Andy Greene and Jaromir Jagr celebrate Jagr’s milestone 700th goal

Given the Devils’ offensive woes for most of the last two seasons, it’s tempting to think that GM Lou Lamoriello somehow managed to trade for a brand-new team without anyone realizing it after they scored eleven goals in two games since coming back from the Olympic break.  Our eleven goals – in a 5-2 win over Columbus Thursday and a 6-1 win on Long Island this afternoon – include no fewer than five power play goals and one very crucial shorthanded goal by Adam Henrique against the Blue Jackets.  Aside from a spotty stretch in the first period today and the second period on Thursday the defense has been very solid, and goaltenders Cory Schnieder and Martin Brodeur each got a win on the board.

Of course most of the story from today’s game was about Brodeur, who if there was any doubt left there was a real possibility of him being traded, it’s been been slowly erased the last two days from watching the broadcast and seeing various quotes in the newspapers leading up to this game from Marty to Patrik Elias, who was getting a bit nostalgic himself at the thought of seeing a guy he’s played with his long career not be around anymore.  It’s the pink elephant in the room nobody wants to acknowledge openly but will certainly allude to.  Even the tone of today’s broadcast was funereal, with Chico Resch and company all but saying Marty was likely to move on.  After the game, Andy Greene got the puck for Marty’s 683rd career win – all with the Devils.  I don’t think he has number 682 in his collection.  What’s more uncertain at this point is where he’d go although for the first time after the game Marty acknowledged he wouldn’t have to be a starter to okay a trade, so long as he played more than he is going to here.

I already went through my feelings on this issue ad nauseum a few days ago so I won’t belabor the point anymore until he actually does get traded.  I was very tempted to go to Nassau to see his possible final game but just didn’t feel like spending the better part of an entire day going to and from the dump when I’m going to two home games already in this four-day stretch and had to spend some time installing my new computer hard drive today.  It was fun enough watching on TV, if odd to see a four-goal second period outburst.  Through twenty minutes it looked like it would be a typical nip-and-tuck Isles game in spite of not having John Tavares.  To his credit, Marty was sharp when needed in the first period and the Devils got on the board first when Adam Henrique fired a wrister past Evgeni Nabokov and off the camera in the net.

Up 1-0 after the first, the Devils broke the game open in the second period, leading off with a milestone goal as Jaromir Jagr scored his 19th of the season at 3:31, but more importantly the 700th of his career.  Jagr’s accomplishment even impressed fellow legend Brodeur, who tapped his stick on the ice in tribute to the goal.  Jagr joked after the game he wouldn’t keep the puck for his 700th goal, he’d wait until he scored 800.  Watching him this season you can’t always tell whether he is joking or not.  Barely a minute later Ryane Clowe scored a power play goal to give the Devils the always-dreaded three-goal lead.  Even though Kyle Okposo spoiled the shutout less than a couple minutes later with a perfect deflection, unlike Thursday night I didn’t get a feeling of doom in this game.  Not with how the Devils were playing.   Sure enough, Marek Zidlicky fired home another power play goal at 8:07 – the Devils’ third goal in less than five minutes.  Funny that the power play has put up five goals in two games since the break, when they were 0-12 before the break after sending down Eric Gelinas.  With Gelinas back, the PP is humming again.  For good measure even Mark Fayne got into the act, firing home an uncharacteristic slapshot goal for just his third of the season.  Gelinas himself closed out the scoring late in the third period after the Isles decided to goon it up late and give the Devils a seven-minute power play and an extended five-on-three.

Thursday’s game was a little more competitive but no less critical, although just like today the Devils jumped out to a three-goal lead in that game too, even quicker than they did today – scoring three goals in a 2:45 span of the first period, forcing Jackets coach Todd Richards to call timeout after just 8:54.  Artem Anisimov‘s fluke goal just a few minutes later got me nervous, and Marian Gaborik‘s tally in the second period cut it to 3-2, bringing back visions of Florida Game 3 in the playoffs a couple years back.  However, Henrique scored his second of the game shorthanded in the final minute of the period after a brilliant alley-oop pass from Elias, and from there the Devils regained control of the game.  Elias tried in vein to get Henrique a hat trick with an empty net late, but instead his pass deflected off of defenseman Jack Johnson and into the net for a goal of Elias’s own.  At least it gave him a puck to send home to his newborn daughter.  Perhaps the only downer of that game was the dual injuries to Damien Brunner and Bryce Salvador, both of whom missed today’s game as well (a charley horse and an upper-body injury for the captain after getting hit up high with a puck in the third period).

Despite the Devils’ two wins, they haven’t gained much ground as of yet with Detroit keeping a firm hold on the second wild card spot following a pair of dominant wins coming out of the break, and the Flyers’ win today kept them three points clear of us though it also brought the Rangers closer to the pack.  I’ve said it before but this point I will reiterate, the games against the Sharks and Wings could be make or break for this season.  If the Devils win both, it could really jumpstart a playoff run.  Of course if we lose both, Lou needs to recoup some assets back to at least salvage something out of a lost season where we won’t even have a first-rounder.  Although with our luck we’ll probably split, still be three points out in no-man’s land.  Either way it’s go big or go home time for the Devils…time’s running out to make a move, literally and figuratively.