Game 72: New Jersey Devils vs. Columbus Blue Jackets

by John Fischer on Mar 23, 2010 12:00 AM EDT in Devils Game Previews

The Time: 7 PM EDT/6 PM CDT

The Broadcast: TV: MSG+ (HD); Radio: 660 AM WFAN

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (42-25-4) vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets (29-31-12)

The Last Devils Game: The effort was there, the Devils didn't do poorly, but the St. Louis Blues got one shot through and the Devils just couldn't finish on their chances. Sure, it's great they didn't fall flat on their face throughout the game; but a shutout loss is still poor all the same. The Devils lost to the Blues 1-0, here's my recap of the game.

The Last Blue Jackets Game: Just like the Devils, the Blue Jackets lost their last game 1-0. Only it was to the Nashville Predators, they were on the road, and the 1-0 loss came in overtime. According to this post by Aaron Portzline of the Puck-Rakers Blog at the Columbus Dispatch, interim head coach Claude Noel called it a "moral victory." Well, I suppose when you're out of the playoffs, you look for the small victories.

The Goal: Get off to a good start and keep at it. The Columbus Blue Jackets are not the team where rookie goaltender Steve Mason would help steal games en route to a playoff run. Not this season. On paper, Mason's been beaten many times, the Blue Jackets' offense is top-heavy, and they really don't have much to play for. I'm not say the Blue Jackets should be or will be an easy opponent. They are 4-1-1, Mason's numbers look far better under Noel, and the team is giving their youth more of a chance (hat-tip: The Cannon). Still, I doubt the Devils are going to run into the same problems that prevented them from scoring against St. Louis for a second night in a row. According to Tom Gulitti's post from today's practice, the players and coach Jacques Lemaire are aware of wanting to avoid another letdown against a non-playoff opponent. The best way to back up the talk is to start off the game right. Honestly, I didn't think the performance against St. Louis was that bad, just the finishing wasn't there.

For a Columbus-based perspective, check out The Cannon later on. If you'd like to read further about tonight's game, please continue after the jump.

Let's consider the opposition first. Per Aaron Portzline of Puck-Rakers, these were Columbus' lines yesterday.

Kristian Huselius - Antoine Vermette - Rick Nash
R.J. Umberger - Derick Brassard - Jakub Voracek
Chris Clark - Samuel Pahlsson - Andrew Murray
Derek Dorsett - Mike Blunden - Jared Boll

Fedor Tyutin - Marc Methot
Kris Russell - Mike Commodore
Nathan Paetsch - Anton Strahlman

Steve Mason
Mathieu Garon

Portzline also stated that Steve Mason will be the starter for tonight's game on Sunday evening.

	GP	MIN	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Steve Mason	50	2732	17	22	142	3.12	1394	1252	.898	4

Now, Noel has put three of his top scorers right on the first line. The most well-known player on the team is Rick Nash, a powerful scorer if there ever was one in the league. But Huselius and Vermette have been productive as well this season. I'm admittedly not sure how well they would work together, but it's a combination I'm sure the Devils will be especially careful when on the ice. I also wouldn't sneeze at the second line of R.J. Umberger - the Blue Jackets' fourth 20+ goal scorer - nor the young talents of Derick Brassard and Jakub Voracek, who has 30 assists already. Still, as a whole, the Blue Jackets haven't lit the net as often as they'd like; averaging only 2.57 goals per game (just behind New Jersey's 2.58).

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Rick Nash	68	30	29	59	-6	52	9	2	5	230	13.0
2009 - Antoine Vermette	72	22	34	56	1	26	5	1	1	139	15.8
2009 - Kristian Huselius	64	20	35	55	-6	32	8	1	5	140	14.3
2009 - R.J. Umberger	72	20	27	47	-15	36	6	1	4	193	10.4
2009 - Derick Brassard	69	8	23	31	-16	30	3	0	0	104	7.7
2009 - Jakub Voracek	71	12	30	42	-9	26	4	0	0	135	8.9

Moving on to defense, here, the Blue Jackets are one of 7 teams in the league to average at least 3 goals per game (3.06) while being in the middle of the league in terms of average shots against per game (30.4; 18th in NHL). There is one player that I really like on this unit. While you may be familiar with Mike Commodore, he of the giant red fro-ish hair on the 2006 Carolina Stanley Cup Championship team if not as a former depth defenseman on the Devils, the main man on the Columbus blueline is Fedor Tyutin. The former Rangers prospect is their leader on defense, averaging 23:15 per night and remaining on the top pairing, firing away and picking up points. Fortunately, the Devils aren't a one-line team so it won't be a matter of the same group of forwards trying to beat him over and over to mixed results.

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Fedor Tyutin	70	5	25	30	-9	45	3	0	2	0	130	3.8

As for the Devils, first off, I'd like to congratulate the Kovalchuks for the birth of their third child, a boy named Artem. Congratulations to Ilya and Nicole. Kovalchuk (Ilya, not Nicole or Artem) returned to practice today, and according to this report from Gulitti, he was paired with Travis Zajac and Brian Rolston. Really. Personally, I know the object is to fit Kovalchuk in, experiment to see who plays with him the best, and therefore I'm not so bothered by this. Fitting in with a new team is a process, and there's still a little time left to play around.

Still, I'm scratching my head at the combination. A takeaway from the St. Louis game led Lemaire to switch Elias and Zajac? Is the intent to get both Kovalchuk and Rolston going in terms of scoring? Wouldn't Zubrus be a better fit as he's far better than Rolston along the boards and his blend of being huge whilst having some soft hands command more attention than Rolston? I'm sure some are bothered by the fact that Brian Rolston is anywhere on a scoring line. I'm more concerned of how it'll function.

Regardless, if the combination doesn't work, then I'm sure Lemaire will make a change. (Who knows, maybe I'll be dead wrong and Lemaire goes with something completely different tonight.) What he won't change is the defense and that's perfectly fine with me. You may not like seeing Paul Martin next to Martin Skoula of all people; but you cannot deny the success the unit has been having. Have the defense cost the team games due to horrible errors recently? Not really. Has the defense stepped up more on offense now that Martin is back? A little bit, yeah. Does it seem like everyone's communicating well and positioning themselves well most of the time? I would think so. The defense has been stabilized, Martin Brodeur has been more than fine, and so it falls on the offense to make

As I said prior to the jump, the team has spoken publicly about the need for scoring or having a good start, as evidenced by this post at Fire & Ice. Well, now it's time to get out there and doing it at even strength and on the power play (the penalty kill has been superb, they just have to keep on keeping on). There's not a whole lot more you can say about it at this juncture. So here is my wild guess at the Devils' lines for tonight, based on Gulitti's report from Monday's practice (does this mean Vladimir Zharkov gets a shot? I wouldn't complain about that.)

Zach Parise - Patrik Elias - Jamie Langenbrunner
Ilya Kovalchuk - Travis Zajac - Brian Rolston
Dainius Zubrus - Rob Niedermayer - David Clarkson
Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond - Dean McAmmond - Vladimir Zharkov

Bryce Salvador - Andy Greene
Colin White - Mike Mottau
Paul Martin - Martin Skoula

Martin Brodeur
Yann Danis

Steve will have a GameThread up later. I'll be in my usual seat (5), in my usual row (16), in my usual section (1), hoping for a good performance and result by the Devils. By the way, the Penguins lost on Monday in Detroit. A win would put the Devils at a tie with Pittsburgh in points with a game in hand. If there was ever a time to take an opportunity, now would be it - not that it'll be easy. In any case, please leave all your thoughts, feelings, concerns, corrections, complaints, and news updates (with links) in the comments. Go Devils!

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Comments

I still want to see a Pelley-McAmmond-Zharkov 4th line. Pelley and Zharkov always play hard and bring a lot of energy. It’s a line that JL hasn’t tried yet and I think it could be effective.

by C.J. Richey on Mar 23, 2010 1:00 AM EDT reply actions

That line might end up being used against Montreal saturday, there’s no need to put beef in the lineup against a team like the Habs. But would be nice too, the Jackets probably want moral victories and to be a spoiler right now

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by Kevin Sellathamby on Mar 23, 2010 11:00 AM EDT up reply actions

I stand corrected on the lines.

Per Gulitti’s report at morning skate, <a href=" appearshttp://blogs.northjersey.com/blogs/fireice/devils_getting_ready_to_host_blue_jackets_tonight/">the Devils appear to go with the same roster as they did on Saturday. So that means no Zharkov. Oh, well.

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by John Fischer on Mar 23, 2010 12:29 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

I think the words of some dude who I can’t remember the name of said it best. “Just win Baby”

You're Next!

by thatguy011071 on Mar 23, 2010 2:08 PM EDT reply actions

Oh what a night...

Seriously, will it be another sore loss to a sub-par team?

I’m still trying to figure out why the Devs aren’t rolling Parise-Zajac-Langs, and Kovy-Elias-Zubrus. I mean, if you don’t need Zubrus playing center, ffs put the eastern block together and let them go crazy.

I like the Martin Skoula combo, at least until the playoffs start. Paul’s a great handcuff for Skoula. They seem to work well together, and Skoula’s playing like he’s got something to prove lately. Sure, there’s still some terribad plays or passes, but they aren’t nearly as bad as his former team’s fans lead us to believe. At least not in a Devil’s sweater. I don’t remember him losing any games for the Devs (yet?)

On paper this one looks like a no-contest…you know, the kind of game that the Devs seem to be playing down to for the past few months. Sure, we’ll handily beat the division leader, but let’s just come out and coast against the the 29th, 30th, last place team and see what happens. We know how that ends, and it isn’t with 2 points. These guys have been hot, and playing well. Maybe we should buy them all Pens sweaters and fed-ex them over.

by Murdoc on Mar 23, 2010 3:44 PM EDT reply actions

Another western division foe.

Well the Devils record against the west is nothing to be proud of. Hopefully tonight we can get it going against Columbus. It seems the Devils play poorly against these poor western teams. Perhaps it is not being familiar with these teams that is hurting them. Hopefully that will change tonight its a big 2 points..

Donald Vasquez

by don_vas on Mar 23, 2010 4:15 PM EDT reply actions

I know there are a lot of games left

But if the Devils want to win the division, they must win games like this. Overall, I would say the Devils have the tougher schedule to end the season, as only 3 of Pittsburgh’s 9 remaining games are against playoff teams, with two games against Atlanta possibly become 4 and 5 if they pass Boston in the standings.

The Devils need to get their offense going. I watched them run into a hot goaltender last game, but that won’t be a good excuse in the playoffs. I will again argue that Kovalchuk belongs on the third line so that he will force other teams to try to deal the Devils depth of having 3 lines that are legitimate scoring threats every game.

Put Kovy with Neidermayer and Rolston, so Neids can feed them the pick while he stays back. Clarkson with Zubrus and Elias, and Parise Zajac and Langenbrunner.

Congrats to Kovalchuk and his wife though. It must be tough to be so far from home be asked to play with such great expectations.

by NJPenguins08 on Mar 23, 2010 4:29 PM EDT reply actions

Kovalchuk on the third line? While you’re at it, why not put Parise on the fourth line to spread out the scoring and make teams react to that!? (Yes, Virginia, that is sarcasm.)

I think there are two problems with lines as they stand now.

First off, there isn’t a lot of rhyme and reason to the lines at the moment. Little chemistry — largely because the lines change every third shift — and too many cases of players who do not complement one another playing together. Rolston has two assets: his big shot, and he is responsible defensively. The first means Rolston does not work well with Kovalchuk, because Rolston needs someone to set him up in space to shoot, and someone to do the dirty work like screening a goalie or jumping on rebounds. Kovalchuk also needs the puck, because he’s a shooter and not really a grinder (although he has been forechecking like a demon since his arrival most nights). For the same kind of reason, Zubrus and Clarkson wouldn’t work as well together, because they’re the kind of player who will work in front of the net or on the boards. Not that they can’t work together, but they’re better suited to complement a shooter and a playmaker.

The second problem is that Lemaire is coddling Rolston. If you look at his numbers, Brian Rolston has done bupkus since the Olympic break, and certainly does not warrant a spot on the top two lines at the moment. He’d be better off on the third line (with Niedermeyer) as their offensive threat, because he’s also defensively responsible enough to play that role. He can also be used to kill penalties and take an occasional shift on the PP, but he doesn’t do anyone any good at the moment trying to be a scorer. This also plays into the larger issue of certain guys playing way too many minutes in roles they’re not good enough for (all the carping earlier in the year about Mottau, Niedermeyer, et al), but with the team healthy, this can be addressed.

You can go with ZZ Pops and Kovalchuk-Elias-Zubrus if you like. You can flip Zubrus and Langenbrunner if you need to (although Zubrus is a better fit with Kovy and Elias) given how well Parise-Zajac-Zubrus has played when stuck together…. or you could even try Clarkson with Elias and Kovalchuk if Zubrus isn’t in that spot.

But Kovalchuk on the third line? For goodness’ sake, what was the point in trading for him if you’re going to bury him that far down the lineup? If you wanted a third line winger who could score, you could have kept Bergfors to fill that role, and still be Oduya and a draft pick ahead of the game.

by acasser on Mar 23, 2010 6:05 PM EDT up reply actions