Jagr, Zidlicky and Zubrus celebrate Jagr’s OT winner in LA (TSN.ca)

I didn’t have many expectations before this West Coast trip, I’d have been okay with two points and ecstatic with three in our three-game California jaunt from Anaheim to LA to San Jose.  Waking up this morning to the fact we have four now after an unbelievable performance by Cory Schnieder and another virtuoso display from Jaromir Jagr is off-the-charts.  Even if the Devils were somewhat fortunate to win Wednesday’s game when Ben Lovejoy‘s bizarre backwards clearance hit off Corey Perry‘s skate and behind their own netminder Jonas Hiller (see Derek’s YouTube a couple posts below).  Still, even that was nothing compared to last night on the good fortune scale.

I did not intend to stay up for a second consecutive weekday West Coast game – I did against the Ducks, which was a slightly earlier start time (10 compared to 10:30 last night).  After I stayed up for most of the earlier West Coast games this season I was a bit gun shy in suffering from the whole ‘going to bed at 1 off a loss’ syndrome.  Especially since the Devils had not won three straight games since February and that streak seemed unlikely to change last night against a Kings team that physically obliterated us last week.  I was up for the first period but mostly doing other things, just the shot total alone (14-2) was frightening even if Schnieder somehow managed to keep the Kings off the board.  Things didn’t go much better in the second period after I went to bed when we were outshot 13-3, bringing the total to 27-5 for the game.

Astonishingly, the game was still scoreless at that point though.  This wasn’t a first for the Kings this year after their shootout loss in Buffalo last week where they outshot the Sabres 45-17 but were held in check by Ryan Miller.  Full marks to Schnieder though, for not having sulked or gotten down this season with his lack of goal support which led to having only one win on the season.  Last night he really had no support at all for the first 45 minutes of the game, and the Devils remained at five shots on goal until Ryan Carter roofed a backhander through traffic at 5:52 of the third which finally beat Big Ben Scrivens for our first goal against him in two games.  That lead lasted barely a minute when the Kings got a two-on-one break and Anze Kopitar‘s shot squirted through Schnieder for an easy tap-in goal by Justin Williams.  Coming just sixty-five seconds after Carter’s goal it could have been a killer but wasn’t.  In fact the Devils actually outshot the Kings in the third by a 7-5 margin and (barely) avoided setting a team record for fewest shots in a 60-minute game.

So it was onto OT again and after being barren of OT/SO wins for the longest time suddenly the Devils got their second in two nights.  It wasn’t quite as bizarre as the ending in Anaheim two nights ago, and it could have gone either way during a pulsating 3-on-3 that saw several quality chances on both ends.  There was only a three-on-three because Dustin Brown was called for embelishing on a hooking penalty from Jagr.  When asked about the penalty after the game, the future HOF’er responded with typical Jagr humor:

“I’m not that strong,” Jagr said. “I grabbed him, I held him a little bit, but I am not The Terminator and he is very strong. I think he acted a little bit. I did hold him. But he made it look good if you ask him about it, because I am not that strong. I wish I would be that strong. Maybe next month.”

Of course Jagr got the last laugh on the ice too, and he is the Terminator when it comes to NHL overtimes, scoring his NHL record 18th OT winner seconds after coming out of the box when he found space in the slot trailing a rush from Marek Zidlicky, and Zidlicky found his countryman for a goal that Czech-mated the Kings.  It’s impossible to state how important Jagr has been to this team both on and off the ice.  He’s still the team leader in points by a wide margin but more than that he’s brought his incredible work ethic and it’s rubbing off whether his teammates want it to or not.  Jagr at 41 years old gives himself full workouts after OT games, and the results have shown up this season:

 “I have to make myself tired,” explained Jagr, still breathing heavy from his ride. “I’m a freak.” At the end of almost every practice, Jagr does sets of skating back and forth from the blue line to red line. He has his linemates – Zubrus and Zajac – doing them now, too.

It’s human nature to wonder just how long Jagr – and Martin Brodeur for that matter – can keep turning back the clock although if tonight proved anything, they do have an answer if Brodeur gets hurt or his play falls back.  Schnieder had his long-overdue coming out party as a Devil in LA, ironic considering both our last trip and his into the Staples Center brought back bad playoff memories.  It wasn’t Cory’s fault he hadn’t had a signature moment yet, as he’s been playing well but last night was certainly a signature performance and finally another win.

We have no replacement for Jagr, that’s clear.  He’s the most important acquisition from a team aspect (on and off the ice) the Devils have had in a long time.  However, the more Jagr continues to defy the clock with his Rocky-like training methods, you start thinking anything’s possible.  Jagr himself even mused about going to the 2018 Olympics…when he’ll be 46 years old.  At this point I can’t put anything past him.