SB Nation User Blog: John Fischer

New Jersey Devils Pre-World Juniors Prospect Update

John Fischer — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:04:35 -0000

by Ryan Remiorz - AP

Jacob Josefson will represent Sweden again at the IIHF 2010 World Junior Championships. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Ryan Remiorz)

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The 2010 IIHF World Junior Championships are upon us! The most prestigious U-20 tournament in the world will be hosted by Canada, specifically Saskatchewan. See the best prospects from recent drafts and a few for the next draft. Four New Jersey Devils prospects will be representing their nation in the tournament, and so they warrant our attention.

Mattias Tedenby, LW, Sweden, 2008 1st round pick. Currently listed as the top Devils prospect at Hockey's Future, the dynamic winger from HV71 will get a chance to sparkle at the WJCs for the second straight year. Last year, he scored 1 goal and 4 assists in 6 games for Sweden. With more experience, both in the SEL and internationally, he could have a big tourney.
Jacob Josefson, C, Sweden, 2009 1st round pick. The Djurgardens pivot is also slickly talented to grab your eye. This year's first rounder has been getting significant time with his club team and will appear in his second straight WJC. He didn't get any points last year, but making the team was impressive. He did represent Sweden at the World U-18s last year as well, earning 3 goals and 4 assists in 6 games.
Patrice Cormier, C, Canada, 2008 2nd round pick. Cormier was a part of Canada's 2009 gold medal winning team and his continued solid play earned him another chance to represent Canada for yet another gold medal at the WJCs. This tournament will especially be special, as he was named Team Canada's captain a few days ago (h/t elesias). Now that's an accomplishment! Hopefully his physical style of play doesn't get the better of him, as apparently he elbowed a Swedish player in the face in a recent exhibition and he wasn't punished (no penalty, no suspension, does the IIHF have a Wheel of Discipline™?).
Adam Henrique, C, Canada, 2008 3rd round pick. 2009 must have been a great year in Henrique's hockey career. New career highs in points (63), leading Windsor (and the tournament) to win the 2009 Memorial Cup, and now he's centering one of the best lines in junior hockey with 2010 ace prospect Taylor Hall and Greg Nemisz en route to shatter his previous career high early in 2010. Now he gets to represent Canada and potentially center that same line on the international stage. Hopefully it's a sign of things to come from the young center.

Four Devils in the tournament isn't bad at all. At one point there were six possibilities. Michigan center David Wohlberg was in the United States evaluation camp, but he was cut on Sunday. Brandon defenseman Alexander Urbom, of course, did not make the roster for unclear, but possibly daft reasons. Considering how Canada apparently dominated Sweden in a recent exhibition game, maybe Sweden could have used a big defenseman who is experienced on the North American-sized rink and the style of hockey that the Canadian juniors play. Your loss, Sweden! (At least Urbom can use this snub as motivation to continue improving his game in the WHL.)

In any case, the 2010 IIHF WJCs will run from December 26 through January 5. With the Devils being real busy with games in that time frame, I'll be keeping an open thread for the WJCs in the FanPosts. I'll provide little updates on these four prospects in particular.

With the Christmas break keeping many teams idle today, I'd figure today was a good day as to put together another stat update of the various prospects in the Devils' system. With Vladimir Zharkov playing up in New Jersey, I took him off and put Matt Halischuk - who is now in Lowell - back in the list. Please let me know how the players are actually playing beyond the stats, if you have seen them play, in the comments. Let's use this as a point of discussion about the team's prospects. The basic stats I could find, of course, don't tell the whole story - so anything you have to add is most appreciated.

Here's the Devils' prospects stat sheet I put together from various team and league sites as of December 23, 2009:

John MacLean has had to deal with a lot of transferring of talent this season. With the injuries hitting New Jersey, Lowell has seen a number of players called up: Dean McAmmond, Tyler Eckford, Matthew Corrente, Vladimir Zharkov, Tim Sestito, and Mark Fraser. McAmmond, Fraser, Corrente, and Zharkov are still up with the New Jersey Devils and Matt Halischuk was on the team until sent down a few weeks ago. It speaks highly of the talent on the farm team that they can come onto the Devils and contribute. That the Devils are current tied for second in the Atlantic Division in the AHL with a record of 18-12-3 speaks highly with how well MacLean has done as head coach.

Even despite the call ups, many players on Lowell have done a good job with their production. Matt Taorima's 22 points is certainly impressive - he's currently tied for fourth among rookie scorers in the AHL. Nick Palmieri and Nathan Perkovich are both tied for twelfth in rookie scoring. Jeff Frazee has got a few games back after injury, but it appears Mike McKenna (11-7, 2.38 GAA, 92.5 Sv%, 2 SO) is Lowell's top goaltender for the time being.

Prior to the WJCs, Tedenby is still getting limited minutes on HV71's third line. That makes a bit difficult to get points, but that he has contributed a little bit is a good sign. HV71 remains at the very top of the SEL, so I can't imagine that the coaches will make any big changes to the lineup. Josefson may not have that many more points, but that he's getting significant ice time for a 18 year old center in one of Europe's top leagues. That's something I think is impressive enough as-is. Especially when you consider that Djurgardens is 15-11-5 and currently fourth in the SEL.

With respect to the non-professional prospects, David McIntyre is sparkling for Colgate (7-6-4 overall, 5-3-1 ECAC), he's second on the team in points and the sixth overall scorer in the conference. Mike Hoeffel leads his team in goals, while second in team scoring on University of Minnesota. In junior, Henrique is obviously scoring tons of points in the OHL while the others are holding steady. Urbom's numbers look particularly good with 21 points and a very impressive +20. Down in junior A, Curtis Gedig has been moved from Cowichan Valley (14-23-0-1) to Vernon (33-2-0-2) and he's been quite productive in his first few games with Vernon. No doubt, he's enjoying the success of the team in the BCHL. He'll be going to Ohio State next season. Derek Rodwell has committed to University of North Dakota and he's been fairly productive with Okotoks in the AJHL.

Again, if you have seen any of these players play, please, by all means, let us know how you think they are playing in the comments.

The Impressive Production of Andy Greene

John Fischer — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:01:19 -0000

More photos » by Rich Schultz - AP

Andy Greene has been involved in a lot of post-goal hugs, and for good reason (here he is getting one for scoring a goal.) (AP Photo/Rich Schultz)

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One of the biggest and most pleasant surprises of this 2009-10 season is the rise of Andy Greene, legitimate top-4 NHL defenseman. He was signed this summer to a fair and modest amount of money ($1.475 million) for a third-pairing defenseman, having played mainly on the third pairing last season. He started the season as the team's 7th, as Cory Murphy got the team's first two games. Greene was given a chance in the third period and he, perhaps inadvertently, made an important play in the dying seconds in Tampa Bay. Somehow, he got the puck towards Travis Zajac to score a last-second equalizer, which guaranteed the Devils' first point of the 09-10 season; and gave the Devils a chance to win their first game of the season, which they did.

That was Andy Greene's first point of the 2009-10 season. In retrospect, it should have been a sign of things to come. Not only has he impressed Devils fans by taking control of the team's #1 defenseman spot after Paul Martin's injury - myself included - but he's been clutch with his production.

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	ATOI	SOG	PCT
2009 - Andy Greene	32	5	16	21	11	4	4	0	3	23:53	36	13.9

After Monday's now famous victory in Pittsburgh, Greene has 21 points in 32 games - or 0.65625 points per game. Assuming he plays the rest of the season (79 games as Greene sat for 3 games), Greene is on pace for exactly 51.84375 points, or 51 if you'd like to approximate. That is simply impressive by itself. That would be the highest mark by a Devils defenseman since Brian Rafalski's 55 point season in 2006-07 and only the second time since the lockout since a Devil blueliner reached that plateau.

I discovered all this when ILWT user dsarch asked me how Andy Greene's assists broke down. Just out of curiosity as to whether Greene is picking up assists from the run of play, or directly setting up many of these goals. Well, Greene's 16 assists break down to 11 primary assists and 5 secondary assists. And one of those secondary assists are definitely an important part of the set-up for the goal; like his assist on Dean McAmmond's goal against Atlanta. (Click the link, watch the video of that goal, and see for yourself.)

But that's not the most impressive part about it. Check out this chart of Greene's points game-by-game.

To summarize, Greene has 3 game winning goals, 6 assists on game winning goals, and 11 power play points (4 goals, 7 assists, third behind Nicklas Bergfors and Zach Parise in power play scoring). The Devils have a remarkable 15-2 record when Greene does get a point, and 19 points across those 15 games. No wonder some Devils fans think Greene equals wins, no matter how coincidental the situation may be. Greene isn't just involved in eating a lot of minutes or picking up points at an incredible rate, he's getting goals and assists off of man advantages and the eventual winning goal. Quite simply, he's getting important points. And the only players who get so many important, meaningful points are important players.

I can't say for certain whether he'll keep up this rate of production, but it is most definitely impressive and I think this showcases. All this from someone who didn't even start at the beginning of the season. I think this is further proof of how important Andy Greene has been this season for the Devils - at both ends of the rink.

Feel free to discuss Andy Greene and his season further. Do let me know if I made an error or if you'd like to add to that. Thanks to dsarch for giving me the initial idea to delve into Greene's stats so far this season.

"We had a couple of beers and just hung out," Brodeur said, downplaying it. "Celebrating these...

John Fischer — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:20:14 -0000

"We had a couple of beers and just hung out," Brodeur said, downplaying it. "Celebrating these things…I'm not done playing the game so there will be more."

Martin Brodeur comments on how he celebrated his 104th shutout, as written by NHL.com's Dan Rosen. (P.S. Article has links to excellent NHL.com articles related to the achievement, like this one.)

I absolutely love the last part - I had to bold it. Speaking of Brodeur #104 pieces, I absolutely loved Greg Wyshynski's post on the record at Puck Daddy. I know Tibbs linked it, but it's a must-read, so there it is again.

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

John Fischer — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 03:08:14 -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:

Game 35 Preview: New Jersey Devils at Pittsburgh Penguins - 12/21/2009

John Fischer — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:57:14 -0000

by Bill Kostroun - AP

Expect a better performance out of Martin Brodeur tonight against Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

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The Time: 7:30 PM EST

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

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (25-8-1) at the Pittsburgh Penguins (25-10-1)

The Last Devils Game: The Devils offense took it to a defensively-challenged Atlanta Thrashers team all night long. The Devils win itself was dramatic as turned a 3-1 deficit after the first period to be up 4-3 after the second and then finished 5-4. In my recap of the game, I offered praise to Yann Danis and the forwards while criticizing Mike Mottau, Colin White, and Ilya Kovalchuk. The Devils' win extended their winning streak to 4.

The Last Penguins Game: Not to be outdone, but the Penguins continued their own winning streak with a shootout win over the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres were stingy, only it was Patrick Lalime holding it down, and the Penguins' offense was very inefficient with their shooting. Nonetheless, Kris Letand and Marc-Andre Fleury came up big and so they won 2-1. Hooks Orpik of Pensburgh recapped the Penguins' fifth straight win here.

The Last Devils-Penguins Game: For the first 30 minutes, the Devils were outplayed by the Penguins. Martin Brodeur was the only one there from the start to keep the Devils in it. While Pittsburgh struck first, the Devils finally arose to dismantle the Penguins in the second half of the game. Nicklas Bergfors got the equalizer (and 2 assists later on) and the team rolled from there on to win 4-1 in Pittsburgh. Steve recapped the game here at ILWT, Hooks Orpik lamented how the Devils won despite Pittsburgh's efforts.

The Goal: Focus on this game only - particularly in the first period. Much will be made and deservedly so. The two top teams in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference (and the league, really) face off with the winner getting on top. Already, the Devils won twice against Pittsburgh, twice in Pittsburgh, and twice by the decisive score of 4-1. It may be easy to get caught up in recent success along with the short-term importance of this game. Jacques Lemaire must ensure that he and his team won't because they cannot afford to be distracted against a now-healthy Pittsburgh team. Moreover, they cannot afford a sloppy defensive effort in the first period like they did against Atlanta - the last Pittsburgh-Devils game had the Penguins outplay the Devils for that first period. The gameplan should not be to have Martin Brodeur bail out the team until later in the game again (not that it was in the last game, only that actually happened). Beating a strong team like Pittsburgh will require the full focus of the team right from the very beginning.

Read on further for my thoughts on the game, a wild guess at the Devils line up, and some insight into the Penguins thanks to Frank D of Pensburgh.

Now, after what happened in Atlanta, I'm pretty confident in how Martin Brodeur, Colin White, and Mike Mottau will perform much better tonight. Here's why:

Martin Brodeur was really hung out to dry on the first two goals against thanks to White and Mottau not defending well. Even so, Brodeur didn't look good at all in giving up 3 on 6 shots. Brodeur is notorious for following up a poor performance with a fantastic one, so Penguins fans, don't expect a lot of gifts.
White and Mottau looked much better when split up after the first period. Mottau calmed down when playing with Johnny Oduya, and White showed more confidence next to Mark Fraser. They both weren't entirely bad, just together for one period on Saturday for whatever reason. While Gulitti thinks that Jacques Lemaire is leaning towards keeping them separate, I think Mottau and White should be back together. I don't think one bad period will have Lemaire undo a consistent defensive pairing, especially given that Lemaire kept Travis Zajac and Zach Parise together for Friday's game against Ottawa despite splitting them in the practice prior.

Therefore, I will guess that the lineup to reflect that - the usual defensive pairings return and Brodeur will start again and play to prove a point.

The only other change I would like to see is Ilkka Pikkarainen back in the lineup for Andrew Peters' spot. While Rod Pelley and Vladimir Zharkov made the most of their minutes and Peters actually was robbed of a goal, the fourth line didn't see 10 minutes with Peters out there. Peters cannot keep up with Pelley's and Zharkov's speed. With Pikkarainen, Lemaire could do that as he is a much better skater than Peters. And you know Pikkarainen will definitely get some hits in. In fact, now I'm wondering how exciting a line of Zharkov, Pelley, and Pikkarainen could be - all three will definitely hustle against Pittsburgh. Another reason to try them out. Therefore, I'd like to see that happen.

Incidentally, I think Lemaire will keep the three forward lines he had against Atlanta together to at least start against Pittsburgh.

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

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

Martin Brodeur
Yann Danis

Now, there's one other part of the Devils' team that I think will be important: the power play unit. Pittsburgh isn't exactly an extremely well-disciplined team. They are tied with five other teams for the sixth most minor penalties this season with 163; they are alone with the sixth most number of penalties this season with 195; and they are tied with Ottawa for the seventh highest penalty minutes per game average. Are they as bad as Tampa Bay or Philadelphia? No. But they aren't good either. When the Penguins do take a minor for one reason or another, the Devils will have to make them pay the price in some way or form. Wasting chances against a team like Pittsburgh just makes the game harder than it needs to be.

As for Pittsburgh, they finally healthy, with Sergei Gonchar most notably back running the defense. Moreover, their elite players are playing at an elite level; and the team as a whole is hot. Again, they won their last 5 games, defeating Montreal, Florida, Philadelphia twice, and Buffalo. To get some insight into how the team is performing, I asked Frank D of Pensburgh a few questions about the team.

Question #1. Pittsburgh goes into this game with 5 straight wins against a Devils team who hasn't exactly won their last 4 games with fantastic performances. What have the Penguins been doing in their last 5 games that has made them so successful, and will it give them an edge in tonight's matchup?

FD: To be honest nothing really stands out as the focal point for Pittsburgh's recent success. If anything I'll say this. 1) They are finally all healthy for the first time this season (although that may change barring some sort of injury report on Mark Eaton, who left the game early Saturday night) and 2) Marc-Andre Fleury is stepping up in the crease. Over the last five games Fleury has not given up more than two goals in either of those contests. Two goals three times, one goal twice. When you get a performance like that and throw in an offense like Pittsburgh has, it was seem like the logical outcome would be a win. And it has been. And God willing, it will continue to be.

	GP	MIN	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Marc-Andre Fleury	30	1767	21	8	68	2.31	766	698	.911	0

Question #2. In Pittsburgh's most recent win, Hooks Orpik noted that the Penguins missed the net 19 times and were blocked 20 times. Given the sheer amount of offensive talent on Pittsburgh, was it just a bad night for the offense or a sign of the team starting to fade in their hot streak?

FD: Well there's no doubt that they were playing against a very good Buffalo team. Former Penguin Patrick Lalime got the start over the unflappable Ryan Miller and you could hardly tell the difference. Lalime was playing like it was 1996 again - taking away the angles, making ridiculous saves on rebound after rebound and had a strong defense in front of him to take care of the dirty work of blocking shots. Pittsburgh met their match Saturday night. Had it not been for a shootout (Pens are 6-0 in that department this season) it'd be hard to say whether or not the Pens would've walked away with the 'W.' I don't think there is any sense of the team's hot streak fading. I genuinely feel they met a very prepared, very intense Sabres team.

Question #3. While it's expected to see Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin lead the Penguins in scoring, I'm quite surprised that Bill Guerin is third on the team with 9 goals and 13 assists. How well has Guerin been playing; is his production a result of his good play or by playing with superior talent?

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	ATOI	SOG	PCT
2009 - Bill Guerin	36	9	13	22	7	28	4	0	3	17:49	103	8.7

FD: On Thursday night against the Flyers, Guerin made a pretty strong play to keep the puck in the Penguins' zone and ultimately scored a goal off of it. It was just about as good a two-way play as you can want from any forward. Guerin isn't putting together many multi-point games this season (so far he has only one - three assists on Oct. 28 against Montreal), but he is maintaining a certain level of consistency as of late. Since November 14 Guerin hasn't gone more than two games without registering a single point. In that 17-game span, he's picked up six goals and six assists. This is the sort of performance Pens fans have wanted from Billy G and I think I speak for a majority of the fans when I say the Pens are definitely a better team for it. I don't expect his surge to cool off, especially since he's trying to make a run for Team USA. PS - He didn't register a point against the Sabres. If the pattern holds true, then he's due a point (or more) against the Devils.

Question #4. Sergei Gonchar will be on defense for the first time this season against the New Jersey Devils. He's been logging big minutes, at least 23 minutes a night since coming back from injury. I'm sure his return was great for the team's defense; but could you go into more detail at how well he has played so far? What should Devils fans expect from him tonight?

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	ATOI	SOG	PCT
2009 - Sergei Gonchar	24	4	15	19	-3	14	1	0	1	25:10	55	7.3

FD: Gonchar will always be the sort of guy puttings shot on net. When you factor that in with a team who has some scoring forwards vying for position in front of the net, good things can happen. He may have scored only two goals since November 25, but he's picked up nine assists along the way. Redirects, rebounds or just some nifty passing is getting Gonchar on the board. To be completely fair, I feel Gonchar's defensive game is often overlooked. He may not take to the body along the lines of Brooks Orpik, but his poke check is just about as good as it gets and he is often always in the right place at the right time to bail a loose puck from the crease or help out his goaltender for a cover up. Devils fans should not only expect to see him out there on the power play, but also working the defensive zone (often to the right of Fleury).

Question #5. Lastly, a prediction of different sorts. Regardless of what happens tonight, who wins the Atlantic Division?

FD: Well at this point it would appear as if it's only between these two teams, huh? I'm going to be a homer and say the Pens take the division, but it won't be a blowout by any means.

Big thanks to Frank D of Pensburgh for his detailed (and very quick) answers. Plenty of key points in there. Bill Guerin isn't just riding with anyone, he's been a consistent producer and should be monitored as Franks notes, recent trends suggest he should have a hand in one of Pittburgh's goals tonight. The Devils didn't see Sergei Gonchar leading the Penguins' blueline in their last two games and he'll definitely be an impact player. He's been productive, he's been playing a ton of minutes, and given what Frank says, the Devils may want to consider going after Fleury's left unless the forwards think they can get around Gonchar's pokecheck.

The most important one is that while Buffalo came at the Penguins with a lot of intensity, got a great effort out of their goaltender, and got in their way many times, they couldn't beat Fleury more than once and ultimately lost in the shootout. Per Hooks Orpik's recap and Frank's comments, I can't help but feel that the Penguins are so hot right now that a team bringing an "A" effort may not be enough. No disrespect to the Sabres, but the Penguins are that good right now and this brings me back to my first point: focus is crucial. Fleury's likely going to be great again, and the Devils offense isn't going to see a defense play as poorly as they saw on Saturday night. A defensive lapse or two could be enough to sink the Devils completely. And there are a few players on Pittsburgh who can make that happen even if the Devils are defensively sound. Let me see if I can remember them...

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Sidney Crosby	35	22	21	43	14	39	7	1	3	0	132	16.7
2009 - Evgeni Malkin	29	10	24	34	13	48	5	1	3	0	120	8.3

...ah, yes. These two.

We can take solace that the Devils will be a difficult opponent for the Penguins, at least. It should be an entertaining game and hopefully both teams bring everything that they'll have on the ice. The Devils will almost have to in order to have a good chance at winning, I think.

Steve should have the GameThread up later on. Check on Gulitti and Chere during the day for any news updates. Feel free to discuss tonight's match up as well as any breaking news in the comments. Go Devils!

NJ Devils & Atlantic Division Weekly Snapshot: 12/20 - 12/26

John Fischer — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 16:11:11 -0000

The performances weren't pretty, but in a results-oriented business, there can be no complaints. The New Jersey Devils won all three games last week to now stay at the top of the Eastern Conference. The Pittsburgh Penguins also won all three games, so they share the same amount of points. For a second consecutive week, the Devils lead based on having two games in hand on Pittsburgh. As a whole, the best stay better with the Devils and Penguins expanding the gap over third place New York Rangers to 16 points. The Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders had poor weeks and fell further behind - all the better for the Devils and Penguins. Remember all this when those bottom three teams scramble for points in, say, March.

Atlantic Standings

	GP	W	L	OTL	PT
New Jersey	34	25	8	1	51
Pittsburgh	36	25	10	1	51
New York Rangers	35	16	16	3	35
New York Islanders	36	13	16	7	33
Philadelphia	34	15	17	2	32

(updated 12.20.2009 at 8:21 AM EST)

Basically, the Atlantic Division is a two-team race right now: New Jersey and Pittsburgh. They are the hottest teams in the league with a 4 game and 5 game winning streak, respectively. There are only two intra-division games this week and the big one is this Monday when the Devils travel to Pittsburgh. The Devils are in a favorable spot because even if they lose the game, they still have two games on hand to make up the difference. As for the Rangers, Islanders, and Flyers, each plays one more game than the Devils and Penguins this week, so the Devils keep games in hand on everyone by next week. Another advantage for NJ.

	Potential Points	Last Week	Conf. Position
NJD	4	3-0-0	1st
PIT	4	3-0-0	4th
NYR	6	2-1-1	9th
NYI	6	1-3-0	13th
PHI	6	1-2-1	14th

One of the bottom 3 Atlantic teams that could be figuring things out are the Rangers. With an angry coach and a GM who may or may not be on the hot seat, they've clawed back up into ninth place. Good for them, I suppose. But they aren't far ahead of the five teams that make up 10th through 14th so they can't relax. The Islanders and Flyers should follow their lead soon. Here's how the upcoming week looks for the division.

	12/20	12/21	12/22	12/23	12/24	12/25	12/26
NJD		@ PIT					@ WSH
PIT		vs. NJ		vs. OTT
NYR		@ CAR		vs. FLA			vs. NYI
NYI		vs. TB		vs. TOR			@ NYR
PHI		vs. FLA		@ TB			@ CAR

On paper, this week has two pretty tough games for Devils. Then again, who isn't a tough opponent in today's NHL? Even Carolina can "bring it" if given a chance. On the other hand, the Devils have beaten the Penguins twice already and this Saturday could see the Devils sweep the Washington Capitals this season. So this week is a toss up. Depending on how Monday's game goes and how the Penguins do on Wednesday will determine whether the Devils go into the last week of 2009 in first in the Atlantic (and possibly the conference - to that end, cheer on Buffalo on Wednesday to beat the Caps).

Though, to be honest, I am very pleased where the Devils currently are. Even if they drop both games this week, the Devils won't be too far behind Pittsburgh.

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

John Fischer — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 02:45:52 -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: New Jersey Devils @ Atlanta Thrashers

John Fischer — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 21:16:08 -0000

The Time: 7:00 PM EST

The TV: MSG

The Radio: 660 AM WFAN

The Preview: Mine's up and here. Check out Bird Watchers Anonymous later for a GameThread of sorts.

Gulitti is in Atlanta: Check out Fire & Ice a bit later for any roster updates. Anything I see there, I'll update here prior to the game. Update: Per Gulitti, Brodeur is starting in net. Thanks to JoeyV for mentioning this in the comments too.

Song to Get You Pumped Up and That's Really It, Just Pumping, Really: My mind is drawing a blank on Atlanta-area metal bands. So in that vein and with a SNOWPOCALYPSE happening in New Jersey, let's heat things up with some hard hitting funk from the 70s. Back when Atlanta had a team called the Flames, appropriately enough. This is Two Sisters of Mystery by Mandrill.

Please join in the comments to talk about tonight's game. Remember to keep all comments clean and relevant to the game. Tangents are OK. Talking about the Devils in general or the Thrashers in general is OK. Other games are OK. But let's not derail the thread to some other team or the values of hard hitting 70s funk. Go Devils!

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

John Fischer — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:45:13 -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 Deny the Ottawa Senators Points with 4-2 Win in Martin Brodeur's 1,030th Game

John Fischer — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 03:51:00 -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.