Zajac, Greene and Jagr celebrate the defenseman’s winner (TSN.ca)

Not too long ago, the Devils were hard-pressed to get sixteen goals from their defense in a season, much less the first half of a season the way they have so far this year.  It would take us a month to get three goals from defensemen, if we got that many.  Last night, the Devils got three goals from defensemen in a single game, pacing the way for a wild 5-4 OT comeback win against the Capitals.  Though this doesn’t exactly feel like a hot streak yet, the Devils are 3-0-1 in their last four games now, the only blemish being our usual come-from-ahead loss to the Ducks in OT on Friday night.  Finally the Devils have evened up their record again at NHL .500 (15-15-7) just before the halfway point of the season, which coincidentally for us will take place on New Year’s Eve just before the calendar turns to 2014.

While most of our losses tend to be come-from-ahead, last night was mostly coming from behind although once again we did score first when Marek Zidlicky rifled home a one-timer on the power play after a feed from fellow d-man Andy Greene at 11:26 of the first.  Zidlicky’s shot was actually the first the Devils had put on Braden Holtby all night, as the Caps had the early jump getting the game’s first seven shots.  In a role reversal of what usually happens this time the Devils were the ones who scored against the run of play.  However, for the second straight game the defense started to short-circuit in its own end although Martin Brodeur should have corraled Jason Chimera‘s initial wraparound attempt midway through the second period, he lost sight of the puck and Chimera blasted home a rebound, right in front of an oblivious Mattias Tedenby who didn’t move towards the puck or the player.

Chimera’s goal opened the floodgates for the Caps, who would add two more in the second period.  Mikhail Grabovski scored at 14:38 when our fourth line (really our fifth line cause it has Janssen-Sestito instead of Carter-Bernier) got victimized by some nice tic-tac-toe passing from the Caps in our zone.  And in what could have been a killer sequence Travis Zajac and Jon Merrill each just missed a chance to score at one end, and the Caps gained the zone on an instantenous 3-on-2 and scored themselves at 19:14 when Joel Ward beat a backchecking Jaromir Jagr to a rebound of a Mike Green shot.

Now down 3-1 it looked over…but Jagr and friends took charge in a dynamic third period.  First, Jagr scored on the power play when Greene went behind the net faking a wraparound then found a wide-open Jagr in front for an easy goal at 5:28.  Although the Devils only had two power plays the entire night – and the Caps just one, in a largely clean game – they made each one count.  Even with that the game still looked like it was going to be out of reach all night after Alexander Ovechkin scored his 30th of the season, his unscreened wrister from the blueline somehow eluding Marty’s grasp and restoring the Caps’ two-goal lead at 8:07.  In an interesting turn of events, it was the veteran D that would lead the final push back…a night after the younger defensemen (Eric Gelinas, Jon Merrill) were largely responsible for our loss against the Ducks.  After some more good board work from Zajac and Danius Zubrus behind the Caps’ net, it was Zajac who found a streaking Zidlicky at 9:21 for his second of the night and fifth of the season.  Playing the role of feeder tonight, Zajac also contributed to the tying goal on his next shift, jumping on a weak clearing attempt by Braden Holtby and firing one towards the net that Zubrus tipped home at 11:47.  Although our first forty minutes were spotty at times, the Devils dominated when it mattered most, outshooting the Caps 16-5 in the final twenty-one minutes of the game including a short but sweet OT that ended when a Jagr shot rebounded towards Greene and deflected off the shaft of his stick past Holtby for the winner.

After the game, a big part of the narrative was the fact that Greene (three points in the game, twenty on the season) wasn’t even part of Team USA’s consideration list for the Olympics.  Not the official roster mind you, but the initial pool of players you pick the roster from!  Granted, Andy hasn’t exactly been a points machine before this year, aside from his 37-point breakout year in ’09-10 but he’s always been a steady two-way guy that was the head of our top pairing during the ’11-12 playoff run.

Tom Gulitti ‏@TGfireandice10h

Zajac on Greene: “I can’t believe he’s not even mentioned on the U.S. Olympic team, on the list. That’s their fault as far as I can see.”

Tom Gulitti ‏@TGfireandice10h

Brodeur admitted he didn’t know that Greene isn’t on Team USA long list. Was telling him after game he’d have to cancel his plans for break.

Although a small part of me is glad Greene will get rest during the Olympics that some of his older teammates (Jagr, Elias, Zidlicky) probably won’t, it also gives me less incentive to root for the US team which will not have a single Devil on the roster.  In 2010, two thirds of the first line was on team USA as well as former fav Brian Rafalski on defense.  That team was easier to get into and when you’re talking about a glorified All-Star competition more or less, you need all the incentive to watch you can get.  Although the Czechs will be no worse than my #2 rooting interest and clearly worth watching for the Devil factor, and I definitely hope the Russians go splat at home for obvious reasons as a Devil fan.

Notes: Damien Brunner did not play and will be out a minimum of four weeks after suffering a gruesome-looking right knee injury on Friday night.  Pity, just when he was finally starting to play well.  At least he apparently dodged a bullet not needing surgery, just rehab.  Although Ryane Clowe claims he’s ready to play the Devils have held him out the last couple of nights.  If he doesn’t play Monday in Chicago he’ll almost surely return Friday night against the Blue Jackets after the Christmas break.  Captain Bryce Salvador is also close to being activated but no exact timetable has been provided for his return.  Our attendance for Friday night was 15,723 – easily the highest since the first Devil-Ranger showdown in mid-October.  Perhaps the ‘holiday crowd’ bump (college students, working folk with extended breaks) is underway, as certainly the atmosphere was better Friday than it has been most of the season, aside from the annoying OT loss.