Devs chase Fleury again

There's no stopping the Devils. Luck of the Irish not required to hand a beat down of what's looking more and more like defending chumps. Patrik Elias made it 3-1 when he stole a Jordan Leopold blind backhand pass and then beat Marc-Andre Fleury for a shorthanded goal. Another Pens' turnover that may as well have been from a bakery. Funny but moments earlier Fleury flat out robbed Travis Zajac with a sprawling glove save that even Chico Resch had to admit was great. Oh wait. He thinks every save is great. :P

The Elias shorty seemed to unnerve the Pens, who looked rattled. Turnover after turnover proceeded until Zach Parise netted team-leading No.33 by being allowed to swat in a rebound while Mark Eaton stood and watched. Not shockingly, it chased a furious Fleury, who MSG-Plus' cameras caught breaking slamming his goal stick against the wall.

Since when did Pittsburgh morph into the Rangers? Apparently, the sight of the Devils turns them into pumpkins. If this were a prize fight, it would've been stopped in Round Two. The play of the Penguins in this one is flat out embarrassing. It's like they've never played the game before. Pretty sad for a Sidney Crosby led team that's got an impressive resume, including two consecutive trips to the Finals, winning the franchise's third championship (first since '92) by dethroning Detroit.

Much of the credit goes to the Devils, who just look very focused with Paul Martin back on the blueline. He really has looked great and that bodes extremely well for Jacques Lemaire's club. The Devs are clicking on all cylinders, playing air tight D while pouncing on Pittsburgh mistakes. The score could very well be 8-1 after two periods. That's how dominant they've been. Brent Johnson came in and had to make two great stops from in tight, including a sparkling glove on Ilya Kovalchuk to keep the deficit at three. The Devs' fourth line continues to play well with Rod Pelley doing solid work. Remember when NJ fans were all over Rob Niedermayer? He's looked real good since key ingredient David Clarkson returned.

There's not one Devil you could say anything negative about. Thus far, it's like Manny Pacquiao's performance versus Joshua Clottey. While Marty's done the job again turning aside 15 of 16 (5-5 in 2nd), Fleury's ugly line which really wasn't his fault was four allowed on 13 shots. He's permitted three-or-more in all five starts with tonight's four raising his GAA to 4.52 and a dismal .838 save percentage. Yikes. In case you're wondering, Johnson made his only start on 12/30/09 acquitting himself well by stopping 31 of 32 in a 2-0 shutout loss. He also relieved Fleury in an ugly 12/21 4-0 loss, turning aside all 14 shots. Counting the two he stopped so far, that's quite a difference.

The big question becomes if Dan Bylsma's team sees the Devils in the second or third round, would he consider going with Johnson? It seems illogical. But based on how poorly the Pens have played in front of Fleury, it actually might be something he considers.

1st Period Thoughts: Pens-NJD

Well, if it wasn't obvious already, it should be. The Devils are in the Penguins' heads. After trailing on an early Chris Kunitz goal, the more traditional red and green guys honoring the past on St. Patty's Day responded like good teams do, getting the next two.

Both off identical sloppy turnovers forced by Jacques Lemaire's trap which has given Pitt fits. The first came off a poor change, allowing Patrik Elias to force Kris Letang and then make a smart soft backhand feed which sprung Dainius Zubrus for a clean break, which he converted with a sweet power forehand deke to draw even. The second came was a potential momentum shifter with less than two minutes left when another Pens' misplay led to returning Devil hero Paul Martin breaking in and firing far side past Marc-Andre Fleury. A very good shot but another one the Pens' netminder should've had. In four starts versus the defending champs' kryptonite, he doesn't play well.

Meanwhile, Martin Brodeur made a few strong stops when called upon. He has 10 saves to Marc-Andre's seven. You have to wonder if the Pens minus Evgeni Malkin, can respond. All we saw from Sidney Crosby were some dirty stick whacks at Mike Mottau that drew Devil fans' ire. The same kind of stuff he gets away with versus us. It would be a refreshing change to see the Golden Boy treated like other players. For one of the game's best, he sure gets away with a lot. But as evidenced during last night's Ranger clunker, refs just aren't paying enough attention to stick swings like the one Brian Gionta got away with after a whistle. He ain't Mr. Hacks for nothing.

Time for the second. Be back after.