Anatomy of a wild Devils shootout win

Generally as fans you tend to get more emotional with each save, each goal (and goal against) and each hit when your team is facing its biggest rival. All the more so when you have to deal with busloads of their fans in your building. With that in mind, I guess it's understandable tonight was the most emotional I've been at a game all year. To do this game justice by a cold recap is impossible, you had to be there to experience all the twists and turns of a great novel.

Truth be told, I wasn't too confident in this game...until I heard that Henrik Lundqvist was sitting this one out. It's not so much that Martin Biron is terrible, although we've always done well against him - it's that our team and our Marty (Martin Brodeur) seems to shrink in the presence of Lundqvist. Still, this game was always going to be a tough one with the Rangers coming in completely healthy and the Devils still missing two of their top centerman and one of their top defensemen in Henrik Tallinder, but at least the lineup would be helped by the return of Andy Greene from his own injury issues, and the signing of Steve Bernier to an NHL contract to further shore up our back two lines.

Walking around before the game, I saw the usual infestation of blue including a Ranger shirt on one of my good friends who recently got engaged and was with her fiance (of course a Rangers fan) at her first hockey game. If nothing else it certainly would prove to be a memorable night for all involved. I was less enthused to see all the blue in my section 120, including many seats in my row. I mean really, it's not good enough that we get $22 season seats, but you guys also have to flip the Ranger games for profit? Come on now, few of these people including one I know personally in my row need the money that bad...that's one reason why I will not sell Ranger tickets on the secondary market to make a profit, because more often than not they go to Ranger fans who are all too happy to pay prices that are still below or comparable to MSG level gouging.

Fortunately the Ranger fans in my section were only semi-annoying, and not as much so after the first period when I really felt I was either going to fling myself or someone else off the balcony...particularly after a wild last few minutes where Brodeur made several spectacular saves but finally the Devils' defense had one too many breakdowns and Anton Stralman of all people (a Devils camp castoff) scored to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead in the final minute of the period. For the first and not the last time tonight, I just threw up my hands and said 'I give up'. Considering my 2-10-2 record in the last five years at Devils-Rangers games, I was starting to get a little tired of the whole same script, different day nonsense.

Especially when ex-Devil Mike Rupp took a run at David Clarkson and upended him minutes earlier. Rupp's replaced the sideshow (Sean Avery) as my most loathed Ranger, partly because of his arrogant atitude about how he was treated here - he really believes that we stunted his career and that he would have been more than a fourth-liner if we 'gave him a chance'...all this despite the fact we saved his career after the lockout when nobody wanted him. Since leaving the Devils, he's seemed to take out his bitterness on his ex-mates, almost obliterating Jay Pandolfo with a cheap shot when he was a Penguin and now this. Once his contract is up with the Rangers, I'm sure he'll sign with the Flyers - both because he fits in there and because I'm sure he'll want to play with every one of the Devils' rivals before his career is over.

My anger at Rupp and the fact that it was Stralman of all people who scored only exacerbated my disgust over being behind and having to hear nonsense from the crowd (including one guy behind me who just could not stop chattering the entire game), especially the 'Devils Suck' chants during the National Anthem. There's chanting and making noise, and then there's nonsense you say just to be noticed. Fortunately the second period proved to be better than the first, and the Devils even managed to tie the game on a rebound goal from Zach Parise, who beat Biron shortside over the shoulder with a wrister that probably doesn't get past Lundqvist...but whatever.

As it turned out, the first two periods were merely a prelude to the madness in the third. Moments after Biron stopped Ilya Kovalchuk on a shorthanded breakaway, Brian Boyle took advantage of a Devils' breakdown and a fortuitous bounce of a blocked shot onto his stick to roof one over a prone Brodeur, giving the Rangers back the lead at 2:43. The game would stay at 2-1 for the longest time, as the clock ran down like sand in an hourglass, especially with the lack of stoppages in a third period with a lot of flow, but little action until late. Finally, the Devils managed to get one more power play chance. After bombing on their first two, the third time proved to be the charm, with Patrik Elias finding Kovalchuk open in the shot, and his wrister beat Biron to tie the game again at 15:25, and Kovy shared his excitement with the crowd throwing his arms into the air.

His - and our - euphoria proved short-lived however. Thirty-six seconds long, to be exact...just long enough for another breakdown, and another questionable Brodeur goal allowed to Michael Del Zotto after he'd made some brilliant saves throughout the match. One more time I was mad at the world and mad at everyone, including Brodeur who gave up the same type of back-breaking goal he usually gives up mano-a-mano with Lundqvist. That probably should have been enough to decide this one too...but with just forty-eight seconds left, a fortuitous bounce of a Greene dump in hopped right onto the stick of David Clarkson in front, and he wristed one past Biron in front to tie the game yet again.

By this time, overtime seemed like a cooldown period although both teams had their chances to win it before the shootout. Finally it went to the skills competition again, for the eleventh time in forty-nine games for the Devils...but not without some added suspense as the officials couldn't get one of the net pegs off the ice and the Zamboni driver had to hang around for several minutes - hours it seemed to me - before finally being able to freshen up the last patch of ice around Brodeur's net. When the shootout began, it began on a familiar note with Kovy scoring. Once, he was terrible in the skills competition but now this year he's been money, scoring on eight of nine chances. Conversely, Parise used to be money but lately he's been shut down and Biron stopped him again near post. Patrik Elias couldn't do much with his chance either as the puck hopped off his stick.

Needing to hold the fort at all costs, Brodeur did - watching Derek Stepan miss the net and stopping Brad Richards, setting up match point against Marian Gaborik. In a similar spot against Jason Pominville last week, Brodeur couldn't hold the lead but received instant redemption when he stopped Gaborik and sealed the win. After being emotional most of the game, I was just relieved by this point and did a simple two finger point to the sky - the Pedro Martinez salute (anyone who's a baseball fan knows what I'm talking about). Ironic that our final game before the All-Star break saw a bad bounce go against us for a critical goal and Brodeur not doing the job needing one save to win a shootout, whereas this week the bad bounce went in our favor and Brodeur did make the biggest shootout save...upping our skills competition record to 9-2 and pulling the Devils to within three points of Ottawa for the sixth seed.

Battle Of Hudson resumes in Newark tonight

The second installment of the Battle Of Hudson gets going tonight at The Rock in Newark. A great way to resume the season following an interesting All-Star weekend that was highlighted by Marian Gaborik garnering MVP honors with a hat trick and assist in Team Chara's 12-9 win over Team Alfredsson in Ottawa. Even cooler, Gabby made teammate Henrik Lundqvist eat his words by scoring on him twice while also imitating Artem Anisimov with the pointed gun celebration, following a neat Pavel Datsyuk pass. Pretty awesome even if Henke is being a bit childish about the Artie. Lighten up dude.

Speaking of which, for the first time in five-plus years, Lundqvist will not be in net against his favorite opponent with John Tortorella opting to give the Vezina frontrunner an extra day off- opting for Martin Biron instead. Interestingly enough, the last time someone other than Hank started against the Devils, the Rangers were routed 6-1 with Kevin Weekes in net. A streak of 32 straight will come to an end today with Tort opting to start Lundqvist at Buffalo tomorrow. Interesting decision considering Henke's record versus the Devils and Biron being the more logical choice for another return to Western New York. I don't have any issue. Keeping Henrik fresh is more important than the two points up for grabs.

It also could be a tactic of keeping his team on its toes. They had a week off and now are back at it against a desperate team who needs the 'W.' The Devils are locked into a tight race for the final two spots, entering play tied with the Panthers and Leafs with 55 points. Considering their shootout success, they actually trail Florida, who has four less wins (22). With the emphasis on regulation, that tiebreaker could be crucial. In the mean time, they'll go without top rookie Adam Henrique, who is still nursing a groin injury. Dainius Zubrus replaces him on the top line with Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk. Andy Greene could also return and play alongside Mark Fayne, which could boost the D. Martin Brodeur gets the nod in goal.

I'll be working tonight. Not like I could catch it anyway thanks to the Dolan/Time Warner mess. I'll get the usual text updates from the Rangers and maybe catch the end on the radio, which has been good. I'm sure Hasan will have more on it later or tomorrow.

Report Card: Grading The Rangers

Tonight, the second fantasy draft takes place in Ottawa with a unique All-Star gathering broadcasted on TSN, which NBC Sports Network will pick up. Last year's was quite a success with Phil Kessel getting plenty of ribbing for being picked last. Who will have that dubious distinction? Dan Girardi?

While the fun commences up north in preparation for All-Star weekend, the league has reached its break. There are a few surprises with the Rangers atop the East while the Blues are right behind the Red Wings in a wild four team race in the Central. Speaking of revelations, the Sens are tied with the Pens for fifth three points behind the Flyers while the archrival Leafs are in a three-way tie for the final two spots with the Devils and Panthers. You can bet Kessel won't last long tonight even if Daniel Alfredsson is captain of one team and Zdeno Chara in charge of the other.

For the Battle clubs, it's a chance to get some much needed time off and relax. Unless you're Henrik Lundqvist, who has carried the Blueshirts with the best play of his career. Other Rangers going are leading sniper Marian Gaborik, Girardi and rookie Carl Hagelin. John Tavares will represent the Islanders sizzling hot. Why did I give up on him again? :P Remarkably, the Devils have no one at the festivities with hot shot rookies Adam Henrique and Adam Larsson nursing injuries while Patrik Elias was snubbed. Perhaps that's what Lou Lamoriello prefers as Hasan noted yesterday. The Sabres boast two with deserving Jason Pominville and freshman Luke Adam both in Kanata, Ontario.

The excitement gets underway in an hour. We'll reveal the rosters tomorrow and then have our very own Fantasy All-Star Draft. It should be a doozy. In the mean time, the break gives us a chance to look at all four teams. How have each fared? While one has exceeded expectations, another has underachieved. The other two are probably where they should be. Let's start with the best and work our way down.

NEW YORK RANGERS (47 GP, 31-12-4, 66 Points, 1st East)

GRADE: A

GF: 132
GA: 96

If ever a stat typified a roster, it's the league low 96 goals the Blueshirts have allowed. Lundqvist has been a beast, ranking third in GAA (1.87), and save percentage (.937) while his fifth shutout the other night tied him for second behind Vezina darkhorse Jon Quick (6). King Henrik is far from alone with Girardi leading the D with 119 blocked shots while sophomore Ryan McDonagh has 115. Danny G also is second in hits (138) behind captain Ryan Callahan (171) with warrior Brian Boyle (130) third.

Offense has come from Gaborik (25 goals, 39 points) even though he's cooled considerably while Brad Richards is tied with Captain Cally with six game-winners. Derek Stepan has been solid with 31 points including a team best 21 helpers but hasn't lit the lamp in seven. Perhaps the break can help him and ice cold Artem Anisimov (pointless over last 15) recharge. Callahan has been the most consistent, demonstrating why he was a no-brainer for the 'C.' Brandon Dubinsky has finally emerged but his five goals in 44 games are brutal. Surely, he has to produce more the rest of the way for this team to have any chance.

Mike Del Zotto has had a nice bounce back year pacing the blueline with 24 points and a club best plus-22. However, his play has suffered lately, probably due to the increased responsibily. Even with Marc Staal back, John Tortorella is relying heavily on MDZ and McD- third-year and second-year players. The defense has shown some leaks without Mike Sauer, who is our most physical guy since Jeff Beukeboom. Steve Eminger and Jeff Woywitka are getting close but Slats may want to explore a trade to sure up the back end.
If not for the contributions of Hagelin, soldier Brandon Prust, John Mitchell, Anton Stralman and the much overlooked Ruslan Fedotenko, who knows where this team would be? It doesn't boast much talent. Of course, you can't overlook Marty Biron, whose nine wins, 1.87 GAA, .930 save percentage and two shutouts have allowed Lundqvist to stay fresh. It's why he's only won 22 of our 31 games. If ever he does get snubbed for the Vezina, it'll be due to more victories from Quick and Jimmy Howard.

Tortorella has squeezed every ounce out of this team that gets by on grit and determination. Their willingness to get dirty is why they're where they are. Can they maintain this pace? I doubt it. Unless Richards and Gaborik heat up again and other players pick it up, it's hard to grind your way through an 82-game schedule. While the Rangers continue to be one of the best ranked teams on the penalty kill, which makes them tougher to play along with Henke, their power play continues to be a sore spot. Sure. Boston won despite it. However, they boasted a much more complete roster. At the beginning of the season, I picked our team to finish fifth. But I also had Buffalo winning the Northeast. Oops. I had the Blueshirts ousting the Bruins and Pens. If the season ended today, I can't see that happening.

Adding another scorer would go a long way to legitimizing their postseason aspirations. Especially the idiot owner. When you win as consistently as they have, it raises the bar. So, I'm judging this team on my Conference Final prediction. Anything less would be a bitter disappointment. With the East stronger than it's been in years, it could come down to the match-up. Winning the division and gaining home ice could really help even if it's no given.

Suggestions: I'd like to see the Rangers add a hardnosed D like Tim Gleason, who's won before. I don't think the price would be astronomical. With his $3.5 million coming off the cap at the end of the year, Gleason would be a rental. Unless Carolina believes it can still win the Southeast (only 10 points separate them from the top), they might sell. A second or third round pick should be sufficient. I doubt they'd get a prospect/pick. The Blueshirts may take a run at Shane Doan if the Yotes fall out but perhaps a guy like Ray Whitney would come cheaper. He's a better guy for the power play and boasts skill. Not that Doan's big body couldn't help in front. It's all about the cost. Both would be rentals. If Brenden Morrow becomes available, I'd put in a call to Joe Nieuwendyk. The Dallas captain has another year left at $4.1 million. So, Slats would have to get creative.

It all depends on if management believes the team can win now. They're probably another year off. No way would I sacrifice top prospects such as Chris Kreider, Christian Thomas, J.T. Miller and Dylan McIlrath. Like at the end of Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade with the holy grail, the Rangers must choose wisely.

Devils hit All-Star break with a thud

With only one game tonight before the league descends on Ottawa for the All-Star exhibition weekend, the Devils (like most of the NHL) played their final game before the break last night. Unfortunately for the men in red and white, the last week hasn't gone so well for them. Things have gone steadily downhill since the third period against Boston last Thursday, where the Devils surrendered a 1-0 lead and gave up three quick goals en route to a 4-1 loss. A desultory afternoon loss to the Flyers on Saturday by the same score drove home once again the point that the Devils can't play with the big boys, since they're just 1-6 combined against the Bruins, Flyers and Rangers - arguably the East's top three teams.

Tuesday's match against the Sabres - a talented team struggling with injuries and dissapointments and mired in a twelve-game road losing streak - was supposed to be a get-well card for the team before their week-long break but the script got complicated even before the game when the Sabres welcomed back not one, but two veteran blueliners to their lineup (Christian Ehrhoff and Robyn Regehr) off of injury. Embattled goalie Ryan Miller, who had allowed five goals or more in each of his previous four starts, stopped 27 of 28 Devils shots in regulation and overtime last night and eventually the last three shots of the shootout.

Counterpart Martin Brodeur would only need to make thirteen saves, by contrast, but allowed a freak goal off the boards to Jordan Leopold in the first period. Then in the shootout, Jason Pominville's wrister tied it up when just one more save would have won it and then after Adam Henrique was stopped by Miller, Nathan Gerbe scored the winner - condemning the Devils to their third straight home defeat in the middle of a six-game homestand, with the Rangers looming after the break next Tuesday.

Worse than the three-game losing streak and dropping back into a tie for the final playoff spot, the Devils announced today that there is no timetable for Travis Zajac to return from the achillies injury that's plagued him all year. Now missing Zajac and defenseman Henrik Tallinder long-term from a team that was already going to be on the bubble to make the playoffs, the Devils face a potential crisis over the next two weeks when they have to play not only the Rangers twice in the next six games, but also the Flyers, Penguins and the surprising St. Louis Blues along with the struggling Canadiens.

Of less concern right now, both Henrique and Adam Larsson will miss All-Star weekend due to various 'ailments' - with Larsson resting a sore wrist (and staying in NJ for treatment instead of going back to Sweden over the break) and Henrique supposedly tweaking his groin last night, in a game where he not only finished the contest but took the final shot of the shootout. Without Henrique or Larsson, the Devils won't have a single All-Star weekend representative, and something tells me that's just the way GM Lou Lamoriello likes it.

The fact that players are either held out of All-Star weekend or decline themselves, like the Caps' star Alex Ovechkin, only serves to make the festivities even more unneccesary. Or at the very least, ill-timed. At this point, the NHL might as well hold their All-Star game after the season the way the NFL does with the Pro Bowl (or at least did before stuffing it in between the Conference title games and the Super Bowl). Not that I'd ever want to see an artificial solution to gin up the All-Star game the way baseball does by tying home-field advantage of the World Series to the winner of the ASG.

With all this bad news around the Devils, it's easy to overlook the good - like Alexei Ponikarovsky scoring a goal in his first game as a Devil, or the near-imminent return of Andy Greene to the lineup. Not to mention the improved play of Brodeur. However, the offense scoring a goal a game in each of the last three is just not acceptable, and that average likely won't improve against Henrik Lundqvist next week. Neither is the flat way the Devils came out in the first period last night - freak goal or not, the team was asleep in the opening twenty minutes after having lost two in a row.

Things will have to improve for the Devils to get back on the beam, before this slump continues and people start speculating on how far out of the playoffs we need to be before the team should trade star winger (and UFA-to be) Zach Parise.

Quick Hits

Since I've been quite busy lately with work, here are some quick hits:

-Once again, the NHL has a double standard when it comes to league discipline. While a star like Ovechkin as a repeat offender gets three games, a guy like Malkin uses his stick as a weapon without even a fine. Oh. Same team who has Matt Cooke, who got away with a slewfoot on Brad Richards. And same team with Zbynek Michalek, who also should've been suspended. Unbelievable.

-John Tavares' recent 12-game point streak is proof the kid is coming into his own. But it still should've been Matt Moulson who represented the Islanders as he's been more consistent. Full credit to JT91 for his elevated play and Moulson for continuing to make the Kings look foolish.

-The Ranger win in Boston was another example of team character following a bad loss. Nice to see the right guys light the lamp. But it's worrisome about McDonagh and Sauer's setback is alarming. They still will need to go get a D at the deadline.

Devils: The good, bad and the ugly of the last 48 hours

Going to Thursday night's game against the Bruins, it kind of had the feel of being the first playoff game of the new season, with all the hype surrounding the game after the Stanley Cup champs kicked our tail two weeks ago at the Prudential Center. The teams' second matchup in fifteen days would provide a barometer for New Jersey, to see how far they'd come in their last twenty games, where they went 14-5-1. Ultimately, the results were mixed as the Devils played very well in the first two periods but couldn't finish on some terrific chances...then collapsed in the third period, as a 1-0 lead turned into a 4-1 loss.

During the third period surfing the Internet (since the game ceased being interesting once the Bruins got out front by two) I found out that the reason Henrik Tallinder was a scratch - something I had no idea about until I saw the scratch list before the game - was because of a blood clot in his leg, and that the big defenseman was expected to miss 6-8 weeks. Yikes...while Tallinder's play has been streaky as a Devil, his calming presence will be missed. So far, Matt Taormina's filled in just fine when called upon though, and Andy Greene's supposedly expected back after the All-Star break.

If the loss was the bad and Tallinder's ailment was the ugly, then last night's trade for Alexei Ponikarovsky was the good...maybe. While Ponikarovsky's career has fallen off the map since his days as a Maple Leaf, giving up a fourth-rounder and defenseman Joe Sova (someone I literally never heard of until last night) for a guy that even in this part of his career is still an upgrade over the dreck we've been running out on the third and fourth line is a trade you have to make. Almost certainly Ponikarovsky's arrival will lead to the demotion of the dissapointing Mattias Tedenby, who's put up just one goal, five assists and is a -15 in 43 games this year after a promising end to his rookie season in 2010.

Assuming Travis Zajac returns soon after the All-Star break (not a safe assumption, I know), the Devils can actually run out three effective lines with Parise-Henrique-Kovy and Sykora-Elias-Zubrus the set lines for the last couple of months and a likely third line of Poni-Zajac-Clarkson. Perhaps going 0-3 against the Bruins and struggling against other top teams drummed in the importance to Lou Lamoriello that the team didn't quite have the depth to compete. Clearly in this day of the NHL, you need at least three lines that are able to score with a fourth line that isn't going to kill you during its 5-10 minutes a night. When healthy, our fourth line will be Jacob Josefson and friends, assuming the staff decides to use him in that role. Anything would be an improvement over goon central, although perhaps Pete DeBoer's finally realizing he can't have 'both' Cam Janssen and Eric Boulton in the lineup at the same time with the scratching of Boulton the other night.

While I'm looking forward to seeing how the new changes flesh out, I'm rather annoyed at this inconvenient first snowstorm of winter putting my plans of going to today's Devils-Flyers game in jeopardy. Perhaps it's for the best if I don't go since I haven't gotten a lot of sleep lately due to my allergic rhinitis but I'd hate to miss three out of four games (with the one I went to being the dissapointing Boston loss) since I sold both Tuesday games last week and this week, one to go to the movies and the other so my friend could go to the game. Especially missing Devils-Flyers, though I already had to do that once during a snowstorm a couple years ago where the Devils contreversially announced the number through the turnstiles instead of the actual tickets sold for their attendance.

I guess we shouldn't complain much since it took a month for the first actual snowstorm of winter, I thought this winter would be bad when we had the pre-Halloween mountain of snow...but there's plenty of time for winter to provide more inconveniences. Hopefully the snow stops sometime in the next three hours or so, since I pretty much have to decide by 11 whether it's worth it to go. Just like Ponikarovsky - who may or may not get here in time for today's game - I'm a game-time decision for today.

Ranger Stuff: Dolan, Pens debacle, Staal

I'm not quite sure where to start this post. Should I just get into last night's forgettable home tilt against the Pens, who whipped us 4-1? I did wind up going to my fifth game and my record is now 3-2 after Evgeni Malkin dominated us. Kris Letang's return was huge for Pittsburgh, who turned the tide by picking up their first win in three tries against the Rangers.

Instead of getting into the particulars of one of the poorest efforts this season, I am still a bit peturbed by the ridiculous commentary of the most evil owner in sports, Mr. Dolan. Following Tuesday's 3-0 shutout of Nashville in which our boys didn't play a full 60 minutes (unless you had blinders on), the biggest jerk that's run MSG into the ground decided it was a good time to brag about his hockey club. Mind you John Tortorella was standing right next to him, discussing the win when Dolan went out of his way to blow praise Slats for his work that's seen our team win exactly two rounds in over a decade. Unbelievable.

If that wasn't enough, he then mentioned the 'C' word. As if their work was finished because the Rangers are first in the East. This is a good team who wins by outworking the opponent and getting quality netminding from King Henrik. Could they erase the Dolan Curse and win two rounds? Possibly. To even utter Stanley Cup is nonsensical and doesn't benefit anyone. There's so much more work to do, which a fuming Tortorella pointed out while blasting Dolan's misguided nonsense by calling it what it was. To paraphrase, BS. Well done coach.

The Blueshirts have let some bad habits crawl into their play and we're starting to see them pay on the scoreboard. They weren't good enough against Ottawa and did their usual nap in Montreal following a shutout at Toronto. The Nashville win saw our team grind its way past Barry Trotz' list of no-names sans Shea Weber. Yesterday, a flat start put them behind with Chris Kunitz burying a rebound following a close call in Marc-Andre Fleury's crease. The Rangers didn't throw one check in the period and chased the puck constantly. Full credit to the Pens, who strategically used our aggression to its benefit by chipping the puck out, leading to odd-man rushes. Pittsburgh also pinched in wreaking havoc for long stretches. They also stood up at their blueline, forcing sloppy turnovers. They deserved the win.
The Rangers picked it up in a better second with rookie Carl Hagelin slipping one through McFleury thanks to a beautiful backhand saucer pass from Marian Gaborik. Gabby has struggled lately putting the puck in. He's got one over the last 11. He was good in spurts, nearly beating Fleury off a great feed from Hags but shot the backhand into him with a gaping net. I won't complain about Gaborik because the effort was there. More than you could say for Brad Richards. Did anyone see him last night? The one time he had a clear chance to shoot on our first power play, he passed up a left circle blast for a foolish pass to no one. Richie hasn't been good enough lately. Sure. There's not a ton of finish with Artem Anisimov in a malaise and Ryan Callahan held in check. But Richards needs to be better.

Tort broke up the Boyle unit in hopes of getting Richards going by sticking Brandon Prust with him and Brandon Dubinsky, who looked good again. The Rangers did many good things but only came away 1-1 after two. Unfortunately, they were dreadful in the third where the Pens gave their supporters who braved the trip plenty to cheer about. A terrible pinch by Marc Staal led to a three-on-one with immortal Richard Park finishing off a nice passing play started by otherwise invisible Matt Cooke. Still, he made a big play that decided the game. Cooke's a shell of himself minus the physicality.

Staal struck again when he mindlessly kicked the puck right to Malkin, who only was too pleased to take it off the wall and then blow by a falling Mike Del Zotto (why did he go down???) and roof a backhand top shelf. Just brutal. I get that it's only Staal's ninth game back but what the hell was he doing there? You got to take the body and make sure it gets out. Especially with Geno breathing down your neck. He sucked on the foolish pinch in a tie game mind you that led to Park's go-ahead and then compounded it with a boneheaded play that put it out of reach, sending some of our fraud fans home. You know. The ones who take forever to find their seat and then disrespectfully stand up while play is going on. This is what you get with Dolan's new MSG.

Marc Staal is a minus-four so far with zero points. Sure. The defensive habits are still there like on the PK. And he has jumped into the rush a few instances, creating offense. But games like last night against a potential playoff foe raise questions. Will we see the Staalsie that everyone loves? Hard to predict. He is still a long way away. I didn't like the pairing with Del Zotto, who's in a rut. He has to at least stand up with Malkin coming in and try to get in his way. When MDZ doesn't contribute offensively, his game suffers.

I also don't get the sudden lack of confidence in Anton Stralman and Stu Bickel. Why? Cause Bickel had a brutal game at Montreal when our entire team royally sucked. One thing is apparent. The more we see inconsistency defensively, the more they miss the physical presence of Mike Sauer. Sauer's our most physical D since Jeff Beukeboom. He is sorely missed. Hopefully, after the two games and then the All-Star Break, we'll soon see Sauer return. If not, Glen Sather may want to make a call to buddy Brian Burke and inquire about Luke Schenn. Just the kinda hardnosed D that would fit our system if Sauer doesn't return.

Is it panic time? Hardly. Though I'm working all weekend and will miss the big match in Beantown, I'll be curious to see how they respond. Losing streaks haven't been common. Boston wiped out a one-goal Devil lead in one period by putting up a four spot in the third Thursday. They are explosive and really test every area. The best team in the league. It's the first of four meetings tomorrow. This will be a good test.

Devils sweep home-and-home with the Jets, prepare to host Bruins tomorrow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmGLTaIOea4

Things are good right now in the swamp. Not only are the Devils winning (14-5-1 in their last twenty games) but they're having fun as well, both of which are evidenced by this YouTube video of Patrik Elias's crucial goal in Winnipeg on Saturday. Fellow linemate and buddy Petr Sykora tried to get the puck to Elias in front, but Elias adroitly let it go through his legs to Adam Larsson at the point. Larsson in turn, had the presence of mind to fire the puck right towards the stick of Elias, who tipped it in for one of the Devils' highlight goals of the season and the eventually winning tally in a 2-1 win over the Jets.

Not only did Elias's third period goal win the game, but it also provided comic relief as Sykora went to hug his Czech comrade, but Elias veered towards Larsson and Sykora literally went splat, missing the hug. It led to a nice moment last night when Elias and Sykora did hug during the three stars after a more convincing 5-1 win over the Jets at the Prudential Center. Not to mention more amusement when postgame host Deb Placey didn't even realize why they'd made such a big deal of hugging until Elias told her about what happened Saturday and that it was all over YouTube. Then the postgame crew - including Ken Daneyko and Chico Resch - pulled the highlight of the play and laughed about it themselves.

While it's certainly easier to have fun when you're winning, you do get the sense this Devils team genuinely likes each other and pulls for each other. Perhaps some of the looseness is just a product of coach Pete DeBoer's calm, upbeat demeanor. Admittedly at times I've been critical of the fact DeBoer doesn't seem to have a strict side, but two things are becoming more obvious. One is that this team thankfully doesn't need a boot up its rear end every few minutes the way many past Devil teams have - certainly there have been a minimal number of games this year where the team's lacked effort. The other is that it does seem like DeBoer is willing to get on these guys in the locker room when it's required (during one game a few weeks back where the Devils struggled early, he admitted he did 'yell a bit' at the team during the intermission). DeBoer does seem to agree with the philosophy that you don't rip your team in public, but you can do it behind closed doors.

In addition to DeBoer, the leadership of the team is certainly strong with Elias, first-year captain Zach Parise and even the much-maligned Ilya Kovalchuk - who's played some of his best hockey as a Devil over this last month and has even become as much of a force shorthanded as Parise or rookie Adam Henrique. There's been none of the moodiness or worrying about players' roles on the team that existed the last few years under a veteran core that's mostly been swept out the door. Along with the stars, you have role players like Cam Janssen and Mattais Tedenby who also help keep the room upbeat. I've only been half facetious when I suggested elsewhere the only reason Tedenby's still here and not back in Albany (given his dissapointing first half) is that he's a good, fun kid that seems to be a positive locker room presence. Even when some quasi-contreversy flares up like Martin Brodeur being pulled after six minutes in Calgary, it seems to blow over quickly without any lasting impact.

Personalities and demeanor only tell half the story though...despite the injury bug that's sidelined three of the team's top four centers at one point or another - including Henrique, who's sat the last two games with a mild groin pull - the Devils have picked up their play since early December, when the team came up with a critical road win in Toronto that kept them from going winless on a tough four-game road trip. Since then, the Devils have won consistently and haven't even needed the shootout to do so - indeed, none of the team's last seven wins have come with aid of the skills competition after an early season run where it seemed the team could only win in a shootout.

Every facet of the game has picked it up - offensively the Devils are starting to break out more and more frequently, scoring twenty goals in their last six games. Even the power play is starting to creep upward in terms of efficiency. Defensively, the team's picked it up even while Andy Greene continues to remain on the shelf. Kurtis Foster's slowly found his niche and helped the power play recover from its two-season long coma while the Bryce Salvadors of the world provide a steadying presence. In a season where many key players around the league have been sidelined due to concussions, Salvador's comeback after missing an entire season has been one of the more suprising aspects of this Devil season.

And yes, the goaltending has picked it up lately after the disaster that was last Tuesday in Calgary, where both Martin Brodeur and Johan Hedberg got whipped, despite only facing a combined fourteen shots. Both have responded off that game well, as the Devils have only given up a single goal in each of the last three contests. While Brodeur's numbers have been poor for the balance of the season, he's given up just one goal in five of his last eight starts overall.

One of the games where Brodeur did give up more than a goal was the Devils' last machup with the Cup champion Bruins, who racked the legend for six in a rare noncompetitive effort from the Devils this season. After losing 6-1 at the Rock barely two weeks ago, the Devils get another shot at the Bruins tomorrow night in the same building. Unlike last time where the Bruins had won every game seemingly for a two-month stretch (and most in blowouts), Boston comes into this game playing like mere mortals after suffering road losses to Carolina and Tampa Bay over the last week. Despite the team's three-game winning streak and the fact the Devils are now a season-high nine games over .500, they have the look and sound of a team coming into tomorrow's game hungry, after being embarassed in front of their fans two weeks ago.

With just three games left before the All-Star break, the Devils aren't just looking to gain revenge on the Bruins but also create more seperation between themselves and the pack of teams fighting for a playoff spot. As much as it annoyed me not being able to go to last night's game, hopefully the team gives everyone more to cheer for tomorrow night.