Game 71 Preview: New Jersey Devils vs. St. Louis Blues
by John Fischer on Mar 20, 2010 12:00 AM EDT
in Devils Game Previews
4 comments
The Time: 7 PM EDT/6 PM CDT
The Broadcast: TV: MSG+ (HD); Radio: 660 AM WFAN
The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (42-24-4) vs. the St. Louis Blues (33-28-9)
The Last Devils Game: Did the Devils fall flat on their face in Toronto? No. Did the Devils flop for a period? No. Was it a letdown after a big win over Pittsburgh? Yeah. Yann Danis sparkled in a game featuring tons of missed shots, glorious chances at the net with no goal resulting, and the Maple Leafs winning handily in the shootout. The Devils' road struggles continue regardless of picking up a point on the night. My recap of that game can be found here.
The Last Blues Game: It wasn't pretty, but it was vital. The St. Louis Blues' playoff hopes got a bit of a boost with a 4-3 win over Our Hated Rivals, the New York Rangers on Thursday. Mike Weaver scored his first goal in three years, while Paul Kariya scored the game winner, his 400th career goal in the NHL. Jeremy Ruthersford covered the game for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, serving as a good recap from a Blues' perspective as any. (Hat tip: St. Louis Game Time)
The Goal: If there's a night where the power play needs to be effective, it's tonight. The St. Louis Blues have the fourth highest penalty minute per game average in the league with 16.2 The Blues also lead the league in penalty kills, going shorthanded 290 times this season. The St. Louis penalty kill is one of the best in the league, the second most effective with a 85.7% rate. Yet, should tonight's game from St. Louis follow the stats, the Devils will have multiple power play opportunities tonight.
The power play was cited as a reason for Wednesday's shootout loss to the Maple Leafs; and as Tom Gulitti reported today, a good portion of the comments at Thursday's practice was about the power play. In fact, most of Thursday's practice was just working on the power play, per Gulitti. Over here, we've discussed it ourselves, we've seen it flounder far more than it threaten the opposition since then in games, and we're just repeating ourselves when discussing what offense we didn't see on the power play.
Sure, the Devils can succeed without their power play scoring. I just want them to actually pressure St. Louis. If they can at least do that consistently, the goals will come. Right now, they haven't even been doing that - only wasting opportunities. While St. Louis' playoff hopes appear to be slim at 10th place in the West and 5 points behind 8th placed Detroit, they're going to play rather hard just to keep hope alive. Wasting opportunities against an opposition like that is just foolhardy, in my opinion.
For a no-holds-barred, uncensored take on the Blues, St. Louis Game Time is the place to visit. Please continue after the jump for my additional thoughts.
4 comments | 0 recs |
"I know that if you’re close to making it [the playoffs], you think about that. It’s something that is going to push you, maybe. But I thought that the job was to be at your best, to play at your best. I don’t think it says to be at your best only when there’s something on the line. I don’t know. An athlete plays a sports and he’s got to play his best every time he plays."
Jacques Lemaire tells Tom Gulitti why he doesn't think the Devils need any extra motivation.
Interesting quote, to say the least. Thoughts?
New Jersey Devils Morning News, Mar 19
by TibbsBeastoftheEast on Mar 19, 2010 9:28 AM EDT
0 comments
Devils notes: Lou Lamoriello wants old uniform tradition - (The Bergen Record)
Devils fall to Maple Leafs, 2-1, in shootout - (The Bergen Record)
0 comments | 0 recs |
New Jersey Devils Pick Up a Road Point but Fail in the Shootout to Toronto Maple Leafs, 2-1
by John Fischer on Mar 18, 2010 11:53 PM EDT
in Devils Game Recaps
4 comments
The last time the New Jersey Devils beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, they went on the road the next night to play against Long Island and didn't have a very good game. They decisively lost 4-2. Tonight, the Devils went on the road the night after beating the Pittsburgh Penguins and only lost 2-1 through a shootout to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Were I to compare the two losses, far and away the loss to the Leafs was a better loss because the Devils got a point out of it, they didn't fall flat on their faces in the second period, and didn't give up a shorthanded goal to scuttle a chance at any points.
However, that's all of the comparison I'm going to do. This was a game filled with highs and lows for both teams, ending up to be even overall. The Devils would look lethargic at times and then have some shifts where they just take it right to the Leafs. Likewise, while the Leafs would look poor for a stretch of time, they would go and hit back with a couple of shifts where they would nearly score. I think the only part of the game where the Devils looked really out of sorts was in overtime, where the Leafs generated some opportunities but the Devils didn't respond in kind.
I will say that Yann Danis was excellent tonight, shootout notwithstanding. He had zero chance on the goal Phil Kessel scored; he made an initial save on Dion Phaneuf's blast, the puck rebounded at a wide angle right to Kessel on Danis' flank. On the other 24 shots he faced, he came up with some tough saves including an absolute robbery of Mikael Grabovski on the power play with his stick stopping him from cashing in at the front of an otherwise-empty net. The Leafs' offense challenged Danis and he wasn't fazed. The only time he looked poor was in the shootout; Kessel, Nikolai Kulemin, and John Mitchell made great moves in the shootout, Danis didn't. But without Danis, there wouldn't even a shootout. He did as well as anyone could have expected in my opinion.The media at the game recognized that by giving him the third star of the game.
I don't think anyone is pleased with the loss, but it wasn't as if the Devils flopped in Toronto like they did back on February 2. I'm sure some people are still lamenting Paul Martin's shanked shot at an empty net on the Devils' last power play of the night; but really, the Devils could have done much better tonight and perhaps wouldn't have needed a late chance like that at all. Just doing better on their three other power plays, that alone could have made the difference. Alas, "could have" is the equivalent to "did not" in sport.
For tonight's stats, check out NHL.com for their recap. Check out Pension Plan Puppets later on for their recap. They are currently praising Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Mitchell, the man who sealed the shootout win for Toronto. Read on after the jump for my further thoughts.
4 comments | 0 recs |
Game #70 - Devils at Toronto Maple Leafs
by Steve Lepore on Mar 18, 2010 5:30 PM EDT
in Devils Games
261 comments
TV: MSG Plus
Radio: WFAN 660 AM
Previews: Read Fischer's here, and the Pension Plan Puppets gang will be your best friends for Leafs news.
Song to Get You Pumped Up But Also Make You Think Deeply About Tonight's Game: How about the constantly-overlooked-in-America Tragically Hip with "Yer Not the Ocean".
Join Fischer in the comments, I'm at work tonight. Da' Rules: Tangents are acceptable and talking about the Leafs or Devils in general is OK. Keep it clean and relevant at all times. But please do not use this for other purposes and to talk about why The Hip never made it here. Above all, go Devils! Get outta' yer' own way.
261 comments | 0 recs
New Jersey Devils Morning News, Mar 18
by TibbsBeastoftheEast on Mar 18, 2010 9:32 AM EDT
0 comments
Devils draw even with Pens atop Atlantic - (The Bergen Record)
Pelley: "I’m not trying to hit anyone from behind"; Zubrus’ goal sparks surge - (Fire & Ice)
0 comments | 0 recs |
Game 70 Preview: New Jersey Devils at Toronto Maple Leafs
by John Fischer on Mar 18, 2010 4:00 AM EDT
in Devils Game Previews
12 comments
The Time: 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT
The Broadcast: TV: MSG+ (HD); Radio: 660 AM WFAN
The Team's Official Watch Party: The Devils are having an official watch party at the Hoboken Bar & Grill. If you're 21 or older and in the area, why not watch the game with your fellow Devils supporters? The official site has further details.
The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (42-24-3) at the Toronto Maple Leafs (24-34-12)
The Last Devils Game: Last night, the New Jersey Devils swept the season series against the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 5-2 win. The game featured some stout defense, a good game from Martin Brodeur, five different goal scorers, two shorthanded breakaways, one shorthanded goal, and the return of Paul Martin (who scored one of those goals). All in front of an electric crowd at the Rock. It was a great game and I still feel great about it: I mean, 6-0 against Pittsburgh! WHOO! Here is my recap of that game.
The Last Maple Leafs Game: They may be in dead-last in the East; but don’t tell the Ottawa Senators. The Leafs lit up the Senators in Ottawa 4-1 in a decisive performance among province rivals. Jonas Gustavsson stood tall, and Rickard Wallin scored. PPP at Pension Plan Puppets, like most Leafs fans, had much to be thrilled about Toronto’s win over the "SNES."
The Last Devils-Maple Leafs Game: So far this season, the games against Toronto have ranged from bad (3-0 in Toronto) to not good but miraculously salvaged. The last game between these two were in that range as the Devils scored three goals in under the last four minutes to turn around a 3-1 deficit to a 4-3 New Jersey win. The game was Ilya Kovalchuk’s debut as a Devil and he wasn’t too bad with two assists. Yet, the heroes of the night were Dean McAmmond, Travis Zajac, and Jay Pandolfo for scoring those late goals to steal a win outright from the Maple Leafs. I recapped the game here. PPP was disappointed in the loss and how Toronto literally blew it at the end. The Devils are 2-1 against Toronto this season.
The Goal: Wake up, wake up, wake up. Wednesday was a big game with a historic promotion, the return of Paul Martin, the one-year anniversary of history being made on the ice (Martin Brodeur’s 552nd win), and all against a very good division rival that the Devils swept in all 6 games this season. The last time the Devils played the Penguins, they literally faded the next night in Long Island – blowing a good start with horrid puck movement and unable to catch up. The Devils have been very poor on the road as of late with only one road win in this month and losing their last three road games. While the team has looked far better at the Rock, if they want get back to winning ways away from the Rock, then they’re going to find something left in them to get up for this one. Toronto may be in last place in the East, but as the Senators would be happy to tell you, that really doesn’t mean anything in a game. The Devils shouldn’t have to even ask – just recall their other three games against them from this season should suffice.
Check out Pension Plan Puppets for a Toronto-based perspective on tonight’s game. Read on after the jump for some brief further thoughts about the game.
12 comments | 0 recs |
New Jersey Devils Sweep the Season Series Against Pittsburgh Penguins with 5-2 Win
by John Fischer on Mar 17, 2010 11:43 PM EDT
in Devils Game Recaps
14 comments
The end of the game may have had a few people at the Rock leave their seats early. But the sound of the crowd was so substantial, they probably could have been heard throughout the city of Newark. They were all saying one thing:
"YOU CAN'T BEAT US"
What's more, they were absolutely right.
Once again the New Jersey Devils prevailed over the Pittsburgh Penguins. In the sixth and final contest between these two teams, the Devils won 5-2. The total of the series was impressive. A total score of 22-5 in favor of New Jersey. No power play goals conceded to Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby (who was a non-factor tonight) and Evgeni Malkin (who did not play tonight) were rendered ineffective.
Was history made other than that the Devils played in a third uniform within a season for the first time in team history? Not really. Yet, tonight was momentous because of the opponent, because of the retro look spiking interest, and most of all, because the Devils were entirely healthy for the first time all season. Paul Martin returned to the blueline and proved those worried about his condition like myself completely wrong. Martin's arm is fine. He played 18:05 tonight and scored his first goal of the season (and in a long, long time) on a fantastic individual effort late in the first period. He didn't just return and have a decent game, he played very well.
I don't think Martin was the best player on the ice tonight, but his return does warrant special noting. For the game's official stats, here is the official NHL.com recap. If you want the Pittsburgh perspective on their sixth loss to New Jersey, then please go to PensBurgh later. Please don't be jerks or sore winners if you do go there; please be nice. For additional thoughts about tonight's game, please read on after the jump.
14 comments | 0 recs |
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
FanShots
Quick hits of video, photos, quotes, chats, links and lists that you find around the web.
Recent FanShots
Featured Stories
Player Fan Pages
Devils Schedule
Next 5 Games
St. Louis
|
Sat 03/20 | 7:00 PM EDT |
|
Columbus
|
Tue 03/23 | 7:00 PM EDT |
|
New York Rangers
|
Thu 03/25 | 7:00 PM EDT |
|
@
Montreal
|
Sat 03/27 | 7:00 PM EDT |
|
@
Philadelphia
|
Sun 03/28 | 7:00 PM EDT |
Last 5 Games
|
@
Toronto
|
Thu 03/18 | SO - L 1 - 2 |
|
Pittsburgh
|
Wed 03/17 | W 5 - 2 |
|
Boston
|
Mon 03/15 | W 3 - 2 |
|
@
New York Islanders
|
Sat 03/13 | L 2 - 4 |
|
Pittsburgh
|
Fri 03/12 | W 3 - 1 |
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
