SB Nation - Brian Rolston

New Jersey Devils Morning News, Dec 22

TibbsBeastoftheEast — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:22:14 -0000

Devils notes: Brian Rolston an Olympic team possibility - (The Bergen Record)
Devils' Martin Brodeur becomes NHL's shutout king in 4-0 win over Penguins - (The Bergen Record)

Devils head to Christmas break in first place overall in the NHL - (Fire & Ice)
Brodeur makes history with 104th shutout in 4-0 win in Pittsburgh- (Fire & Ice)
Live post: Brodeur breaks NHL shutout record in 4-0 victory in Pittsburgh- (Fire & Ice)
Devils bracing for "important" game against Penguins tonight- (Fire & Ice)
Another Olympic showdown for Brodeur- (Fire & Ice)
Optional morning skate for Devils today; Brodeur to start tonight- (Fire & Ice)
Notebook: Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury can't match Martin Brodeur - (The Star Ledger)
NJ Devils goalie Martin Brodeur secures all-time shutout record in 4-0 win over Pittsburgh Penguins - (The Star Ledger)
Devils-Penguins, as they played - (The Star Ledger)
NJ Devils Martin Brodeur to face potential Team Canada teammate Marc-Andre Fleury - (The Star Ledger)
NJ Devils goalie Martin Brodeur participates in morning skate - (The Star Ledger)
Brodeur sets NHL shutout record - (The New York Daily News)
Devils' Brodeur has shutout record - (The New York Post)
N.H.L. Scoreboard: Brodeur Blanks Pens and Sets League Shutout Record - (The New York Times )
Video: Marty and Devils React - (Msgnetwork)
Martin Brodeur Makes History - (Msgnetwork)
Fischler: None Like Brodeur - (Msgnetwork)
Brodeur sets new record with 104th shutout - (NewJerseyDevils.com)
What they're saying about Marty - (NewJerseyDevils.com)
Head of the Class - (NewJerseyDevils.com)
Ramsey joins Street Devils program - (NewJerseyDevils.com)
Martin Brodeur Sets All-Time Shutout Mark in a 4-0 Victory Over the Penguins - (NHL.com), Check NHL.com as they have all sorts of things on Brodeur
Brodeur's collection is half a puck short - (NHL.com)
Barrasso awed by Brodeur - (NHL.com)
Devils' Brodeur is NHL shutout King - (NHL.com)
Rumor Roundup: Eastern Conference trade bait - (The Hockey News); Paul Martin
THN.com Blog: Comparing the new and former shutout kings - (The Hockey News)
Power Rankings: Winter meltdown - (The Hockey News)
Stats - (Yahoo NHL)
Standings - (Yahoo NHL)
Devils Team Report - (Yahoo NHL)
Is it the Penguins, Capitals, Devils and everyone else in East? - (Yahoo NHL)
Brodeur shuts out Penguins - (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
Brodeur banks record by blanking Pens - (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
Brodeur without peer - (Daily Gleaner)
Cox: A Devil of a time out west - (Toronto Star)
St. Léonard's Martin Brodeur sets all-time NHL shutout record - (The Gazette)
Brodeur's shutout record may stand test of time - (USA Today)
Consistent Devils surge to the top in latest power rankings vote - (USA Today)
Test your knowledge about Brodeur - (USA Today)
Another game played, another record broken for Brodeur - (Examiner.com)
Martin Brodeur breaks All-Time Shutout Record: Yann Danis learning - (Examiner.com)
Career shutout leaders - (Globe and Mail)
Martin Brodeur sets all-time shutout mark, Devils down Pens 4-0 - (PensBurgh)
The 2000s top 10 players - (Sportsnet.ca)
Brodeur's shutout record may stand test of time - (Daily Record)
Martin Brodeur Breaks Sawchuk's shutout record with 104 - against the Penguins - (FanIQ)
Martin Brodeur Vs. Brett Favre: A Tale of Two Athletes - (Bleacher Report)
NHL: Highs and Woes of The Atlantic Division - (Bleacher Report)
Live Blog NOW! Brodeur gets his 104 career shutout. Devils #1 in NHL - (Hockeybuzz.com)
Devils @ Penguins, 12/21/09 — Woolgathering - (Interchangeable Parts)

AROUND THE NHL
The 10 most embarrassing hockey moments of the last decade - (Yahoo NHL)

MISCELLANEOUS
New Jersey High School Hockey - (hockeybuzz.com)
'He's the perfect captain for team' - (National Post)
Just the grit Canada needs - (National Post)
Former MSU goalie wins top student-athlete award - (Detroit Free Press)
2010 WJC: Team Canada preview - (hockeysfuture.com)
Taylor Hall Leads Canada in 2010 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships - (Bleacher Report)
Team Canada finds its captain - (leaderpost.com)

Martin Brodeur Makes History with 104th Career Shutout! New Jersey Devils Vanquish Pittsburgh Penguins 4-0

John Fischer — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 03:55:57 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

The New Jersey Devils played a fantastic game in Pittsburgh and they congratulate Martin Brodeur for becoming the all-time leader in shutouts with 104. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Browse more photos »

What a fantastic game for the New Jersey Devils. The Devils and the Pittsburgh Penguins played one intense game right from the start. This was a game between the two best teams in the league and both teams left it all on the ice. And the Devils didn't just beat the Penguins. They Devils vanquished them by a score of 4-0. They conquered the Igloo. The Devils won all three road games in Pittsburgh.

It was a great, full 60 minute effort by the New Jersey Devils and it will never be forgotten. Tonight, Martin Brodeur earned his 104th career shutout. He is now the all-time leader in career shutouts, surpassing the ridiculous total put up by Terry Sawchuk. And to think, it came against a very hot (remember, they won their last 5 games prior to tonight) Pittsburgh Penguins team. A Pittsburgh Penguins team who was averaging over 3 goals per game on offense. A Pittsburgh Penguins team lead by Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, two of the best hockey players on Earth.

And Martin Brodeur stopped them all. Brodeur made 35 saves and he was fantastic. 8 saves on the penalty kill. Shots from the slot, shots right in front, wraparounds, shots from the point, and point blank shots. The post had to make an appearance to deny Sidney Crosby late in the game, but Brodeur's glove was just as good near the end as it was all season long. Unlike his last shutout - against Buffalo - Brodeur truly had to be great against Pittsburgh. He was better - he was perfect.

And that's how he made history in becoming the all-time leader in shutouts. Thank you, Martin Brodeur.

Here's the recap from NHL.com. Visit Pensburgh for the Pittsburgh point of view, which surely must be filled with disappointment. If nothing else, WATCH THE HIGHLIGHTS. Watch Brodeur make big saves. Watch the Devils score some fantastic goals. Watch the Devils triumph in Pittsburgh. All thanks to NHL.com:

The best part about this game going down as one for the ages after Martin Brodeur's record-breaking shutout was that the Devils played a great game against the Penguins. Both teams went hard after every loose puck, they went hard after each other, and only for the middle of the second period did one team fall flat - and the Penguins paid for it with two goals against.

The third line of Jay Pandolfo, Rob Niedermayer (9 for 15 on the faceoff dot), and Nicklas Bergfors was solid against Pittsburgh's top opposition. Pandolfo and Niedermayer in particular were great on the penalty kill tonight, as the Penguins were punchless yet again on the man advantage. The second line of Brian Rolston, Travis Zajac, and Jamie Langenbrunner had a few good chances (Langenbrunner struck the post with a powerful slapshot, he nearly made the game 5-0 New Jersey) and were able to keep up pressure when available. I wish Zajac didn't go 5 for 15 on faceoffs, but that can be forgiven tonight. Even the fourth line was noticeable, namely Vladimir Zharkov hustling all over the place.

But the line of the night wasn't on Pittsburgh. (Though Evgeni Malkin made his presence felt with 6 shots on net and 21:54 of ice time.) No, it was EMP. Patrik Elias-Dean McAmmond-Zach Parise. They were dominant for the first 40 minutes of the game and the only complaint I have for Jacques Lemaire is why did he switch up the top two lines for the third period? Not that ZZ Pops was bad; but there was no need to change. Nonetheless, EMP bombarded the Penguins in the second period. Zach Parise didn't score a goal, but you can't complain with nine shots on net and three assists. He will get his goals soon enough. Dean McAmmond continued to play out of his mind, surely making the fans at the Igloo wonder who in the world is Dean McAmmond. With two shots, two assists and swarming down low throughout the second, they will remember the name: McAmmond. And Patrik Elias did cash in on a rebound for the Devils' third goal and got the puck to Parise who made the rebound that Mark Fraser put in for goal #4 and to send Marc Andre Fleury to the bench. Elias had 3 shots along with his points and the line did as well as they did against Atlanta on Saturday. I don't know why Lemaire split them up, but he did. I want to see this line continue to flourish, if only while they are still hot.

Poor Marc-Andre Fleury! He had some sloppy defensive coverage in front of him, sure, but he was just beat by four great shots on net. Bryce Salvador put his shot perfectly from the point - his goal was certainly no fluke tonight. Niclas Bergfors came down hard on the wing and found the hole to the far post on the power play early in the second. Elias shot was perfectly placed from the loose puck, and Fleury got a piece of Fraser's strike from the high slot but not enough of it. Not even 32 minutes into the game, Fleury concedes 4 goals on 16 shots - two from defensive defensemen even! - and he was replaced by Brent Johnson.

Johnson didn't get to rest much. The Devils kept pushing forward throughout the rest of the game for that fifth goal and came close more than a few times. The Penguins defense righted themselves for the third period; but New Jersey did put 14 on the backup keeper. Jamie Langenbrunner came the closest by virtue of smacking the iron with a slapshot shortly after Fraser's goal. In a way, Johnson should be fortunate that the Devils missed a few passes and shots on scoring chances in the third period. A few other decisions on some of those odd man rushes and the Devils easily score another goal or two.

By contrast, the Devils defense held steady. With about 5 minutes left or so in the second, the Penguins started to bring more and more pressure to get, well, something. You can tell from their puck possession and their body language that they aren't ending the night with nothing. Thanks to Martin Brodeur and some clutch defensive work, the Penguins, of course, got nothing.

Despite the Penguins put 35 shots on Brodeur and the PK allowed 8 shots on net, the Devils made very few mistakes in their own zone. Only twice did they cough up the puck to a free Penguin in their own zone. First, early in the second, an errant pass went right to Evgeni Malkin but Brodeur stopped him cold to bail out the defense. Second, Oduya makes a bad clearance right to a Penguin in the high slot, but thankfully he decides to try and find Jordan Staal with a pass down low and Oduya is able to pick off the pass.

Outside of that, the Devils were dominant in the slot and cleaned up a lot of rebounds. Credit Brodeur too for controlling those rebounds so well, but the 6 blueliners did an equally good job in getting clearances, settling the puck, and getting the puck up to the forwards. They had 12 blocked shots total, and the Pittsburgh offense helped out with 17 missed shots and more than a handful of poor passes on offense that the Devils took away. Johnny Oduya, in my opinion, had a great game. He had 3 blocks, he gave 22:09 of solid work, he jumped up on offense at the right time and without getting caught, and he recovered from one of his few mistakes of the night.

While the year isn't over, this has to be one of the best games if not the best game I have seen from the New Jersey Devils in 2009. They went into the building of the defending Stanley Cup champions; a hot Penguins team, a high scoring Penguins team; and a Penguins team led by Crosby, Malkin, and Fleury having great seasons. A tall order for any team. And they gave a consistent 60 minute effort. They didn't sit on leads, the penalties they took were either necessary or just bad calls by the ref (someone want to explain what Zharkov did for his minor?), and they matched Pittsburgh in intensity and workrate. Even if Crosby scored at the end or the Penguins got a fluke goal, no Devils fan would be unhappy with how well the entire team played tonight. The 4-0 win by New Jersey was honestly earned by the whole team. A fantastic victory rewarded with a four day break through Christmas.

Of course, the star of the night was Martin Brodeur and that's the way it should be. A shutout against anyone is difficult. Moreso when it's on the road and against an elite opponent. But Martin Brodeur has always been a goaltender who doesn't let the hype go to his head. He focused giving his team a chance to win, he played his way and without nerves, and he got the desired result. And so we have seen history tonight.

Thank you all for commenting in the GameThread, thanks to Steve for putting it up, and again thanks to all the readers. Please leave your thoughts about tonight's game in the comments.

And again, thank you, Martin Brodeur. I don't care what others may say, you truly are the best goaltender of all time. Here's a short collection of highlight saves he's made in the past via NHL Network:

New Jersey Devils Morning News, Dec 22

TibbsBeastoftheEast — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:31:12 -0000

Tops in NHL with Devils vs. Penguins - (The Bergen Record)
Devils, Penguins heat up Igloo - (The Bergen Record)

Last game before Christmas is a big one - (Fire & Ice)
Niedermayer, Salvador, Oduya sit out playful practice in Pittsburgh - (Fire & Ice)
NJ Devils' Brian Rolston enjoying a bounceback season - (The Star Ledger) - (Fire & Ice)
Fraser big plus on Jacques' backline - (The New York Post)
Stats - (Yahoo NHL)
Standings - (Yahoo NHL)
Devils Team Report - (Yahoo NHL)
Decade dynasties - (Toronto Sun)
Devils plan to pad winning streak - (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
Devils-Penguins Preview - (CBSSports.com)
For Devils, all's well that ends well - (NHL.com)
Penguins and Devils Battle for First Place - (NHL.com)
Devils turn the tables - (National)
Someone Give Goalie Martin Brodeur a Break - (Bleacher Report)

LOWELL DEVILS
Devils Weather Bruins, 2-1 - (LowellDevilsHockey.com)
Davison nets winner for Devils - (EagleTribune.com)
Lowell 2, P-Bruins 1: Davison's power-play goal wins it - (Providence Journal)

TRENTON DEVILS
Cyclones Shutout Devils, 2-0 - (TrentonDevils.com)
Sorry T-Devils are shut out - (The Trenton Times)
T-Devils winless skid hits 5, shutout 2-0 by Cyclones - (Examiner.com)

AROUND THE NHL
THN.com Blog: A holiday wish for each NHL team - (The Hockey News)

MISCELLANEOUS
Corrente playing with an edge - (stcatharinesstandard.ca)
Moore among four cut from US World Junior team - (NHL.com); Wohlberg
Red Wings defenseman Brian Rafalski discusses role on NHLPA's search committee - (MLive.com)

New Jersey Devils' Offense Leads to Dramatic 5-4 Win over Atlanta Thrashers

John Fischer — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 03:52:40 -0000

More photos » by Gregory Smith - AP

New Jersey Devils' offense leads the way to victory tonight, and they were led by this man: Dean McAmmond, who had a brace in tonight's 5-4 win in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Gregory Smith)

Browse more photos »

The New Jersey Devils coming from behind in a game to win should not be new to Devils fans this season. They've done it multiple times with 1 or 2 goal deficits. But tonight, the Devils' offense truly led the way to victory tonight. The New Jersey Devils came from losing 3-1 after the first period to lead 4-3 after the second, and finished the game at 5-4. NHL.com has their recap up complete with all the stats from tonight's game.

And when I say the offense was leading the way, I truly meant it. The Devils put 24 shots on Ondrej Pavelec in the first period. Mind you, they had 22 shots against Ottawa last night in the entire game. The Devils didn't hold back in either period; they finished with 42 on net. Everyone except for Jamie Langenbrunner had an official shot on net. Even Andrew Peters had a shot on net, and it was good one - Pavelec legitimately robbed him of a goal in the first period. When Andrew Peters gets a good chance at the net, then it's a fantastic night for the offense. All four lines were contributing, as Zach Parise, Brian Rolston, and Rod Pelley led the team with 5 shots each. The power play went 1 for 2, converting is always a good sign. Of course, the Devils scored 4 straight goals after the first period and Atlanta could only answer back with one.

In contrast, the Atlanta Thrashers' defensive play was embarassingly bad. Seriously, 24 shots against in one period? Not tightening up afterwards? Allowing loose pucks and rebounds to go free in the slot? Stepping up on forwards beyond the red line to allow odd man rushes? Blindly throwing the puck away in an attempt to clear it? Awful, awful, awful, awful! For much of the game, the Devils were able to do whatever they'd like on offense because of Atlanta's terrible defending. Their backchecking was a joke and their defense gave New Jersey forwards too much space. If it wasn't for Pavelec, the Devils would have absolutely routed the Thrashers. Glenn "Chico" Resch was killing the Thrashers all night long for their lackadaisical defending. Maybe he's a bit of a homer, but he was 100% correct tonight.

If the Thrashers had a competent defensive effort tonight, then they'd probably go on to win this game easily. I would hope the Falconer or someone at Bird Watchers Anonymous will hammer this point further in their recap.

More thoughts on tonight's exciting effort game come after the jump.

In terms of the forwards and the general offense, tonight was a complete, full, 60 minute effort. That was great. The game itself was quite entertaining, with plenty of scoring chances and actual scoring. Check out the full highlights of the game from NHL.com for, well, the highlights:

What wasn't was the Devils' defense in the first period. Ondrej Pavelec had it all to do in facing 24 shots and the only one that beat him was Rob Niedermayer's laser from the top of the left circle. By contrast, Martin Brodeur suffered with defenders making brainfarts of their own in front of him. Colin White and Mike Mottau not only got burned once, but twice by Atlanta to leave Brodeur in no man's land. Ron Hainsey got past both White and Mottau and fired a bouncing puck for Atlanta's first goal; and Nik Antropov split the duo and fired it perfectly into the top left corner for Atlanta's second. Both White and Mottau were out there for a third goal against, as Atlanta actually set up on offense, got the puck around to Pavel Kubina, who let loose with a blistering bomb from the point. 3 goals against is pretty bad and White and Mottau were directly responsible for two of them occuring.

What makes that worse is that Atlanta had a grand total of 6 shots on net that period. The Devils pushing forward over and over (thanks to Atlanta's terrible defense and neutral zone play) played a role in the Thrashers putting up so few shots. So did the other two pairings actually playing well on defense. White and Mottau are normally pretty solid; but tonight, for whatever reason, they stunk up the ice in that first period.

Fortunately, Jacques Lemaire - he who is not afraid to make changes to his forward lines - made two important changes. First, he took Martin Brodeur out and put Yann Danis in - the first time this season that has happened. Devils fans who wanted Danis to get in a game were satisfied with the move. I was thinking he would start; I was sort of hoping he would; but I do have to say that Danis probably doesn't stop any of those three goals that Atlanta scored in the first period. That said, he had a very solid game in relief. He only conceded one and it was strong shot by Slava Kozlov on a late power play from the top of the circle. No shame in that, really.

The second would be more important in the long term: Lemaire paired Mike Mottau with Johnny Oduya and Colin White with Mark Fraser. From the second period onward, White turned his -2 from the first into an even total - even making the clearance that Brian Rolston picked up on for a breakaway and the Devils' first goal of the second period. Mottau settled down and played smarter from then on. While Atlanta flourished in the second period to put 12 shots on Danis, the defense didn't allow any big scoring chances and they were very good at cleaning up any and all rebounds. Overall, they held the high powered Atlanta offense to a total of 26 shots while helping the Devils push forward en route to 42 minutes.

In my opinion, what was almost as shocking as the Atlanta defense was the play of Atlanta's top player. Normally, Ilya Kovalchuk is a beast. Tonight, his only positive contribution was passing the puck to Nik Antropov, who split White and Mottau for a breakaway goal. Outside of that, he had a crucial giveaway that led to the Devils' fifth goal and he had no shots on net in 21:03 of ice time. I don't know whether he was just bad or whether the defense just shut him down. Maybe both? They aren't mutually exclusive, in my view. Poor Pavelec, the defense was terrible for him, and Atlanta's top player was just as bad. No wonder he had so many saves in tonight's highlights.

Let's get back to praise here. First and foremost, fantastic coaching job by Jacques Lemaire tonight. In addition to the other two lineup moves he made, he saw that Atlanta's defense was bad. He saw that they were still playing bad despite whatever John Anderson, Atlanta's coach, told them after the first period. Being down two goals, Lemaire allowed the Devils offense to be vigorous. But what was truly novel was the third period. Despite being up a goal, Lemaire kept instructing the Devils to go forward and they did. The Devils kept pushing forward on offense, they kept looking for shots (got 9), kept the lines together (Elias-McAmmond-Parise worked so well!) and they were rewarded with Dean McAmmond's second goal of the night. An eventually important goal, as Slava Kozlov did score off a Patrik Elias high sticking penalty (I didn't see it, but Kozlov's goal was well done). The only time the Devils "held back" was when Atlanta emptied the net and at that point, that's what you're supposed to do. Well done, Lemaire.

Now, the guys who fell under the radar on offense. Niclas Bergfors had a much better game tonight playing with Rob Niedermayer and Jay Pandolfo. He was credited with a whopping 4 official takeaways, 4 shots on net, and he played 16:35. He looked more active on the ice than he did against Ottawa on Friday. If you thought he was in a doghouse, tonight proved otherwise. Zach Parise didn't score, but he had 5 shots, he hit the post once, and he had a hand in setting up two goals. He's involved in the play, he's still hustling, and he's getting chances. It's not easy to accept, but I guess he'll break his goalless streak only in due time. Jay Pandolfo played very well in the neutral zone and down low, his finest moment was his touch pass to Niedermayer prior to his goal. Vladimir Zharkov ended up playing very limited minutes (6:35), but still managed an assist and 3 shots on net.

Tonight, the goalscorers truly had great nights. In my opinion, the second period was a fantastic response by the offense. Brian Rolston extended his point streak with an excellent move to slide the puck through Pavelec's legs on a breakway. He's been playing real well, this time with Jamie Langenbrunner and Travis Zajac. Rod Pelley went back to center for tonight and scored his first goal of the season with a rising shot that beat Pavelec to the top right corner. Congratulations to Pelley for his first of the season (and thanks to the Thrasher -Jim Slater? - for letting him free enough to make the shot). Rob Niedermayer played very well against Atlanta's top players and opened up the scoring with a sweet goal.

The best Devil tonight? In my opinion, it was Dean McAmmond. McAmmond was dynamite centering for Zach Parise and Patrik Elias. Seriously, Lemaire put the fourth line center up on the first he dazzled tonight with 4 shots, 10 for 21 on faceoffs (acceptable given he usually doesn't take that many), and he got two goals. He cashed in on the rebound - one of the many Atlanta allowed but this one was point blank for his first of the night; and then he put home a beautiful backhand from a Patrik Elias pass for his second of the night. With every game, McAmmond looks to be getting better and better, which is absolutely wonderful for the team. Somewhere, an Ottawa fan is doing a very happy dance.

Overall, I'm very pleased with how the Devils did on offense and I can only wonder what would have happened had White and Mottau played better in the first period. Would Brodeur have remained in net? Would the Devils have pressed forward for the next two periods for more goals? Would the Devils have even been down by 2 to begin with? I don't know. But the Devils came from behind by two goals, Danis got a win and stopped 19 of 20 shots, and the team can rest a bit before travelling to Pittsburgh for control of the Atlantic Division.

Thanks to all of you who have read this and to those who followed along and/or commented in the GameThread. Please leave all your thoughts and feelings about tonight's game in the comments.

New Jersey Devils Morning News, Dec 19

TibbsBeastoftheEast — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:51:32 -0000

Up next: Devils at Thrashers - (The Bergen Record)
Devils' notes: Salvador's long shot pays off - (The Bergen Record)

New Jersey Devils Deny the Ottawa Senators Points with 4-2 Win in Martin Brodeur's 1,030th Game

John Fischer — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 04:52:53 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

There was a lot of hitting going on in tonight's game, but the Devils hit Ottawa hard in response to their goals with two of their own. And then Bryce Salvador took this one shot... (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

Browse more photos »

Only one record was broken tonight, Martin Brodeur is now the all-time leader in games played by a goaltender with 1,030 games. In this 1,030th game of his career, Brodeur was very solid, faced 29 shots, and survived a collision with Jonathan Cheechoo. His saves kept the Ottawa Senators from taking over the second period en route to a 4-2 win by the New Jersey Devils.

First and foremost, tonight's game was vastly better by both the home and away teams than the Devils-Montreal game on Wednesday. The fans were more vocal in their chanting, the intensity on the ice was much higher, and both teams actually tried to win tonight's game. For a neutral, this game had it all - plenty of hits, big saves, fluke goals (one of which was absolutely hilarious), and slick goals.

Now, let's get to the analysis. Despite a 7-2 record this month, the Devils haven't been getting results because they've been the flat-out superior team on the ice. They've been getting them by being the better team for stretches of the game (usually a period or so) and holding on to their leads. Tonight's game would fall into that category. Don't get me wrong, the Devils were much better tonight than they were on Wednesday overall. However, was it a solid, complete effort? No. And the Devils should be thankful it wasn't for the Senators either.

NHL.com has their recap up, complete with links to the boxscore and other stats. Peter R has an excellent recap already up from the Sens' perspective at Silver Seven. Ottawa fans are right to be frustrated about a 0-for-6 performance on the power play as well as the fact that their goals didn't really come from the run of play. Read on further for my thoughts on the game.

Let's start off with some praise. The Devils' special teams were very good tonight. After a miserable power play performance on Wednesday, the Devils were better on the man advantage. OK, Rob Niedermayer took a dumb/cheap (depends on your perspective) high stick to negate a second period power play; and the Devils didn't do much on the power play late in the third. But they did score on their first power play with an excellent set-up by Andy Greene that made it easy for Jamie Langenbrunner to put home. How the Ottawa Senators didn't jump up on Greene or prevent Langenbrunner from getting behind them that close to Brian Elliott is beyond me. Well done and for converting one of them, that is a result and that's an definite improvement alone over Wednesday's 0-for-5 performance.

Apparently, that was the only shot they put on Elliott on the power play tonight. I would have liked them to attempt to put more on net on that third power play, but they didn't have to though. New Jersey was up 4-2 and just by holding onto the puck and cycling, the Senators' chances of a comeback became bleak and so there you have it.

But the real stars on special teams were Martin Brodeur and the penalty killers. They were busy, but they were ruthlessly effective. The Devils took 6 penalties tonight, and even a 5-on-3 disadvantage for 1:22 in the third period. Normally, I'd be screaming about this type of discipline. Yet, I felt that some of the calls the refs made were, how should I put this, "iffy." Ottawa got away with similar behavior - even Cheechoo colliding his knee into Martin Brodeur's head got nothing from the refs; but the Devils seemed to get caught with restraining fouls.

No matter, the killers stepped up and played huge. They remained poised in their own end, they prevented Ottawa from getting to any rebounds, and their clearances were mostly good. Even in the second period in killing off Jamie Langenbrunner's "tripping" call, two Devils sticks were lost and the PK units were still out there getting stops. Solid stuff. They even outletted three scoring chances after killing first and second calls on the 5-on-3, but the attempts on net weren't so good. Even so, they were great; Brodeur came up big on 9 power play shots against (3 from that 5-on-3) and the Devils really roared on the ice after that last big kill. Great work by the PK units for New Jersey.

However, let's go onto a mixture of praise and criticism. Before all this, I advise you to check out the game highlights from NHL.com to get a brief remainder on all the big plays in the game.

The Devils did a relatively good job for the first 40 minutes of the game. The key word here is relatively. Relative to the Senators, the Devils held up well. They kept pace with them in shots (20-22, Ottawa after the second), they battled with the Senators in a physical way (the official stats show the Devils outhitting the Senators 36-27), and the Devils responded to Ottawa's goals with goals of their own. After the Senators would have a few good shifts, the Devils would go out and do the same. Were the Devils great? Were they controlling the game? No, but they weren't letting Ottawa dictate the game either. After all, their first goal was a bizarre fluke from Alexandre Picard from the point that just found it's way in. It's not like they were bossing the Devils around in the first or second periods.

Yet, the second period in particular was just so odd. Brodeur had to be called on to make huge saves; but he was beat off a fluke deflection and hung out to dry on a bad line change by the Devils. In all fairness, Jarkko Ruutu made an excellent move on his breakaway to ensure Johnny Oduya wouldn't stop him at the last moment. In fact, the Devils committed multiple bad line changes, where the defense fortunately recovered or Ottawa duffed the shot. I liken that period to that sandwich cookie you can get at the Mrs. Field's kiosk on the lower concourse. The icing in the middle of the cookie was all over the place, much like the Devils' defense for much of the second period. Sloppy, full of sugar, and making you wonder whether it was a good choice to pay $5.50 for such a filling, unhealthy cookie. Yet, the two cookies (Brodeur and the Devils' offense), ensured that the icing (defense) wouldn't fall onto the ground or on your clothes. Brodeur made some huge stops on the Senators, and the offense put 8 on Elliott to keep them honest. Most notably, Brian Rolston and Jay Pandolfo scored some pretty good goals to keep the Senators down and the Devils up 3-2. Was the sandwich cookie good? Eh, it was OK. Was it a solid period for the Devils? No, but relative to the Senators' performance, it was decent.

Yes, that's my metaphor and I'm sticking to it. Moreover, I believe that second period performance was the best second period effort I've seen from the Devils since the Buffalo game despite it's flaws.

Then the third period came and the Devils played passive hockey for most of the first 15 minutes. OK, I get that the Senators had an extended power play complete with a two man advantage. I get that the Devils did battle for possession throughout the period. But only 3 shots on net? One of which being the most hilarious fluke goal I've seen for the Devils in years? I know this was in the highlights, but it deserves it's own video.

AAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Poor Brian Elliott! The other goals were not totally his fault and he played pretty well, but this was bad. Caught off his line on a routine save and the worst possible scenario just happened! Bryce Salvador scored his first goal of the season and did so in a way to make Ilkka Pikkarainen's first goal of his NHL career look like a goal scorer's goal. Wow. Fortunately for Elliott, it wasn't the game winner. But it did drop Ottawa's confidence as well as make the game even more of a challenge.

Still, the Devils didn't build much on the goal; what really got them going was the euphoria of killing off a 5-on-3 while up by two goals. And now I'm scratching my head. Yes, this is what I wanted to see; but why could we not see this earlier in the game? Or even earlier in the third period? The Devils only put 3 shots on Brian Elliott and that's really concerning given that the entered the period with a one goal lead. Why so passive? Did Salvador's strike put them more at ease? Did they think they could sit on the lead? Was it just that Ottawa was that aggressive going forward (possible, they were down one). Was it something else? The Devils are 7-2 this month and I'm baffled at how they keep getting results with less than 60 minute efforts.

I'm also baffled with Zach Parise. Despite what happened in practice yesterday, Jacques Lemaire had him playing with Travis Zajac all night long. He had an early breakaway that Elliot did very well to stop and throughout the night, he seemed a bit lost. Yes, he had 3 shots on net (more than any Devil); but I think the frustration at him not scoring any goals in this month is starting to set in. Think about it. In that time frame, Ilkka Pikkarainen has scored his first goal; Jay Pandolfo scored his first goal since his injury tonight; and Bryce Salvador opened up his account with a bizarre goal. But Parise? Nope. Zajac was fairly quiet tonight and was beaten plenty on faceoffs (2 for 6). Maybe they do need to be split up for a few games.

Also, now that I'm looking at the stats, I'm also baffled with Nicklas Bergfors only playing 9:26? Was he OK? I mean, Pikkarainen got more time (10:14) than him. Given that he put up no shots and he was most notable coming out of the box for second call on the 5-on-3, getting the puck, closing in on the keeper, and whiffing on a shot; maybe he wasn't. Better luck tomorrow, I suppose?

Nonetheless, some other Devils not named Brodeur had a few good games. The fourth line looked good, as Pelley and Pikkarainen combined for 9 hits and McAmmond picked up an assist on Salvador's goal. Patrik Elias had a solid night with 2 shots, an assist, and a fantastic night at the dot in going 7 for 8. Andy Greene and Salvador were both monsters on the penalty kill, with Greene killing 5:02 and Salvador killing 4:57; they were mostly steady on even strength to boot outside of the second period. Despite taking 3 minors tonight, Langenbrunner was instrumental not only on the power play goal but in setting up a screen for Rolston's slap shot. And speaking of, don't look now, but Brian Rolston now has a 4 game point streak as he scored a goal with his trademark blistering shot. He very well could be earning his money and that is a very good thing.

Yet, I'm sure you're left with all of these ramblings about tonight's game with one question: Can the Devils keep succeeding without playing a consistently good performance all game long? I'd love to say no, but this month has proven this mostly wrong. Maybe I'm demanding too much and the Devils only need to do just a bit better than the opposition to succeed? I'm not sure. I really hope the Devils can play better throughout each period to not only win some non-ugly (or inconsistent-effort) games so we don't have to find out the hard way.

The Devils conclude a 5 game homestand with a 4-1 record and now go on the road for their next 3 games. Tomorrow the Devils will play Atlanta. Maybe a change in scenery will have the Devils give a better overall effort. After all, their most complete game this month was in Buffalo. Here's hoping they'll do that.

Again, congratulations to Martin Brodeur for now being the all time leader in games played. Thanks to Steve for putting up the GameThread and thanks to the commenters and readers in said thread and for this recap. Again, check out Silver Seven for their side of tonight's game. Please share your thoughts and feelings about tonight's game in the comments.

NHLPA Appoints Getzlaf To Search Committee

Arthur from Anaheim Calling — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:13:06 -0000

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THE TELETYPE:

The NHLPA announced that Ryan Getzlaf will join Jamie Langenbrunner, Brian Rafalski, Brian Rolston and Mathieu Schneider on a special committee to find a new Executive Director. The Ducks alternate captain will be the youngest member of a mostly American group that will work with former MLBPA Executive Director Donald Fehr in its search efforts.

The Players' Association removed former Executive Director Paul Kelly in August and have been looking for a stable appointee ever since. The current collective bargaining agreement will expire at the end of the 2010-11 season or a year later at the Association's option.

Patrik Elias Scored 300th & 301st Career Goals in New Jersey Devils' Win over Philadelphia Flyers, 4-1

John Fischer — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 05:06:17 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

It may look small in this picture, but Patrik Elias and Devils fans have every reason to smile as Elias' 300th career goal helped the Devils decisively beat the Philadelphia Flyers. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

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The New Jersey Devils defeated their Second Most Hated Rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers, for the first time this season 4-1 at the Rock tonight. The NHL.com recap is already up with all the stats that you'd like to see. Check out Broad Street Hockey for the Flyers' take, which contains a lot of frustration and or disappointment about the Flyers' performance.

The game changed from period to period. The first period was simply fantastic hockey by the Devils. They straight up dominated the Flyers in every aspect of the game, converted two power play goals, Patrik Elias tacked on a third which was his 300th career goal, and nearly put four past Brian Boucher. A part of me hopes that the Devils coaching staff has a tape of that first period so they can show the Devils exactly what they are capable of - and use it to prevent periods like, say, the second one in tonight's game.

The second was the exact opposite, it was almost as if the teams switched mentalities. The Flyers decided to show up for this one and the Devils decided to take it easy. I really have no answers as to why, but it happened. The Devils were pinned back, the Flyers had more possession and more shots, and Martin Brodeur had to come up huge in a few situations. Of course, he was not perfect. Claude Giroux scored on a bad-angle shot on a power play and gave the Flyers a lifeline. Thankfully for New Jersey, that lifeline was yanked out of it's cord when Patrik Elias put home a fantastic pass by Brian Rolston on a 2-on-1 in the final minute of the period.

The Flyers were surely deflated during the third period. While the Devils didn't look as good in the first, they kept the Flyers honest in their own end, they tried some good attempts on Boucher, and as time went on you can tell that the game was essentially over. The Flyers kept mishandling the puck and conceding possession, whereas the Devils slowed their pace a little bit. Not a bad effort, something I wouldn't have minded seeing from the Devils in the second period.

Read on after the jump for further thoughts on the game.

First, some highlights from NHL.com:

The two top players on the ice were the goal scorers themselves, Nicklas Bergfors and Patrik Elias. Both got braces, both got 4 shots on net, and both somehow racked up a few official giveaways according to the Event Summary of the game. Hmm. In any case, both players looked real strong going forward. Bergfors was constantly going to the net and you saw in the video, thankfully he did just that. His first goal was simply impressive, leading the breakout through the neutral zone and just got through Braydon Coburn and then got it through Boucher's legs. Great stuff on the power play.

But Patrik Elias was just all over the place. Strong in his own end, he was pretty good with his passing all night long, and his goals were fantastic. His first one was a one-timer you'd expect from a pure sniper, a classic highlight-reel worthy goal fitting for a milestone like a 300th career goal. Credit Vladimir Zharkov for his fine work along the boards to protect the puck and get it to Elias. But the second period goal from Elias was far more important. Not just because he is now only 46 goals away from tying John MacLean's franchise record.

The Devils were truly bad in that second period, and again, I don't know why. Maybe they were tired? Maybe they were surprised the Flyers would come out with energy (I hope this isn't the answer)? Maybe they couldn't sustain the level of intensity for two straight periods unless Philly fell flat on it's butt? Whatever you and I may think it is, the fact is that the Flyers got the better of the Devils and pulled within one goal. Martin Brodeur really should have had Claude Giroux's shot. (Aside: I didn't think that was honestly a holding penalty on Jamie Langenbrunner to begin with as a Flyer hugged Langenbrunner's stick for a good 5 feet, but what do I know.) He said as such to Tom Gulitti after the game - not because it killed a shutout, but because he did get a piece of it. However, I think he more than made up for it when he had to make some dynamite saves on the Flyers. 12 shots by Philly, they kept pushing forward, leaving the Devils back, and even on the one power play the Devils did get, the Flyers went up and had a good scoring chance. The Devils only put 5 shots on net, yet the last one was crucial.

Elias' goal at the end sent the message, "We sucked this period, but you know what, you're not winning this game." Most, if not all, of the momentum the Flyers built up in that period, the things they could have built on for the second, was wiped away with 34 seconds left in the second period. The Devils regained their three goal lead in spite of how they played. The Flyers looked deflated as the period ended. As one of the lovely and classy Flyer fans behind me said, "I'm just glad they got a goal, forget the win." And so that fan just must be thrilled as the Flyers just settled for that. Elias goal didn't just restore a lead, it rattled the Flyers' focus. They should have spent the intermission trying to forget about the goal and focus on how they did in those other 19 minutes. But they didn't.

And instead of just trying to look past that goal, they got dumber on the ice. They took two unnecessary calls that they should be happy Brian Boucher and some execution issues prevented the Devils from making the Flyers pay the price. Even so, it meant 4 minutes where the Flyers had to focus mainly on their own end. Outside of that, the Flyers conceded possession easily in the neutral zone, which just hurt their attack. Their passes were poor and the Devils just kept dogging them when they could.

On offense, they didn't make decisions quick enough or correctly enough to make Brodeur really sweat in even strength. Their best scoring chance came while killing a penalty when Brodeur stacked the pads on Jeff Carter. Nice save, but why is Brodeur having to make nice saves on a power play, Devils PP Units? Nevertheless, that was the biggest threat by Philly. The Flyers stopped battling somewhere after the third minute of the third period and the Devils were unfortunate to not make this a bigger score. The Devils were happy to take control of all of these loose pucks - especially Andy Greene, who cleaned up a lot of pucks in his 27:19 of ice time, and that pretty much meant the end.

Admittedly, the Devils weren't as aggressive as they were in the first period, but they did go forward and put a few shots on Boucher. I don't think the Devils stopped trying, but you could tell they didn't have to try as hard given how Philly was playing. Not trying to step up their intensity was a big mistake and really dumb. Why not try to at least make it a game again against a rival? Why give up? I don't know and I'm sure the Flyer fans are asking similar questions as well.

Outside of this, I do want to point out that Martin Brodeur had a very good game from what I saw. Some of those shots by the Flyers were truly dangerous shots. After all, there is a reason why he has more highlight saves than Boucher per the highlight video earlier in this recap. He came up huge on a couple of shorthanded attempts by the Flyers, which were also important as giving up a shortie is a great way to let an opponent back into a game. According to Jacques Lemaire, as reported by Gulitti, that save on Carter in the second period was massive. Honestly, his only real error was the Giroux goal but ultimately that didn't matter thanks to Elias' important second period goal. Could you fault the defense on some of those chances? For some, like the shorthanded chances, seriously those were breakdowns, yes. However, could you really complain about the defense overall as they held the Flyers to 23 shots? Probably not, unless you have high expectations.

So my real complaints about the Devils' performance was their second period and that the power play gave up a few scoring chances while not really frightening the Flyers on those last few man advantages. Yet, the Devils settled things down in the third period - something I would have liked to have seen in the second, admittedly. The power play did convert twice thanks to Bergfors and those two third period power plays went a long way in killing the Flyers' spirit (they did so little after them), so I can't gripe too much about the power play units.

There were some areas I would have liked to have seen the Devils perform better upon further reflection. Had the Devils not take their foot off the proverbial pedal, they could have had 30+ shots instead of just 28. That would have really forced the Flyers back more, and who knows, blow up the score. The one thing Flyers fans can say they dominated the Devils at tonight was at the faceoff dot, as the Devils only won 37% of faceoffs. Though that ultimately didn't mean much. For example, Rob Niedermayer, who played a ton of minutes (22:57), got owned the most as he won only 6 out of 21. Then he usually followed that up by forcing a Flyer to make a hasty decision wherein a Devil picked up a stray puck. So faceoffs were not as crucial tonight.

I'd say the Devils played 40 minutes out of this one. A great 20 followed by a poor 20 and finished with an acceptable 20. Were it not for some unlucky bounces or Brian Boucher coming up big - Brian Rolston nearly had a goal like Elias' second, but Boucher made a fantastic sliding save - this could have easily ended as a big blowout in favor of New Jersey. Instead, I and the Devils fans left the Rock very happy that the Flyers lost in a decisive fashion. The Devils got some revenge for the last two Devils-Flyers games, which were wins where the Flyers outplayed the Devils. The performance by the home team was improved upon some of the recent ones at the Rock, so there's that. The passing was much improved over the dreck that was seen against Florida. The Devils kept cool in light of Philadelphia's lack of discipline save for Colin White shoving Daniel Briere down after a whistle. Bergfors and Elias had huge nights as the difference makers tonight with braces; and Elias hit a career milestone. And, well, the Devils just beat the Flyers, 4-1. Plenty to be happy about, in my view. Now the Devils can rest for three days and try to improve upon their second period performances against Montreal on Wednesday.

Thanks for reading, and a big thanks to Steve for setting up the GameThread as well as a big thanks to the commenters on it as my mobile messaging was lacking tonight. The crowd was good and largely pro-Devils and I enjoyed the company around me despite the class acts whining about the Flyers behind me. (Aside #1: Oh well, they all got a good view of my New Jersey Devils scarf after the goals. Aside #2: Pro-tip for the Flyers fans, bragging about the team value of the Flyers being better than the Devils means little as Elias scores a one-timer.) Combine that with few breaks in the action and so there wasn't much time to text. All the same, the result is what matters and the Devils got it. As usual, please leave your thoughts on tonight's game in the comments.

Florida Panthers Played 60 Minutes, Defeated a New Jersey Devils Team Who Did Not, 4-2

John Fischer — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 04:11:51 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

This is what the Devils fans felt like after the Frolik goal too. Have to do better next time, Devils. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

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What did I say in my preview for this game?

The Goal: 60 minutes will get you two points.

Ah, I was proven right tonight. The Florida Panthers played for the whole 60 minutes, the New Jersey Devils did not. There's your summary. Here's a link to the NHL.com recap complete with all your stats. For the Florida take, check out Litter Box Cats where the Panthers fans should be grinning from ear to ear for what they saw tonight. Credit the Panthers, they played far better than what their recent form and team stats indicated. The four game winning streak by the Devils is over, thanks for reading, and good night.

...

OK, OK, I'll put in more of a complete effort - something the home team did not do. Read on for my further thoughts.

Let's start with the highlights of the game, there's plenty to point out here from this NHL.com embedded video:

Let's review:

The first goal against came from a pass (of sorts) to the high slot where Jordan Leopold had the time, space, and position to fire a shot home.
The second and third goals against came from deflections - both by gliding Panthers right in front of Martin Brodeur, first by Michel Frolik and then later by Shawn Mattias. Ultimately, 24 minutes was all it took for the Panthers to score enough to win.
The Devils' goals included one well placed hard shot courtesy of Brian Rolston on a 3-on-2 and one unfortunate deflection by Keith Ballard that gave Dean McAmmond his first goal and Peter R of Silver Seven a reason to go "Whooooooo." So that's one shot off the rush and one fluke.
Michel Frolik snuck behind an aggressive Andy Greene (not that you could have faulted him, the Devils were pressing on offense and had the momentum), received a fantastic outlet pass from Nathan Horton, made one move, and finished it off cleanly.

I don't know about you, but I'd say the first three goals against weren't the fault of Martin Brodeur nor do I think they would have been stopped if Yann Danis had been playing. I'm just saying. I'd also say that Florida scored twice on high quality chances (Leopold and Frolik's second goal) and scored the other two off of being at the right place and with the right deflection (Frolik's first and Mattias).

In contrast, the Devils tried to create those chances, but they failed to do so. They had opportunities. They had plenty of odd man rushes. They attempted many passes across ice to get Scott Clemmensen to do what he's awkward at - lateral movement. Thanks to the Florida defenders playing right on the blueline (and doing well at it), Devils attempted shots from the wings - one went in and many went wide. They attempted longer shots through traffic. And for what? Not much. Especially late in the third period, but I'll devote a whole separate paragraph to that mess.

This yielded more shots than the Panthers, but the Devils wasted a lot of these opportunities. Officially, the Devils had 15 blocked shots, 11 misses - I'd say they were blocked by their own players at least 3 or 4 times in the third period alone, but I'm quibbling. My point is that the Devils weren't accurate or efficient with their shooting and as a result, the

But what bothers me - and most of the fans at the Rock, who were quite lively and loud tonight - was that it took a 3 goal deficit before the Devils decided to turn up the intensity. Honestly, the first period wasn't so bad. Despite Florida trying to use a neutral zone trap (don't say otherwise, I saw 5 in the neutral zone on a few breakouts), the Devils got 9 shots on net and had the better run of play. They looked a bit inconsistent on offense, but with some more hustle and just a little more focus, I thought at the time that the Devils could do what they have done many times and equalize with a 1 goal deficit. That I thought that at all meant that the Devils weren't quite all "there," a bit unfocused.

Then they just fell flat on their faces for the first 5 minutes of the second period, which threw the Devils' chances down the proverbial stairs. Seriously, 60 minutes means 60 - there aren't any 5 minute breaks! Bryce Salvador took a justifiable, if a bit soft, hooking call as Rostislav Olesz tried to pounce on a rebound. The Devils PK struggled to do much and Mike Mottau had no issue allowing Michel Frolik to waltz through the slot. Mottau and White both looked on as the Panthers cycled down low and as Mattias went to the net, where he was rewarded with a goal. In general, Mottau and White struggled throughout points in the game; but the Devils in general didn't look like a team that was ready to play. The first period may have felt a little sleepy, but the beginning of the second period looked Florida was just practicing out there. Terrible and the Devils ultimately didn't recover from this.

I don't want to think that the Devils needed a 3 goal deficit to "wake up," but that's what happened. Rolston gave the team a lifeline, the Devils upped their offensive aggression to give Scott Clemmensen some serious work to do, but what shouldn't be ignored was how well Florida was performing. They were calm in their own end in breaking up passes, making passes out of the zone, and getting the puck in deep on offense and put a few on Brodeur. The Panthers ended up outshooting the Devils 13-11 in that period, despite Rolston pulling a lot of momentum back in New Jersey's way with his goal and despite two Devils power plays (which looked OK, but the Devils were shooting better after them, for some reason).

The Panthers then sat back a bit after Frolik's goal. After all, the Devils were down by 2, the defense was pretty solid for Florida, so the Panthers didn't have to be so aggressive on the attack. Here, the defense only made one mistake and that was critical - Andy Greene got caught on the point with Frolik well behind him. Horton's pass to him was perfect and the then 3-2 game quickly became a 4-2 deficit.

The game also became nightmare as the Devils just got worse and worse going forward. If there was a way the Devils could screw up a pass or a shot, they found it in the next 17 minutes or so. Here's an extended sample of what was seen at the Rock: Miscommunications, firing shots directly into a Panther or a Devil, flinging shots wide when the right thing to do was to put it on Clemmensen, passes hitting skates where they should have been on the stick, giveaways on long outlet passes on the breakout, Devil forwards attempting to skate through 2 or 3 Panthers, odd man rushes consistently leading with passes instead of shots so Clemmensen and the Panthers defenders knew how to read them, rebounds and loose pucks caught in between skates, and easy dumps to the corner. Did Florida press hard to attack? No, and they didn't need to with the way the Devils offense was going. The passing and shooting was garbage in the third period, and that's especially bad since both aspects needed improvement for the Devils to truly have a shot at coming back from 2 down.

Who on the Devils looked good? Well, would you believe it would be the fourth line of Rod Pelley, Dean McAmmond, and Ilkka Pikkarainen? Pikkarainen had an assist, 4 shots, and had 2 official hits; Pelley had 2 shots and 3 big official hits and by my estimate 7 actual big hits; and McAmmond got a goal. They were hustling and hitting; they were the most consistent. Brian Rolston somehow managed 6 shots on net and a goal, but somehow only got 14:38 of ice time.

Well, Lemaire wanted the top forwards out there and, well, they didn't have a good night, really. Zach Parise had an excellent scoring chance late in the second, but overall only managed 3 shots in 20:27 (missed 1, blocked twice), while he showed a lot of spirit, it didn't translate to good puck movement. Travis Zajac didn't have a good game - 1 shot, 3 blocked, 2 missed, and 6 for 15 at faceoffs in 19:22 of work. They are both very talented, but they weren't effective tonight. In retrospect, I'd like to think Lemaire would have given more time to Elias and Rolston if only because, hey, they got a goal in the game.

Nevertheless, the Devils simply didn't play a complete game and that was the source of the loss. Their passing was progressively miserable, their shooting was wasteful, and they weren't focused in those first 25 minutes which allowed Florida to dig a big enough hole for the Devils to sit in. The Panthers played a complete game and succeeded to the surprise of no one. Good for them, bad for the team we support.

After a few wins with not-so-great performances (Buffalo excepted), the Devils put out a not-so-great performance and lost. Honestly, I'd rather have the win; but such as it is. While we can dwell on it, the Devils can't as they have Philadelphia coming tomorrow. Thanks for reading and leave your comments and complaints about tonight's game in the comments.

Frolik, Clemmensen propel Panthers over Devils; no record yet for Brodeur

Whale4ever — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 02:39:18 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

12 days ago: Florida Panthers' Stephen Weiss, left, of Germany, checks New Jersey Devils' Johnny Oduya, of Sweden, during the second period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Dec. 11, 2009, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

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On a night tailor-made for a longstanding record to fall, the Florida Panthers slammed the door on any such thoughts for a home crowd thirsty to get the hype behind behind them.

Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur was denied his 104th shutout on defenseman Jordan Leopold's fourth of the year with a beautiful read, blasting the puck past an astonished New Jersey club at 3:53 of the first period. For all the times Florida keeps fans guessing, tonight was a happy exception.

Shots ended up 28 to 22 in the Devils' favor, but Michael Frolik's two goals - the second a spectacular one-on-none against Brodeur - proved to be the difference. The guy was determined and displaying the effort we've seen repeatedly but seldom witnessed a payoff. Frolik also led the Panthers with seven shots on goal.

Shawn Matthias scored his second of the season as Nathan Horton and Stephen Weiss climbed back on to the train with two assists each.

Dean McAmmond and Brian Rolston scored for New Jersey.

Scott Clemmensen was imperfect but more than solid in net for the Cats; it was quite obvious where his heart resided on this night, downing a club which many claimed slighted him late in 2009.

More to come tomorrow...and keep in mind the Cats are headlining in Pittsburgh Saturday against Craig Adams, Brent Johnson, and the rest of the Penguins. Open thread goes live at 6pm.

SB Nation - Brian Rolston

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Martin Brodeur Makes History with 104th Career Shutout! New Jersey Devils Vanquish Pittsburgh Penguins 4-0

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New Jersey Devils Deny the Ottawa Senators Points with 4-2 Win in Martin Brodeur's 1,030th Game

***NHLPA Appoints Getzlaf To Search Committee***

Patrik Elias Scored 300th & 301st Career Goals in New Jersey Devils' Win over Philadelphia Flyers, 4-1

Florida Panthers Played 60 Minutes, Defeated a New Jersey Devils Team Who Did Not, 4-2

Frolik, Clemmensen propel Panthers over Devils; no record yet for Brodeur

NHLPA Appoints Getzlaf To Search Committee