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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)

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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:

Martin Brodeur sets all-time shutout mark, Devils down Pens 4-0

Hooks Orpik — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 03:29:06 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

2 days ago: New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur makes a glove save in the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh Monday, Dec. 21, 2009.(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

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Devils vs Penguins coverage - Devils vs Penguins recap - Devils vs Penguins boxscore - In Lou We Trust

Fresh off a five game winning streak, the Penguins looked mostly lifeless against their division rivals the New Jersey Devils. The huge story of the night is, of course, Martin Brodeur. Brodeur set the all-time shutout record, passing Terry Sawchuk with his 104 blanking effort of the night.

Nothing worked well for the Pittsburgh from the get-go, when defensemen Bryce Salvador threaded a puck through several bodies (most of them Penguins) to open the scoring. New Jersey would roar out of the gate when official new Penguin killer Niclas Bergfors drilled a shot by again an obstructed Marc-Andre Fleury. The Pittsburgh PP would get two chances, but convert neither early in the second before Zach Parise, Dean McAmmond and Patrik Elias had a great shift and eventually buried it to stretch the lead for 3-0. Just a few minutes later, about half-way through the second Mark Fraser scored again and it was time to put Fleury out of his misery.

Brent Johnson came in and stopped the bleeding --unfortunately not literally for Jordan Staal who caught a puck to the face. Staal would return at the beginning of the period, sporting a full shield and looking a lot worse for wear. From there the Pens and Devs killed time to the end of the game.

Sidney Crosby rung a shot off the post with about 1:40 left, and with about :40 left Evgeni Malkin had a great chance. Brodeur was up for it, and it was his night.

Frustrating night for everyone in black-and-gold. Max Talbot got baited into a 10 minute misconduct late in the 2nd and threw his helmet when walking to the room. One of those nights where nothing worked.
8th straight game for Malkin taking a penalty, this time a hook. Not to be out-done, Crosby took an interference minor when he slashed the stick out of a player's hands. (Yeah, the bloggers are frustrated too, can you tell?)
Fleury deserved a better fate,on every goal he never got a good look at the puck, or there was a mad scramble in front of him. Hard to fault a goalie when the team in front of him plays so poorly.
Johnson did really well to finish things out, making 14 saves on 14 shots. Things could have gotten really ugly if Johnny wasn't sharp.
Kudos for the Pittsburgh crowd to give a nice round of applause to Brodeur, recognizing his achievement. Almost fitting he breaks the record against a team that he has a .890 career save percentage against and one that's chased him out of the games more than any other.
The lone brightspot was the faceoff circle: the Pens won 59% of the draws, including Crosby's 19 wins on 26 draws (73%) and Staal's 8 wins on 11 tries (73%). But that's kind of like saying Custer's boys got a few good shots in at Little Big Horn.
You think that was a bad joke? Listen to this zinger by Paul Steigerwald on FSN (with about 1:40 left in the game) Referring to how hard former Hobey Baker trophy winner Mike Mottau got hit, Steiggy quiped: "Not as hard as Hobey Baker went down though -- he went down in a plane crash!" He then laughed and apologized for joking about "how he left us" before laughing some more.

No winning streak lasts forever, sadly, and this is in the flames of Hobey Baker's plane wreckage at five games. Not a bad stretch, but the Penguins have now only scored 1 goal in the past two games. They'll have one chance to feel good about things before the brief Christmas break when the Ottawa Senators come to town on Wednesday.

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)

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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.

Game 34 Preview: New Jersey Devils at Atlanta Thrashers - 12/19/2009

John Fischer — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 18:45:32 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

Jacques Lemaire would like YOU to watch tonight's Devils-Thrashers game and support the Devils. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

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The Time: 7:00 PM EST

The Broadcasting Info: TV: MSG; Radio: 660 AM WFAN

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (24-8-1) @ the Atlanta Thrashers (18-12-3)

The Last Devils Game: It was better than Wednesday, but still not a complete effort by the New Jersey Devils. But they did well enough to beat Ottawa 4-2, a game that featured sweet goals by Jamie Langenbrunner, Brian Rolston, and Jay Pandolfo - as well as one absolutely funny and flukey goal by Bryce Salvador. In my recap, I also used a cookie metaphor. Today, I still stand amazed that the Devils are technically in first in the East thanks to having played less games than Pittsburgh.

The Last Thrashers Game: Bill Tiller at the AJC likened the last Atlanta game to a thrilling roller coaster - one with many ups and downs. Ondrej Pavelec was bombarded with 47 shots and had to be big. Even then, Dallas and Atlanta both put 5 on each other in regulation with plenty coming off special teams (including a SHG for each side). Rich Peverley continues his fantastic season by scoring his second goal in overtime for Atlanta to win 6-5.

The Last Devils-Thrashers Game: The first 40 minutes seemed to go well enough for the Devils. They bossed the Thrashers around in the first, and the two teams scored in the second to be tied. Then Atlanta took the Devils to school in the third. They scored 2 goals in the first 6 minutes in the third period and the Devils could only answer one of those back. Even then, Zach Parise's goal later on became a consolation, as Chris Thornburn ensured the win with a shorthanded goal. Steve took care of the recap for the game here at ILWT.

The Goal: Keep the fire burning and make those shots count. The Devils came out with good energy against Ottawa, even if their performance was inconsistent through the game. I'd like to see the Devils keep that up. Atlanta is prone to giving up a ton of shots and if the Devils can stay fresh, then they'll have their chances as well. Above all, I'd like to see the fire raging from Zach Parise and Travis Zajac. The dynamic duo has gone cold on the scoresheet in recent games. If either can pick up their game, it can give the Devils the extra boost they need to get through the second half of this back-to-back. Atlanta does give up a lot of shots, but they have the fire power to outscore anyone I think the Devils will have to be especially efficient with their scoring chances tonight to get a result. Either that, or deny Atlanta anything on defense - but with guys like Ilya Kovalchuk, Rich Peverley, and Maxim Afinogenov, that's asking a lot out of any defense. Perhaps too much.

Now, Colin Stephenson and Tom Gulitti aren't in Atlanta just yet due to flight issues relevant to the incoming SNOWPOCALYPSE (soon to hit New Jersey). So there isn't much news out now about the Devils. I would think they'll keep the same lineup, there's no reason at all to bench a forward for Andrew Peters or Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond. Yet, I really wonder if Jacques Lemaire will keep Parise and Zajac together. After Thursday's practice where he split the two up, they played entirely together on Friday night. Per Gulitti, Lemaire had this explanation as to why:

"I heard some comments that Zach said that made me go back to play him with Travis," Lemaire said. "He said sometimes it’s good to play with other guys and when you come back you really work hard, so things gel together. So, I decided to start with them (together) and I was pleased with the way they worked."

Fair enough. While Lemaire may have been happy with how they played; I think it was obvious that they could have done more. A non-slumping Parise scores on that breakaway he had in the first period. Still, I think a change for a part of a game would do well if only to shake the two of them up. The only other big lineup question is who starts in net tonight? Martin Brodeur actually had a busy night with 29 shots against and Jonathan Cheechoo's knee knocking his head. I think now is a perfect night for Yann Danis to spell Brodeur. That said, here's my wild guess at the Devils' lineup:

Zach Parise - Travis Zajac - Jamie Langenbrunner
Brian Rolston - Patrik Elias - Vladimir Zharkov
Jay Pandolfo - Rob Niedermayer - Nicklas Bergfors
Rod Pelley - Dean McAmmond - Ilkka Pikkarainen

Andy Greene - Bryce Salvador
Colin White - Mike Mottau
Mark Fraser - Johnny Oduya

Yann Danis
Martin Brodeur

I'm guessing Lemaire keeps Parise and Zajac together despite what I think. Whoever starts in net, Danis or Brodeur, will not have an easy night. While Atlanta may not put up many shots on net per game on average (28.4, tied with Florida for 24th), they put quite a few of those shots home as they average 3.12 goals per game (3rd in the league). The top five scorers for Atlanta are impressive players.

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Ilya Kovalchuk	27	19	16	35	-5	41	8	0	1	91	20.9
2009 - Rich Peverley	33	12	21	33	5	24	6	1	6	67	17.9
2009 - Maxim Afinogenov	33	12	18	30	-2	24	3	0	1	75	16.0
2009 - Nik Antropov	33	6	21	27	6	10	2	0	1	45	13.3
2009 - Tobias Enstrom	33	3	22	25	10	12	1	0	0	47	6.4

And behind them aren't bad either, including Slava Kozlov, Colby Armstrong, rookie Evander Kane, and Pavel Kubina bringing the bombs from the point. The Thrashers are a fairly solid offensive team and Ondrej Pavelec has looked good in replacing the injured Kari Lehtonen. So much so, I wonder whether Lehtonen will stay a Thrasher.

	GP	MIN	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Ondrej Pavelec	21	1169	9	8	62	3.18	701	639	.912	2

Either way, per this post by Chris Vivlamore at the AJC, the Thrashers will start Pavelec; scratch Bryan Little, Anssi Salmela, and Mark Popovic; and coul roll out these four lines from this morning's practice:

Kovalchuk-Antropov-Thorburn
Kozlov-Peverley-Afinogenov
Kane-White-Armstrong
Slater-Reasoner-Boulton

Amazingly, the Thrashers have been winning games despite being so heavily outshot. The Falconer at Bird Watchers Anonymous looked the shot deficit issue and found that the Thrashers concede more shots on average in regulation wins than they do in losses. Not only that, but the differential between shots for and against is higher - meaning the Thrashers get out-shot more - in their wins as opposed to their losses.

Again, this goes back to efficency. If the Devils get a few breakaways or odd man rushes like they did against Ottawa, they have to finish those plays. Given Atlanta's top scorers (the amazing Kovalchuk, the impressive Peverley, and the resurgent Afinogenov) and their 3.12 goals per game average stat, the Thrashers will make the Devils pay for any errors be it by their defense, by a bad line change, or even just by the Devils not being able to score.

I'll put up the GameThread later. If you're in the NY/NJ area, there's a good chance you won't be going too far with the aforementioned SNOWPOCALYPSE so join me in the comments tonight. Leave your thoughts about tonight's game in the comments in advance. For the other side, check out Bird Watchers Anonymous, where you don't need to be necessarily anonymous if you so choose. Go Devils!

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)

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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.

Game 33 Preview: New Jersey Devils vs. Ottawa Senators - 12/18/2009

John Fischer — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 05:00:18 -0000

by Rich Schultz - AP

More of these please. Especially if you're Zach Parise and/or Travis Zajac. (AP Photo/Rich Schultz)

View full size photo »

The Time: 7 PM EST

The Broadcasting Info: TV: MSG+; Radio: 660 AM WFAN

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (23-8-1) vs. the Ottawa Senators (17-12-4)

The Last Devils Game: The Devils didn't play well, but somehow, Montreal squandered more of the game and Patrik Elias made them pay late in the game off a rebound created by Brian Rolston and Carey Price. The Devils go on to win 2-1 and I wrote a recap about a game where neither team looked like they wanted to win all that badly.

The Last Senators Game: In a word, it was a shutdown effort by the Senators. They hosted the Buffalo Sabres; Brian Elliott was perfect; the Senators' defense kept the Sabres out of the slot; and went on to win 2-0. A very nice win according to Peter R's account at Silver Seven.

The Last Devils-Senators Game: It wasn't the best of times for the Devils. A three game winless streak and taking on a then-hot Ottawa Senators team. Yet, neither team really relented in a tight checking game and Patrik Elias was the hero with a deft deflection to put the Devils up 2-1. The result frustrated the Senators enough for Daniel Alfredsson to throw a stick on an empty net chance that Jamie Langenbrunner put in anyway. The Devils win 3-1, I recapped the game here; Peter R shared his thoughts here.

The Goal: 60 minutes of effort, Devils. I know it's a cliche. I know I've said it before. But despite the 6-2 record in December, the Devils have played one game wherein they played hard in each period. I've said it before, and it still holds true. If you've been reading my recaps or watching the recent games, you know this. And the media is picking up on this; check out the third comment on this post from Tom Gulitti, posted by, er, Tom Gulitti:

It’s something we might point to in a few days, but the Devils have not played a really solid game since Buffalo. They had good starts against Carolina and Phildelphia, but didn’t play well in the last two periods of either game. If they were playing better opponents, it might have been a different outcome.

They lost to Florida, which hadn’t been playing well before that, and then last night they won pretty much because they played a team that played worse than they did.

Ottawa and Atlanta are better than last four teams the Devils played. They need to play better to win those games—though Ottawa will be without Spezza (knee).

Posted by TG on 12/17 at 03:57 PM

Turn it around, Devils. Ottawa will not go down easily. Read on for my further thoughts about tonight's game, including some insight into the Senators from Peter R of Silver Seven.

Now, in practice on Thursday per Gulitti's report, Jacques Lemaire changed the forward lines up and split up Zach Parise and Travis Zajac. While they haven't been bad, they haven't been producing goals on the ice. Between the two, they have combined for 1 goal (Zajac) and 6 assists (2 from Zajac, 4 from Parise) in the last 5 games. For most, that wouldn't be so bad; but given that they are New Jersey's top left winger and center, the expectations are more demanding. While the Devils are winning games, it would be most beneficial if either player started putting pucks into the net as well as on net.

To that end, I would expect a jumbled set of forward lines to start against Ottawa. Though, I think the fourth line will remain the same. I personally hope the second line of Brian Rolston, Patrik Elias, and Vladimir Zharkov remains intact. Rolston and Elias have played well together and Zharkov's hustle is infectious. The threesome put together the game winning goal against Montreal and I hope they get rewarded with another game together. But if Parise is being moved away from Zajac, it wouldn't surprise me if Lemaire puts him next to Elias. Of course, if things go pear-shaped, Lemaire will switch things up.

The defense will remain the same and if Gulitti's reporting that Martin Brodeur looks like he'll start, then he probably will. Should Brodeur play tonight, it will be his 1,030th career game - breaking Patrick Roy's all-time record for games played by a goaltender. That all said, here is my badly-made guess for tonight's lineup:

Brian Rolston - Travis Zajac - Nicklas Bergfors
Zach Parise - Patrik Elias - Vladimir Zharkov
Jay Pandolfo - Rob Niedermayer - Jamie Langenbrunner
Rod Pelley - Dean McAmmond - Ilkka Pikkarainen

Andy Greene - Bryce Salvador
Colin White - Mike Mottau
Mark Fraser - Johnny Oduya

Martin Brodeur
Yann Danis

Aside from this bad guess and wanting to see a 60 minute effort by the home team, I'd love to see the power play be less than useless. I don't want them to just mindlessly throw pucks on net. Setting up shots is fine, but they really need to do a better job in establishing position on offense and putting the puck on net. 3 shots out of 5 power plays, which was what the Rock was treated to on Wednesday, is not good enough. I shouldn't even have to write that they shouldn't concede the puck at the point en route to a shorthanded scoring chance. If the Devils want to actually take advantage, then their power play performance has to do better.

Let's consider tonight's opponent for a moment. With a 4-5-1 record in their last 10 games, Jason Spezza out with a torn MCL (6-8 weeks) and the team not looking to get any help in response, Nick Foligno is out for 2 weeks with knee surgery (last two links via Silver Seven), and Jonathan Cheechoo still on the roster, one may think things aren't going so well for the Senators. Someone could have told Buffalo that, as they were shutout 2-0 on Wednesday by the Senators. So Ottawa comes into this game with a little momentum, an opportunity for revenge (Senators lost twice to the Devils already), and every reason to give the Devils another tough game.

Even with Spezza out due to injury, the Senators still have some very dangerous and productive forwards. The defense can't rest when these guys are out on the ice.

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Daniel Alfredsson	33	9	21	30	-1	10	1	1	2	82	11.0
2009 - Mike Fisher	31	15	13	28	9	19	6	0	4	103	14.6
2009 - Milan Michalek	33	15	6	21	-8	8	5	2	2	93	16.1
2009 - Alex Kovalev	30	7	11	18	2	18	1	0	1	45	15.6

To get a better understanding of the Senators, I had a few questions for Peter R of Silver Seven. Thankfully, he took the time to answer them and I hope you learn a little more about how the team is doing these days.

Question #1. Let's talk goaltenders first. After Pascal Leclaire went out with injury due to a bizarre incident, Brian Elliott has been playing fairly well recently with 2 shutouts in his last 5 games. Do you think he's doing his job well as Leclaire's out? And when Leclaire returns, do you think there will be a goaltending duel for the #1 spot?

PR: Brian Elliott's been strong at times in Pascal Leclaire's absence, but he's had off-games, too. Leclaire should be back soon (probably after this weekend), and when he does come back he'll re-assume the number one mantle, no questions asked. Elliott just hasn't played consistently enough to raise any questions about that reality.

	GP	MIN	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Brian Elliott	19	1094	9	7	48	2.63	506	458	.905	2

Question #2. The last time these two teams played, the Devils went on to win 3-1 with Patrik Elias' deflection ultimately deciding the game. In your recap of that game, to summarize, the Senators struggled to get anything going and against a team like New Jersey, a positive result was unlikely. What do you think Ottawa should do to adjust for New Jersey's style of play?

PR: It's tough to say what the Senators have to do to beat the Devils, but there's no doubt the scoring forwards who are in the lineup--Mike Fisher, Daniel Alfredsson, Milan Michalek, and Alex Kovalev--all need to get their games on. Carrying the puck through the neutral zone doesn't work, so the Senators will probably need to dump the puck into the corners (while keeping it away from Brodeur) and get in on the defensemen as quickly as possible. Against a shut-down team like Jersey, getting the lead is huge, so Ottawa needs to find one and keep it.

Question #3. One of the players on Ottawa who's having a good season is Milan Michalek. He scored Ottawa's lone goal in the last game between these two teams and he is tied with Mike Fisher for the team lead with 15. Are you surprised he has turned out to be this productive, and - based on what you've seen - why do you think he's been so effective for the Senators so far?

PR: I'm not surprised that Milan Michalek has been as successful offensively as he has been, but I didn't expect such an all-around force when he came over from San Jose: Penalty killing, backchecking, playing in front of the net, and he's insanely fast. His scoring has slowed down a fair bit in the last 10 games, and he's one guy who's going to have to get it going with Jason Spezza out of the lineup for 6-8 weeks.

Question #4. Rather than ask for a prediction for tonight's game, how about a bolder one? The Senators are sitting pretty at 6th in the East at 17-12-4; from what you've seen so far, do you think they'll be in the postseason come April?

PR: It would be a huge disappointment if the Senators didn't make the playoffs, at least as things are going right now--and that's even without Spezza for a significant period of time. They've been as high as first in the Northeast, and haven't spent any significant amount of time out of a playoff spot. Considering how weak the Eastern Conference has been so far this season, the Senators have a great chance of making the playoffs, even as high as fifth spot--but sixth or seventh might be more realistic.

Big thanks to Peter R for answering my questions. Elliott is coming off a real good game and he's done well at the Rock the last time he came here; so as inconsistent as he may have been, I wouldn't expect him to flounder.

It's interesting that Peter brought up the idea of dumping and chasing. The Canadiens tried to do that in the third period against the Devils, but to no real avail as the Devils were able to get to the dumped puck first more often than not. Oh, and it helps when Martin Brodeur's so good with his stick behind his net. Still, the Canadiens were also playing in a fog on Wednesday; I think Ottawa will be more alert tonight so I hope the defensemen are ready to hustle to the corners and endboards should the Senators go in this direction.

As usual, I'll be in Section 1, Row 16, and probably being louder than most would care for. Alas, it's a hockey game and not a library, that's my argument and I'm sticking to it. Stay warm and Steve will have the GameThread up tonight. Please comment on tonight's game in advance of the GameThread in the comments (feel free to post any updates from Gulitti or Chere). Go Devils!

New Jersey Devils Morning News, Dec 17

TibbsBeastoftheEast — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:28:08 -0000

Union calls Devils - (The Bergen Record)
Patrick Elias' late goal lifts the Devils over Canadiens, 2-1 - (The Bergen Record)

Brodeur: Fans "got to get over" Gomez’s departure "sometime" - (Fire & Ice)
Pikkarainen savors first NHL goal in 2-1 Devils’ win over Montreal - (Fire & Ice)
Langenbrunner and Rolston named to committee to search for NHLPA’s new Executive Director - (Fire & Ice)
Live post: Devils and Canadiens tied 1-1 in third; Pikkarainen scores first NHL goal - (Fire & Ice)
Gomez still settling in with Canadiens; Coat drive Friday - (Fire & Ice)
Facing Montreal no big deal for Lemaire; Henrique, Cormier make Canadian junor team - (Fire & Ice)
Durability key to Brodeur’s big numbers; Lemaire - (Fire & Ice)
Lemaire sticking with a lineup that works; Encouraging words for Zajac - (Fire & Ice)
Devils getting ready to take on Canadiens tonight - (Fire & Ice)
NJ Devils goalie Martin Brodeur reaches another milestone - (The Star Ledger)
NJ Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner: We snuck away with two points - (The Star Ledger)
Scott Gomez returns to face NJ Devils as a Hab; Brian Gionta misses trip - (The Star Ledger)
NJ Devils sputter on power play but still manage 2-1 victory over Montreal Canadiens - (The Star Ledger)
NJ Devils-Montreal Canadiens: As they played - (The Star Ledger)
NJ Devils name the people they'd most like to meet - (The Star Ledger)
Almost 13 years ago, NJ Devils goalie Martin Brodeur got a lesson in professionalism from Jacques Lemaire - (The Star Ledger)
Goal drought isn't getting to NJ Devils winger Zach Parise - (The Star Ledger)
NJ Devils bring 2-1-0 homestand record into meeting with Montreal Canadiens - (The Star Ledger)
Elias lifts Devils past Canadiens - (The New York Daily News)
Elias beats the clock for Devils - (The New York Post)
Slow rehab major pain for Martin - (The New York Post)
Martin Brodeur ties NHL record - (The New York Post)
Watch Postgame Reaction - (Msgnetwork)
NJD Notes 12.16: Brodeur grab bag - (NewJerseyDevils.com)
NJD Notes 12.16: Parise speaks to Gionta - (NewJerseyDevils.com)
Elias' late goal lifts Devils over visiting Canadiens - (NewJerseyDevils.com)
Salvador interview on NHL Live - (NewJerseyDevils.com) ; from the homepage
NHL Standings - (Yahoo NHL)
Devils' players stats - (Yahoo NHL)
Devils Team Report - (Yahoo NHL)
Terry Sawchuk was king of Pain on ice … and in life - (Vancouver Sun)
Martin Brodeur: The way I play each game, I make it easy on myself - (SportingNews.com)
Inside the Habs' dressing room - (The Gazette)
No shutout but Brodeur beats Habs - (The Gazette)
'One mistake cost us,' Plekanec says - (Montreal Gazette)
Devils vs. Canadiens, 12/16/09 - (Interchangeable Parts)

TRENTON DEVILS
Kory Nagy Featured in Hockey's Future - (TrentonDevils.com)

AROUND THE NHL
Puck Treasures: Celebrating your Stanley Cup title in style - (Yahoo NHL)

MISCELLANEOUS
NBers suiting up for Canada at world juniors - (Riverview ThisWeek); Patrice Cormier
Physical play becoming a hit in Pittsburgh - (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review); Mike Rupp
Flint Generals Pascal Rheaume, John Mori called up to Manchester of American ... - (MLive.com)
Nets to Newark? Not So Much… - (Nets Are Scorching)
This Decade's 10 Unrepeatable Sports Accomplishments - (Blogcritics.org)
Burford's Henrique Picked For Canada's Jr. Team - (CD98.9)
Final cuts made for Canada's 2010 WJHC roster - (TSN)
Deal to move NJ Nets from Meadowlands to Newark's Prudential Center falls apart - (No Land Grab)
Did the Pens tank the '83-'84 season to get Lemieux? - (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

New Jersey Devils Morning News, Dec 16

TibbsBeastoftheEast — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:51:00 -0000

Marty Brodeur is the enduring Devil - (The Bergen Record)
Zach Parise frustrated by drought - (The Bergen Record)

Brodeur approaches another milestone night against Canadiens - (Fire & Ice)
Devils, Langenbrunner take advantage of rest time; Lemaire believe goals will come for Zharkov - (Fire & Ice)
Jamie Langenbrunner returns to Devils’ practice - (Fire & Ice)
NJ Devils' Johnny Oduya still not at top of his game following return from injury - (The Star Ledger)
Devils try to continue streaky Hab-it - (The New York Post)
The Morning Skate: Another Record for Brodeur and Watching the Blues - (The New York Times)
Cangy: Brodeur NHL's Ripken - (Msgnetwork)
Devils-Canadiens Game Preview - (Msgnetwork)
Brodeur eyes more history vs. Habs - (NewJerseyDevils.com)
Devils make annual hospital visits - (NewJerseyDevils.com)
Not much holiday cheer around Flyers, Rangers - (NHL.com)
Another milestone in the offing for Brodeur - (NHL.com)
NHL Standings - (Yahoo NHL)
Devils' players stats - (Yahoo NHL)
Devils Team Report - (Yahoo NHL)
Canadiens-Devils Preview - (CBS SportsLine)
Allan Muir: Devils return to top of NHL Power Rankings - (CNN)

LOWELL DEVILS
Devils Dominate Falcons, 6-1 - (LowellDevilsHockey.com)
Devils Weekly #11 - Weekend Split Puts Lowell in Second Place - (LowellDevilsHockey.com)

AROUND THE NHL
Has technology made attending early season games obsolete? - (Yahoo NHL)
The 10 best hockey fights of the last decade - (Yahoo NHL)

MISCELLANEOUS
Life after NHL still good for Brick's Jim Dowd - (Brick Township Bulletin)

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)

Browse more photos »

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.