real fire from the Devils, but they caught a break and Oduya made a sweet play to get Gionta the puck and he was able to score early. Tampa Bay was able to get a goal not long after that, but then Zach Parise scored his 5th late in the period for a 2-1 Devils lead. The second period was just the reverse with 1 Devil goal and 2 Lightning goals. Parise started it off with a power play goal midway through the 2nd for his 6th of the playoffs (most of any skater). That was followed by the inevitable goals from St. Louis & LeCav back-to-back to tie things up. The third period was a stalemate, 10-7 in shots on goal favoring Tampa Bay as Broduer was able to stop them all. Overtime was fairly even, though the Devils finally looked awoken for a moment: realizing they were able to weather the storm through regulation, they knew there was a big difference between a loss and a win and they went after it in overtime. Brodeur stopped all 5 shots he faced, most of which came on an early power play. That could have been disastrous, but Marty was there to answer the call. Holmqvist stopped the first 7 until Gomez caught a nice bounce off a blocked puck and raced down the length of the ice, shooting it past Holmqvist for the win.
Not sure how the Three Stars system works, but Parise is nowhere to be found. In scoring two goals, his 5th & 6th of the playoffs, most of anyone (all things I've already said), his name is nowhere to be found. Gomez is the first star, because he won the game, so you give him that. Martin St. Louis had a goal and an assist, so maybe. And Holmqvist found his name there again, with 33 saves. Sad to see Holmqvist on there twice during the series and Brodeur not once. But that's how it goes sometimes. I think this game, particularly the late stages where Brodeur stopped all 15 late shots, will help him immensely heading into Game 5. That's the idea, anyway. Still didn't see a whole lot to get excited about, though the overtime was pretty decent. More of that mentally would be helpful, as well as even more physicality. And maybe some way to stop the two best shooters in the game? It's a tough task, but it can be done. Go Devils.
The Devils cannot afford to hand the Lightning 3 goals every game.
Have you ever felt so little faith in a goaltender who broke the single-season winning record?
Have you ever felt so little faith in a #2 seed?
Do you remember the Devils teams of old, especially come playoff time? Could you perchance round those Devils up and get them in uniform, preferably before the next game? Thank you, sir/ma'am.
Goals:
First Period: Filip Kuba, Lightning (shorthanded) (Perrin, Richards)
Zach Parise, DEVILS (PPG) (Rafalski, Langenbrunner)
Second Period: Jamie Langenbrunner, DEVILS (PPG) (Gionta, Elias)
Martin St. Louis, Lightning (Richards, Ward)
Third Period: Vincent Lecavalier, Lightning (Ranger, Prospal)
Shots on Goal: 36-20 DEVILS
Penalties: Devils - 6 minutes, Lightning - 10 minutes
--FIRST PERIOD--
Not a bad pace to start things off. Seems both teams are playing smart and within themselves. Rasmussen takes the early penalty for the Devils tonight, but luckily nothing got going for Tampa Bay. Brodeur got some good saves, but the Lightning don't look like they are shooting much, at least not yet. No more penalties, though. Devils have had some chances but they are playing pretty conservatively right now. Elias draws the first penalty for the Lightning, gotta go for the first goal of the game here. I smell it. Oh wow. I smell it alright, there was indeed a goal. For Tampa Bay. What a joke. This is no fun for anyone, no fun at all. The Devils were known during the year as giving up shorthanded goals, especially to Tampa Bay & Atlanta. Well, they got one here. They couldn't score on their own power play, but they scored on the Devils' power play. Frickin' junk, man. Time to stop playing conservatively. Yes, time to abandon it already. They have shot only 3 times compared to Tampa Bay's 7 already. And that gap is only going to get bigger as the Devils are going to the penalty box again. HELLO!!!!!! Wake up, people. The Devils kill another one, no damage done. Some discipline would be nice. Along with shots. Many shots. Throw the puck at the net and see what happens. It will probably work. They aren't playing very well thus far. Another power play for the Devils and nothing happens. Power play is weak thus far. Another power play for the Devils, and they almost give up another shorthanded goal. Yikes, man. And they get it done!!! Who else but Zach Parise?? The kid is A BEAST!!! That was a big one. Very nice goal right there, especially being only the 6th shot on goal. Holmqvist maybe a little shaken up mentally, that's the hope anyway. The power play wasn't particuarly amazing, but Parise was setting up shop when the rebound went right to him and he just banged it in. That always helps. Always good to get that first goal, and important to get the equalizer before the end of the period. Who is this Zach Parise kid? He's dang good is who. Wow, thankfully the Devils got out of that period as Tampa Bay applies the pressure late amidst Devils turnovers and lack of defensive pressure. Sound familiar? Look at the Game 1 recap. Dang man, I thought we were going to try and WORK on these problems. Ah, maybe not. Oh well. Tampa Bay was for sure the better team, but the scoreboard says we're even. I'll take it.
--SECOND PERIOD--
Devils look a little shaky at the beginning of this period, but nothing too severe. They look like they just need to settle down. But honestly, that should be easy for this team. Why do they look like they haven't done this before? They are having trouble clearing pucks away from the zone, a problem from the first period that is continuing so far into this one. The only thing to really get excited about is the play of Zach Parise right now, as he continues to fly around the ice and do fun things. I think the Devils have had either 3 or 4 offsides penalties in a row. At least they are trying to set things up in Tampa Bay's zone, but these offsides calls are really killing them. They need to get shots on goal and still can't quite figure out how to do that. Maybe soon. Parise registers the first shot in the second period, naturally. Zajac gets his turn and blasts one straight on at Holmqvist for the easy save. Not a bad shot, though. Heck, it was a SHOT. More of those, please. Madden and Pandolfo get in on the action and the Devils appear to have woken up a little bit, thank goodness. Tampa Bay presses and gets some shots of their own, but Broduer sees them all cleany. Brylin gets a miniature breakaway but can't get one past Holmqvist. Next time, buddy. Devils are looking much better this time around, moving the puck around quite well and taking some good shots, the shots are just not falling in the right place. They are doing well keeping things in Tampa Bay's zone, which has been hard to come by in this series. The forecheck has marginally improved, but even a marginal improvement is a big one, if that makes any sense. Holmqvist does look quite a bit different tonight, he's got the edge. Which is annoying, but you gotta figure he's going to bring it this time around. Oh, the Devils had a couple of amazing chances, but Holmqvist denied Parise and then Gionta. Dang. The Devils have really picked it up and they are taking it to the Lightning right now. Just nothing worked out for them. They better not get discouraged, because if they keep doing that, things will fall into place. Weird, no penalties called in this period so far. I don't really mind that too much as it clearly favors the Devils. I guess it makes sense that Tampa Bay was the better team the first period, the Devils are the better team right now, and it's tied. It makes sense. I just think the Devils easily could be up 2-1, but Holmqvist for his part has been handling things pretty well. Shots are 11-2 in favor the Devils, that's just ridiculous. Great stuff, but nothing going on. First penalty called, it's on Tampa Bay. Which could be good or bad, considering goals for both teams were scored on Devils power plays. Devils look decent, but not much going on. Ooh, a PRIME opportunity now as Elias gets taken down. 5-on-3 for a little bit. No excuses now. No excuses at all, as Jamie Langenbrunner puts it home!!!! The Devils are one of the better 5-on-3 teams, but 5-on-3's are nice for everybody. Good movement, good spacing, good puckwork and finally found the wide-open Langebrunner in front of the net. Holmqvist had some nice saves before then, but he missed Jamie L. Very nice work right there. The Devils are doing what everybody wants them to do and that is throwing the puck at the net. 17-2 shots on goal right now, crazy stuff. Not just throwing pucks either, they are being smart about it. Big save Brodeur on LeCav, I almost forgot about Brodeur as Tampa Bay has simply not been shooting the puck this period. You have to be kidding me. Tie game. St. Louis of course. With a rifle. Brodeur might have had a chance, but dang. That's a tough one. New Jersey DOMINATED the period and they get nothing out of it, it's a tie game once more. Late goals have hurt the Devils many times this year and this one really hurts as they should have gotten out of the period with a lead. They better not get too disheartened about it, another period like this one and they win it. It's just a tough thing. Gotta shrug it off. Regroup.
--THIRD PERIOD--
Early goal by LeCav. Is he truly that unstoppable? Fairly even, but sloppy play. Sloppy being the Devils for the most part. What can they do? If they can't play good defense, they have no chance just because the Lightning are one of the best offensive teams in the NHL. They can turn it on at a moment's notice. All of this stuff was said last game, so I hate repeating myself but the same symptoms are showing themselves here. I thought Lou was all about discipline and awesome things, but I am not seeing many awesome things except the many shots in the second period. Devils still own on shots on goal and will no doubt end the game on top. Sadly, that makes Holmqvist the more effective goaltender with a far better save percentage. Brodeur may have had better individual saves, but he has been the 2nd-best goalie tonight. Which is pretty dang sad when you think about it. Credit Holmqvist for most of that, though. Devils are trying, but they are not playing with the sense of urgency they will need. I would imagine that to change as time is flying by and the minutes are winding down. Brodeur has shut down the few Tampa Bay chances, it's up to the offense to get it going now. Not much time left. Gomez with a chance but another offsides. Is anyone keeping a tally on how many times? Absurd. Devils with some good chances late, but not enough. Penalty on the Devils as they turn it over for about the 25th time and that just about seals the deal. No chance now. Brodeur is off and it's 5-on-5 again. Very risky move, but LeCav takes down Gionta and now it's 5-on-4 for 18 seconds. It could happen. Very slim chance, but it's worth hanging around for. Gionta with a nice chance, but it's not enough. We're headed to Florida with the series tied. If the Lightning continue scoring 3 goals every game, the Devils are done for.
Goals:
First Period: Zach Parise, DEVILS (no assist)
Patrik Elias, DEVILS, PPG (Gomez, Rafalski)
Martin St. Louis, Lightning, PPG (Richards, Boyle)
Second Period: Brian Rafalski, DEVILS, PPG (Gomez, Langenbrunner)
Vincent Lecavalier, Lightning (no assist)
Third Period: Vincent Lecavalier, Lightning (Prospal, St. Louis)
Zach Parise, DEVILS (Langenbrunner)
Brian Gionta, DEVILS (Gomez, Elias)
Shots on Goal: 26-24 Lightning
Penalties: Devils - 12 minutes, Lightning - 6 minutes
Nice to be back again. School is crazy right now, but I simply must take time out to cover the playoffs. Hockey playoffs are sweet except for the fact that almost all of the games are on some obscure TV station and not one that I actually get on my television. Unfortunately, that also includes Versus. Anyway, here we go.
--FIRST PERIOD--
Not a bad start, would be better if Oduya would get his frickin' act together. Sheesh. Twice times he pulled a holding call when somebody else was already in the box. These are the two best teams in terms of not being penalized, and this has been a parade to the box all night. What a joke. Anyway, Brodeur didn't face many shots, shut most of them down, but couldn't handle a 5-on-3, which is pretty understandable. The Devils got an early goal from Zach Parise, which is awesomebe cause many of the previews said the Devils young blood has to get hot, and that's what happened. Even better though is that Patrik Elias scored. Better for me, because we need all the major players. Gionta, Gomez, Elias, Langenbrunner, Madden - all those guys who you think of as being Devils. He got a nice pass from Gomez and just slammed it in. Two fairly easy goals and they were shutting down Tampa Bay for the most part. Hard to completely shut down such scorers as Brad Richards, Martin St. Louis, and Vincent LeCavalier forever, especially in dealing with penalties. I think if the Devils stick to 5-on-5 hockey, they can do it. They can't let up, though. They need to keep going strong. You can tell they really feel this is the playoffs. If there was one team to bet on for turning on their game come playoff time, it's the New Jersey Devils. That's always a good feeling. Gotta watch out for the Lightning, though. Gotta pound that weak goalie.
--SECOND PERIOD--
Patrik Elias with another power play goal? It's too dang good to be true, my friends. Except this time wasn't really his own doing, he just happened to be in the right place after Ralf let it rip. Ralf gets an assist, but on those shots, I feel like giving him the goal. Just because it touched Elias along the way doesn't mean that Elias scored it. Unless he did. Ah well. Another goal. Good start. Have to do it. Must not stop. Lots of nothing went on, not even any penalties, until somehow LeCavalier got the puck behind the net, wrapped it around, and it went in behind Marty Brodeur. Always. Always with this guy. How does he score those dang goals every time? The scary part about this series is that the Devils aren't known for scoring many goals, and even when they get 3 goals in a period and a half, it's not enough. Tampa Bay can come back from any deficit - they can score at will. It's a scary thought. Defense must dominate here, they need to choke as much life out of the Lightning offense as possible. Can it be done? We can only hope. The radio is randomly alternating between live action and commercials. It's really pissing me off. Well, I'll be darned, they did change the Elias goal to a Rafalski goal. Good for him. Hard to understand how they got it wrong or how they know they got it right. Anyway, I am much more satisfied, maybe Elias will feel that he got screwed over and will want to score another one. That couldn't hurt right now. Elias almost got one, but not quite. Same for Gomez. The Lightning definitely picked it up in this period, with a lot more opportunities and a lot more reckless play. Brodeur came up with two huge stops, one on LeCav and the other on St. Louis. The two guys with the goals. Truly, other than Richards, there is nobody on this team, but they were good enough to almost get #3 in the East, that's just how dang good those 3 players are. Ridiculous. The Devils just need to hold on. They got a couple good chances, but played a little more loose and Tampa Bay was all over the place. Need to find a way to slow down the pace and preserve the lead, maybe even extend it.
--THIRD PERIOD--
Quick flurry of shots by Tampa Bay. Brodeur flat out robs Tarnasky, that was pretty amazing right there. And now the Devils 3-1 lead becomes a tie game at 3-3. Did I not go over this? You can never let up on Tampa Bay. No lead is safe. They can score on a whim. Who can score? Those 3 dang guys. Nobody else matters. Crush them, squeeze them, trap them, hook them, slap them, punch them. Sickening. The Devils cannot afford to get into a scoring match with this team, it just can't be done. Well, consider me wrong momentarily as Zach Parise gets his 2nd goal of the night on a pretty nice play and the Devils regain the lead. We know the Lightning can do this, it's weird for the Devils to do it, but I don't mind. If they want to score a lot of goals, go ahead. They might need it for this series, thank goodness for Zachary Parise, my dear friends. What a kid. Now we need some defense or something crazy like that. For the moment, it seems there might be some reasonable hockey action going on. It would clearly be in the Devils best interest to slow down the pace of the game. The Devils are playing smartly, now. They are still being opportunistic but are being less risky about it. That's how they're going to have to do it if they want to hold onto this lead. It's a dangerous place to be. Tampa Bay is turning on the juice yet again, but Brodeur got big saves on Prospal and St. Louis. Brodeur has allowed 3 goals on 18 shots, not great, but they have been tough shots, and on top of that, he has made some dang tough saves. Not a wonderful start, but he's doing what he can. He needs more help than what he is getting. HUGE TEST for the Devils right as the first penalty is called in the final frame, and they are now on the penalty kill thanks to Parise's slash. Not much time left in the game, a good kill here would be very helpful to icing this one. Not icing in the rulebook way, but on wrapping it up. You know. The power play is over for Tampa Bay, but they remain in control. Scary stuff here, it's getting late. Just hang on, buddies. You can do it. Thanks to that power play, the Lightning now have more shots on goal than the Devils, 23 to 22. The Devils have a great record when they shoot more. Hopefully they can get some more shots in, maybe even an insurance goal. AND AS SOON AS I SAY IT, AN INSURANCE GOAL IS SCORED!!!!!!!! Wow, I am so good. In what may be the worst play of the playoffs, Holmqvist sent the puck out instead of covering it up, turning it over to Elias, who gave it to Gomez who gave it to Gionta who scores! Game over, baby. The Lightning go down swinging, but they go down nonetheless. Very, very nice. I would not be surprised to see Marc Denis in net Saturday night. I would have expected Holmqvist, but after that critical mistake, it's hard to believe he'll be the goalie.
So, there it is. The Islanders are in, the Maple Leafs are out, the Devils don't change their position, and Brodeur doesn't pick up any more wins. But that's primarly because he didn't play.
Brodeur was rested on the final game of the year in favor of Scott Clemmensen. Clemmy actually played pretty well, but going into the shootout, you didn't feel very good with such an unproven guy out there, and sure enough, he didn't come through. Some guy named Doublewide, who is the 3rd-string goale for the Islanders, won the game and sent them into the playoffs. Yeah, that's right. Dublewizthtchshjz won the game. Why in the world, if this game meant so much to the Islanders, would they start him? Apparently America's Goalie was still hurt and Dunham inspired no confidence. Whatever. It worked. The Islanders were up 2-0 late, but the Devils got 2 very late goals to send it to overtime. Nothing worked there, so it was a shootout. And you know what happens from there.
The Devils didn't need to win, so they didn't. Not a big deal. It would have been nice to end the season with a win, especially at home where the Devils have struggled recently. It's just very annoying because I want to keep the Atlantic Division rivals out of the playoffs as much as possible, and 4 of the 5 teams are in the playoffs. That's a lot. The Flyers had no chance, being the worst team in the league. But the Penguins, Rangers, and Islanders are in. The weird thing is that no team is playing each other. They are #2, #4, #6, and #8. Very, very odd. Oh well. I hope everyone loses but the Devils, that's for sure.
Which brings me up to my next point. Will the Devils win? They play the Tampa Bay Lightning for sure now. It's settled. The Devils haven't been good at home and haven't been good vs. the Lightning. Anything can change come playoff time, and I would expect to see different results against the team. But they are a threat to score at any time. They are a good team. This may very well be the hardest test the Devils may face. If they play the winner of Ottawa/Pittsburgh, they could beat either team. Then they could beat Buffalo, assuming they come out of things. Tampa Bay might be the hardest individual matchup, and that's scary. We'll see how things go. It's playoff time now!
GO DEVILS!!
What did I miss?
Raiders - Nothing.
Reds - Of course my computer goes down just as the MLB season gets underway. Reds currently stand at 4-1, taking 2/3 from the Cubs and the first 2 from the Pirates. The Cubs series was pretty good; Harang dominated, Arroyo was solid but just got outdeuled by Ted Lilly, Lohse did surprisingly well in the finale and the Reds did just enough to win their games. The freezing cold game yesterday against the Pirates went well. It looked like Belisle was going to be pretty shaky, but he settled down and turned in a great performance. The game today was also freezing cold, and the most back-and-forth the Reds have gone all season, but ultimately coming out on top. The big story this year is the bullpen, they have been simply dominant. I am particularly pleased with Victor Santos who has pitched out of 2 very tough situations so far. But everyone is playing really well, the only exception was Jared Burton, but hopefully he can figure things out. Apparently Milton pitches tomorrow. Happy Easter? We'll see, looks like we'll need the offense rolling on this one.
Mavericks - A bit cold as of late. Lost to Phoenix yet again, that sucked. Also lost to the Nuggets last night in probably their worst loss of the year. It was just painful to watch. What do they say, idiocy is when you try the same thing every time expecting a different result? Something like that. Well, that's what they did. They did beat the Kings in there somewhere, but they had their first losing road trip, 1-2. Hopefully they won't enter the playoffs looking lame, but they haven't looked great lately.
Devils - Well, I missed a ton. Brodeur goes out and beats Bernie Parent's single-season wins record. Parent had 47, Brodeur has 48 and maybe will end up with 49. Parent was extremely gracious about it, as was Brodeur. It was just a good all-around deal. Great for Brodeur! I am so pumped for the guy. As well as the Devils in general, as they locked up #2 in the East and also set the franchise record for wins in a season (49). Just a great year. Awesome stuff. And yet, maybe this is just me, it didn't feel like the Devils best year. This doesn't feel like 1995 or 2000 or 2003. Not just because the Devils ended up winning the Stanley Cup, but they don't seem as dominant. And yet, here they are, with the most wins of any Devils team, and the most wins by Brodeur in his career. So you'd think you could feel great about it. Don't get me wrong, I do feel very good about it. It's just that, something seems to be missing. They don't seem as dominant as many other Devils teams. Maybe I can be proved wrong. Maybe they will steamroll teams in the playoffs. That would be great. Looks like the first-round matchup will be with the Tampa Bay Lightning, though. That could be very, very dangerous. Hopefully things can be better against them than the results we have seen in the regular season. Let's hope.
I really should be doing homework.
Anyway, the Devils won. At home. That's good because it hadn't happened for a while. But they beat the worst team in the league and that is that.
It was a true score of 2-1, that's when I mean when I talk about the game being 3-1 but the last goal was by the team that was winning after they threw the puck in the empty net. So yes, the game was 2-1.
It started off bad enough for the Devils. Lack of discipline leading to penalties, not skating well, missing pucks all over the place, missing passes to each other, looking sluggish on offense and failing to get into position on defense. They played a pretty bad first period and didn't play much better for most of the second, but it was about even in the middle of the period and then the Devils took over late in the second, scoring both of their goals in the final 2 minutes of the period. First was Mike Rupp with a nice goal, then it was Zajac on the power play shoving one at the goal with hardly any time remaining and it went in. Brodeur had the shutout going until late in the game when Simon Gagne, of course, slammed one in there. The Devils hung on for the win.
Despite the poor play of the Devils, Broduer only saw 15 shots. That's pretty dang impressive. They went from 8 shots on goal in the first period to only 7 the rest of the game, with a measly 2 shots in the final period. One of which went in, as I recall.
Anyway, good win for the Devils to reassert themselves over a far inferior team. The team got a boost with John Madden's return, but also lost Gomez early in the game and for the rest of the game. So they could have been downhearted about that, but they didn't let it show. I don't know the status of Gomez, but hopefully it's not a big deal.
Interesting note: the Devils dominated the faceoffs, 32 to 15. That might be their best positive differential of the year, since they are usually not a good faceoff time. Not sure what it meant, probably that the Flyers aren't great.
Kara Yorio says Brodeur beats Crosby by a nose:
The best part of this whole thing is that these are two teams battling for the Atlantic Division, currently tied with 100 points apiece. Great stuff. Does the winner of that battle win the MVP? I'd hope not, whether it's the Devils or Penguins. Marty deserves it. He has been a little off his game of late, but what a season he has had. Nice to see some national recognition for it all.Comparing a skater to a goalie is always unfair. There is no way to deny that the goalie has a bigger effect on the game's outcome. With the greatest respect for the amazing season from the 19-year-old Penguin, that's just the way it is, and it takes the trophy out of his hands.
This tight race goes to Brodeur, your 2006-07 Hart Trophy winner.
Dang. Tough loss. They all are at this point, let's be honest.
I actually got to listen to the game this team. It had its moments but it just seemed like a hockey game. Wasn't a whole lot going on. I mean, there were plenty of goals, it just wasn't very exciting to me, that's all. The Devils actually played pretty well, which is a good thing I guess, going into the playoffs. I would prefer to have them winning heading into the playoffs, but at least they are playing well. That Clarkson guy sure has been doing pretty good.
The game felt like it was pretty much a two-goal lead throughout, but the Sabres didn't have that actual lead until the beginning of the third period. The game actually ended up being 4-2, but Parise chipped in a meaningless goal with a few seconds remaining. What can you do? They played a better team last night. Paul Martin's goal in the middle of the third made it 3-2 and you could smell that maybe something was in the works, but 2 minutes the Sabres got that tw0-goal lead back up and it was clearly over.
Gotta keep trying. Where's Brodeur these days?
Whew. And a big whew. So maybe WHEW. And so forth and so on.
On a night where the Devils needed to win to keep pace with the Penguins, they did so. The teams remain tied at 98 points, each snagging a playoff berth last night with their respective victories. This will be a dogfight until the end folks. For team morale and fan morale, it would make sense for the Devils to be the #2 seed. But, like I've said before, it might work in the Devils favor if they were to lose the Atlantic to the Pens and ended up #4 or #5. Granted, it wouldn't be great to face the hot Ottawa Senators, but do you really want to see a matchup against either the Atlanta Thrashers and Tampa Bay Lightning as the #7 team? I know I don't. Either way, I look forward to the playoffs, although I'm not optimistic.
No doubt it helped to have DiPietro on the shelf for tonight's game. I would much rather face Mike Dunham than America's Goalie, but that doesn't mean the Devils were handed the handicap and the win. They still had to earn it, which they did.
Zach Parise scored a career-high and a team-high 30th goal last night. And it was a power play goal on top of that. And it wasn't the only power play goal of the night for the Devils! David Clarkson, who has been far more impressive than I would have imagined, scored on the power play late in the game as well. Gomez had the other goal, and Elias got the assist on his Welcome Back! tour. Very nice. Goals for the Islanders were Yashin on the power play to make it 2-1 Devils and Jason Blake (of course) late in the game to make it 3-2, which was the final margin. Shots on goal were clearly in the Devils favor, as was the hustle factor.
It was nice to see the Devils play like this. Even the victory against the Panthers was shaky, this one was good. Good to see the Devils still have "it" whatever that may be. Also good to see Langenbrunner back in action and he got 20 minutes. Eric Rasmussen is back and got 16 minutes. Madden & Gionta are still out, but hopefully they will be coming back soon so we can put our complete team together. But the people, such as Clarkson, that don't really play much for the team are filling in admirably well.
Gotta keep up with the Pens, that's for sure. Or make them keep up with the Devils. Should be a good race. At least I'm excited about the Devils again, they looked GOOD.
Wait, the Devils won?
Cool.
It was on my birthday, too. March 24. 1986. Back in the day, you know.
Jim Dowd had a 2-goal night, each goal tying up the score. So they were big. Very big. He played well and he needs to as the Devils have many of their forwards out. Another new forward who is playing simply because there need to be enough bodies, David Clarkson, scored a power play goal, his second of the year. Good for him. Shots on goal were even, faceoffs were pretty even with Florida winning slightly more. New Jersey only took one penalty on Cam Janssen's slash.
The shootout was exciting as both Parise and Zajac scored, Zajac scoring the game winner. Not sure if he is a body I would put out there for a shootout, but again you take what you have and the Devils were and have been shorthanded for some time now. And he ended up winning the game, so that was good.
Devils maintain the Atlantic Division lead over Pittsburgh, 96-94, and now have a couple days off to hopefully get somebody healthy. Islanders on Tuesday in a potential first-round matchup.
Three losses in a row. 4 out of 5. 4 out of 7 in the month.
Not much you can do. Injuries are there, but you have to be able to rise above the injuries. Broduer hasn't been the same for quite some time. Thankfully the Penguins have stalled a couple times, but it almost seems inevitable that the Devils lose the Atlantic now.
This team knows how to beat the Devils, making a secound-round matchup (if the Devils remain #2) something nobody wants to see. But let's be honest, do we want to see this team in the playoffs against anybody right now? No.
Martin St. Louis took it to the Devils hard last night, scoring twice in the third period to gain the lead and extend the lead.
I never thought I'd see the day when the Minnesota Wild overtook the Devils in point standings, but it happened last night with the Wild moving from 93 to 95 and the Devils staying at 94. March has not been kind to the Devils, that's for sure.
Let's be honest, I have been so busy that it's a good thing the Devils have been losing ONLY in the sense that I don't do recaps as thorough as if they won the game. But I really have nothing much to add, I am scared for this team right now.
The Devils are moving. From the Continental Airlines Arena to the Prudential Center. "The Rock," if you will.
Just what I feared. There they go, down the tubes. They can't avoid the playoffs, they're in there. They better start acting like they want to be.
Hard to do with injuries flying in from all over the place, but possible to do. Remember when Brodeur was everyone's savior and everyone wrote a million pages on him per day? He is still amazing, but can you remember the last time people have talked about him? I mean, in a positive way, not in a he's-been-yanked-from-the-net kind of way.
Revenge, blah blah, horrible hit, blah does Cam Janssen have a soul? blah blah Kaberle blah Belak! Belak! Belak! blah blah worst hit I've ever seen blah blah REVENGE. Oh, and the Maple Leafs won the game, by the way. That's a key stat because the Devils look pretty poor right now. Stumbling into the playoffs isn't a worthwhile goal.
In a game where the shots on goal were even and the faceoffs identical, along with a close low-scoring game, it seemed everything was pretty even. Didn't feel that way, though. Felt like the Devils packed it up and were waiting for a lucky bounce instead of trying to seize the moment. Tough.
I know I'm a complainer and a pessimist. I apologize for these things, that's just my nature. I realize that if I step back and look at things, look at the win-loss-tie record, look at the points for what they are, the Devils have had a very good season and are still currently #2 in the East, no matter what it looks like. So I need some perspective. I just can't help feel like everything is falling apart.
