Devils’ shootout woes reach historic proportions

Posted on January 17, 2014 by hasan4978

The Avs’ Ryan O’Reilly celebrates his first-period goal last night

Last night’s game in Colorado saw the Devils make the wrong kind of history, losing their twelfth straight shootout dating back to last season – breaking an NHL record ironically that had been set earlier this year by Detroit.  This season alone, the Devils are 0-8 in the skills competition and have scored a meager one goal in twenty-five attempts.  Tellingly, that one goal was from rookie Reid Boucher when he was barely off the bus from Albany.  Of course his more recent second attempt didn’t go quite as swimmingly, missing the net as he’s been fully indoctrinated into the vortex of suck.  Whether it’s missing the net, weak shots or allowing bad goals like Cory Schnieder letting Ryan O’Reilly‘s clincher go through his glove, the Devils can literally do nothing right in the shootout.  Taking the meaning of a shootout literally, the Devils are basically dueling with squirt guns and the other team has sniper rifles.  Ironically this is the same team that went 12-2 in the shootout two years ago and more or less made the playoffs because of those 12 extra points.  Now it seems as if we’re getting the bill for all our success in the first few years of the skills competition, and having to pay it all off this year.  To the point where we may well miss the postseason because of it.

It’s not just the Devils who the shootout has had a noticeable effect on this year.  Toronto’s nine shootout wins kept them afloat during a stretch where they had just four regulation wins in thirty-one games.  More than a third of the Caps’ wins have come via the skills competition (8 of 22). Only Boston has participated in fewer than four shootouts this season (1-2 in their three) with most of the league having played around 50 games, so clearly it has an impact.  Maybe it seems more noticeable this year since the Devils are involved on the negative end to the nth degree.  It does seem like the sheer number of games going to OT and the SO are increasing though. Heck, our shootout record would be even worse if not for our 6-3 OT record.  So in total, we’ve had 17 games of 49 go to OT, and almost half of them the now-dreaded shootout.  It is what it is at this point, purists will never fully warm up to it but will still watch, and the casual fans love it so it’s here to stay for sure since games ‘have’ to have a winner.  I’m pretty sure Derek will agree with me on the hogwash of that statement.  The most popular sport in the rest of the world (soccer) doesn’t seem to have a big issue with ties though obviously they have penalty kicks to settle cup games and playoffs.  That’s one thing the NHL at least still gets right, the postseason.  No shootouts, no Bettman points for losing in OT.  You win in as long as it takes you to win.

I didn’t watch much of last night’s game, as I’m fighting off a cold (so far successfully) – but clearly last night wasn’t one of our best performances in recent weeks judging by Cory Schnieder‘s 37 saves in 65 minutes of hockey.  Of course once again the Devils just refuse to score goals for Cory, the overall numbers are bad enough but he’s managed to get six of a possible eight points in his last four starts despite having six total goals to work with in that stretch.  Last night’s game isn’t really worth recapping anyway.  It was a travel loss as much as anything, considering the Devils were playing a sixth game in ten nights going from NJ to Toronto to Montreal and then Colorado.  That’s four cities in one week all across North America.  No use complaining about it, everyone else has to deal with stretches like this too, especially with more cross-conference games this year.  It’s just a fact of life in an Olympic year that you’re going to have games like this.  If anything the Devils coming out of Colorado with a point was a plus, considering the high-flying Avs have 30 wins on the year.

Even analyzing the shootout woes themselves get old.  You kinda wish Pete DeBoer would do something goofy like throw out Anton Volchenkov (yeah I know he didn’t play last night since he was ill) and hope he can pull off a Marek Malik-type move to loosen everyone up.  Let’s face it when you’re 1-27 and not even getting attempts on goal, you’re flat out pressing as a team. This is no longer just bad luck.  It’s telling that when we do practice the shootout one of the few guys who scores is Cam Janssen, who’s not even in the lineup anymore.  DeBoer got testy when beat guy Randy Miller brought up how the Penguins practice the shootout every day.  On this I probably agree with the coach, practice ain’t going to help if you have paralysis by analysis anyway.  Two years ago we barely practiced it and were almost automatic at the shootout with Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise scoring almost at will, and Martin Brodeur stopping a majority of the shots.  Somewhat tartly, DeBoer pointed out we practiced the shootout the day before yesterday and still lost.  You could get on him for throwing out Adam Henrique last night but really what’s the point?  It’s not like anyone else on the team’s scoring either though like I said that’s all the more reason why we should try something new and kooky.  If it wasn’t for the NHL stipulation that teams lose the point they gained if they allow an empty-net goal in OT, it’s gotten to the point where that would have become a real option by now at the end of OT.

I suppose the NHL has that rule to prevent teams from gaining an unfair advantage on offensive-zone faceoffs in the final minute of OT.  Still, it’d be nice to have that ‘option’ to avoid the shootout.  Other options have been discussed to curtail the sheer number of shootouts, such as playing 3-on-3 in OT and/or extending overtime itself.  Also I’ve said this before but there’s basically no other sport where you benefit from a ‘tie’ the way NHL teams benefit from the OT point.  Soccer’s the only other one with an unbalanced point system but it’s unbalanced in the right way since they have three points for a win and one for ties.  Personally I’d either up regulation wins to three points to make all games created equal, or take away the loser point for OT losses and just give away one point apiece to teams who get to the shootout – treating it like a tie and just use a shootout win merely as a tiebreaker at the end of the season.  All of the NHL’s three-point games gum up the standings even more than they would be without it, which I suppose is part of the point too.  Fostering parity, whether real or artificial is good for business. Look at the NFL, where parity’s the du jour there.  It’s the most popular sport in America in no small part because of that parity…conversely, the NBA has so little parity right now, their regular season numbers are finally starting to feel the pinch the last few years.

Ironically though all this parity is hurting trade deadline day and the market in general though.  In sheer numbers you still see the same number of moves each deadline day but they tend to be of the minor variety.  Between teams having cap issues, and there being infinitely more buyers than sellers, it depresses movement a little.  In the Devils’ case it could be a reason convenient excuse why they still have not alleviated their two-year logjam on defense.  Playing Eric Gelinas as a seventh D (basically using him as a PP specialist) and sticking Adam Larsson down in Albany indefinitely after he proved he could play in the NHL beyond any doubt earlier this season is beyond ridiculous.  You could say the seven-D rotation is working given the number of goals we’ve allowed the last few games – but actually watching the games you know the low GAA is more about the goaltenders than it is about the D, and has been for almost a month.  I realize Lou Lamoriello wants to drag his feet as long as he can in case of injuries, but honestly you think the old Lou would have kept Scott Niedermayer or Brian Rafalski down in Albany to accomodate a bunch of hold-the-fort defensemen and FA’s to be?  Recently Larry Brooks wrote a piece that was even more critical of the Devil organization than I would be, though I can’t say I disagreed with many of his points.

Still, for all the Devils’ ills in the shootout, with player personnel issues…the fact is the team’s still right there one point out of a playoff spot, unbeaten in regulation through their last six games.  With or without trades, help is on the way with Patrik Elias having returned to the lineup last night and Damien Brunner supposedly days away.  Their return would at last give the Devils a complete lineup up front to go along with their batallion on defense and a two-headed monster in goal that’s been playing particularly well since the holidays.  If you could keep up the production from the first two lines with Elias-Brunner-whomever forming a decent enough third line, then you might have something going.  Of course that’s contingent on nobody else on this team getting hurt, which isn’t a great bet given our age.  Not to mention our age and lack of speed clearly give us issues against teams like the Avs or even lesser lights like the Oilers, Jets and Isles who have youth and speed throughout their lineup.  All that said, at least making the playoffs would spare us the embarassment of forefiting a first-round pick.  There’s a long way to go before we can guarantee that though.  Especially if we’re going to continue our 0-for-the shootout indefinitely.

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Lundqvist wins duel with Howard in shutout of Red Wings

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Derek
A focused Henrik Lundqvist makes a save as Mike Del Zotto battles a Red Wing in front. Getty Images/Frank Franklin II

A focused Henrik Lundqvist makes a save as Mike Del Zotto battles a Red Wing in front.
Getty Images/Frank Franklin II

Sometimes, you need your goalie to be your best player. For the Rangers, Henrik Lundqvist has been that and more for nearly a decade. Though his season doesn’t reflect it, he’s finally playing with more confidence. He stopped all 38 shots to outduel Jimmy Howard in a virtuoso performance won by the Rangers 1-0 over the Red Wings. Howard was sensational in a losing effort finishing with 47 saves.

A classic Original Six battle saw the teams combine for 86 shots. Only one snuck in. Since Alain Vigneault benched him in Detroit, Mats Zuccarello has been the team’s best player. He continued his penchant for big goals scoring the clutch tally with 5:58 left in regulation when his centering pass deflected off a Wing past an outstretched Howard. Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good. Zuccarello will take it.

The winning play started thanks to a defensive play from Benoit Pouliot. Moments earlier, he had a dangerous hit that went undetected. The Rangers came three on two with Pouliot feeding Derick Brassard, who quickly got the puck to a cutting Zuccarello. With a step on the Detroit D, he moved in and tried to get the puck across but got the fortuitous bounce for his 12th tying rookie Chris Kreider and Brad Richards for the team lead. It’s been that kind of year for The Hobbit. A joker off the ice, he was all smiles talking to John Giannone, who hinted that Kreider was lurking in the background.

There’s no doubt how much his teammates love him. From Kreider giving him a playful hug after the win to Mike Del Zotto hand slapping with the man known to Garden fans as Zuke, it’s easy to admire the crafty Norwegian. He’s fearless. Zuccarello will battle anyone for a loose puck. That’s why he’s having a breakout year. His 34 points trail only Richards (35) for the team lead.

”It was a pass to (Benoit) Pouliot,” Zuccarello said. ”It was a lucky bounce, I guess. I will take that.”

”Bittersweet,” Howard said following a tough defeat for the visitors who again were without Pavel Datsyuk and Daniel Alfredsson. ”Zuccarello wasn’t looking to shoot that. He was looking to pass it across. It’s unfortunate.”

I only wish I could’ve seen the entire game. I got in late and caught most of the third between the latest excruciating St. John’s loss. My alma mater still comes first. Luckily, it went two overtimes allowing me to see the best part of a big Ranger win. They needed it badly after losing a heart breaker to Ben Bishop and Tampa Bay 2-1. They still can’t figure the big USA snub out. Eight seconds was all it took to go from up one to being on the losing end despite tons of pressure late. So, what did they do? Pepper Howard, who looks to be almost back to form which is why he’ll be one of three goalies representing our country. Even if I still feel Bishop deserves it over him, Howard can be deadly when on. He and Lundqvist one upped each other with tremendous athletic saves.

”Both Hank and Howard had their ‘A’ game out there,” Vigneault said. ”They were seeing the puck and controlling the rebounds. We were just fortunate to finally be able to put one past him.”

”I think we both felt that the next mistake is going to be the difference. And it was,” Lundqvist noted after turning aside all 13 Detroit shots in the deciding period. ”Lately, we just believe in our system and we play a really strong team game. It’s been paying off lately in big games.”

Much of that has to do with his improvement. In six of his last eight starts, he’s allowed two goals or less. The best aspect is he earned his third shutout (48th career). His first one since 11/23 at Nashville. It’s been a long time coming. It wasn’t without close calls. At one point, a leaping Lundqvist dove forward to snatch a dangerous shot to keep the game scoreless with under 10 minutes remaining. Then after Zuccarello’s tally, he caught a break when Gustav Nyquist’s shot with Howard pulled hit the post and caromed off him before Hank dove on top just in the nick of time to keep it out with 44.5 seconds to spare.

”You kind of wait for a reaction when you hear it hits the post, but then you don’t get a reaction, so you know it’s behind you somewhere,” Lundqvist said. ”You don’t want to make too big of a move, so I just turned around, and it was right there. It’s fun when you get some puck luck. Maybe I earned it after a few tough bounces.”

It was about as close as it gets. One foul up and it’s in. Thankfully, Lundqvist carefully made sure his glove covered it up on the goal line. At this point in a heated race where teams are bunched up, every win matters. It put the Rangers back into a tie with the Flyers. Each has 53 points but Philadelphia has a game at hand. The Metropolitan’s top three are Pittsburgh, Philly and the Blueshirts. The top three in the Atlantic are Boston, Tampa and Montreal.

Setting up the wild card, the Leafs have 53 and the Caps come in at 52. Following another shootout loss, the Devils are tied with Ottawa with 51. Then Detroit has 50. Columbus has 48 and Carolina 47. The surging Islanders are up to 45 following a shootout win over the Lightning. Florida has 43. Only Buffalo remains out of the hunt with 32.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Mats Zuccarello, NYR (clutch game decider at 14:02 of 3rd-12th)

2nd Star-Jimmy Howard, DET (47 saves-brilliant in defeat)

1st Star-Henrik Lundqvist, NYR (38 saves-another big performance)

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Another great (last?) hurrah for Marty in Montreal

Posted on January 15, 2014 by hasan4978

In sports, every aging star always wants that one more time in the sun.  Sometimes father time catches up with them before that happens, or they hang around too long.  In the case of Martin Brodeur, he’s on the last year of his contract at 41 years old and almost countless games played behind him.  With the Devils only having two trips to Montreal this season, and last night being the second, it could possibly have been Marty’s last game in his hometown…unless perhaps a playoff matchup is in the offing.  Going into last night’s game, Marty had a 19-9-2 record at the Bell Centre, with a 1.66 GAA, .939 save percentage and five shutouts.  He’s always brought out his best in front of family and friends and last night proved to be no exception.  Brodeur made 29 stops in the game, only allowing a first period goal by Max Pacioretty, and not only got the first star in the Devils’ 4-1 win but also the game puck from team captain Bryce Salvador and a green jacket from Marek Zidlicky (apparently a new team tradition where the player of the game gets the green jacket).  Not to mention a thunderous standing ovation from a divided crowd after the game, rooting for the Habs for sure but always respectful and loving of their native son.

Of course, Marty wasn’t the only fortysomething making news for the Devils last night, as Jaromir Jagr snapped a rare 10-game goal drought with a move maybe only he could make, passing the puck to himself with his skate and cutting back inside to beat Carey Price with a wrister.  Jagr’s game-tying marker at 17:23 of the first was his 695th career goal, putting him seventh on the all-time list ahead of Mark Messier.  If Marty created a stir recently suggesting he might want to come back next year and maybe not for the Devils depending on circumstances, Jagr’s assertions that he is looking to play till he’s 70 are mostly met with a chuckle.  Although Jagr probably is deadly serious about wanting to play in the 2018 Olympics…with the shape he keeps himself in would that really surprise anyone at this rate, even with him being 46 at that stage?

If the Devils are going to sustain a playoff run though, they need more than the geriatric legends producing for them.  Although Montreal native Eric Gelinas playing his second career game in Montreal wasn’t quite as big a story as the legend’s possible last game, he had enough family and friends there to get scattered applause when he did what he does best – scoring on a power play rocket bomb at 1:20 of the second period for his fifth goal of the season.  True, Gelinas only played a shade over eight minutes last night as coach Pete DeBoer continued with his recent trend of playing seven D (though I suspect that goofiness will end with the anticipated return of Patrik Elias Thursday), but at least he made the most of it in front of family and friends.  Less than three minutes later, the Devils balooned their lead to 3-1 when Adam Henrique scored his 12th of the season after a Michael Ryder point shot was banged at in front, first by Ryane Clowe, then by Henrique to finish it off.  Perhaps the most important part of the Devils’ 3-0-2 stretch in their last five games is finding a legitimate second line that works in Clowe-Henrique-Ryder.  With the first line of Zubrus-Zajac-Jagr fully intact since early in the season, it does beg the question what happens with Elias when he returns?  Most likely he’ll start out on a line with Stephen Gionta and Steve Bernier again, as a de facto checking line with offensive potential.  Especially with prized rookie Reid Boucher getting the Gelinas treatment and only playing a shade over seven minutes.  Hopefully the return of Damien Brunner isn’t far behind, maybe then the Devils could really have three lines rolling at that point.

With a two-goal lead seemingly for the first time since the Bush administration, the Devils for once clamped down and there would be few dramatics the rest of the game other save after save from Marty and Brendan Gallagher‘s disallowed goal later in the second period.  Initially it was ruled a good goal on the ice but the boys in Toronto overturned the officials on that one, due to a clear kicking motion.  After a few cold games, the Jagr line returned to dominant form last night, causing some consternation in the crowd during a particularly long cycling display during the third period.  And Danius Zubrus‘s empty-netter gave that line a second goal to match the Newfie+Henrique line with their two goals in a rare 4-1 win.  Not only are the Devils 3-0-2 in their last five but also very quietly 8-3-4 in their last fifteen, and with both goalies playing well and no back-to-backs on the docket till the end of the month, Pete’s going to have some interesting decisions coming up.  Arguably the pick one guy and stick with him decision we’ve had to make has been offset with our league-leading number of back-to-backs but it can’t be ignored anymore, especially with numbers like this:

  1. Schneider (last seven games):  3-2-2, 195 SF, 181 SA, .928 save%
  2. Brodeur (last eight games):  5-1-2, 212 SF, 195 SA, .920 save%

Considering Cory just got us five points in three games with a grand total of five goals in goal support he probably deserves the next start in Colorado, though at this rate I could actually see the split in games continuing into March.  Especially since the insane split in goal support for the two goalies is continuing through January.  Like Steve Cangelosi on the postgame, I also think each goalie gets one game on this mini-two game West Coast swing.  I also think Marty’ll get one start at home next week to make sure he’s ready for the outdoor game at Yankee Stadium, which he’s most assuredly playing in.

Whatever the case at least Marty had one more shining moment in Montreal last night if nothing else this season.

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Three goal first send goon Flyers home

Posted on January 13, 2014 by Derek
Chris Kreider is congratulated by Rick Nash after his power play goal put the Rangers up 4-0 on the Flyers. Getty Images/Seth Wenig

Chris Kreider is congratulated by Rick Nash after his power play goal put the Rangers up 4-0 on the Flyers.
Getty Images/Seth Wenig

When you’re hot, you’re hot. Suddenly, the Rangers are back to playing consistent hockey. They continued their best stretch by dismantling the Flyers 4-1 at an energized Garden. The latest win moved them into a tie for second in the Metro with Washington. They have played two more games but own the all important regulation/overtime wins tiebreaker with 21 ROW compared to the Caps’ 14.

A three-goal first period put the Flyers in a foul mood. The first two came within a 28-second span. One of the story lines was Daniel Carcillo going up against another former team. He was a popular Flyer antagonist. In his third game as a Ranger, he scored his first goal. It came out of sheer hustle with Carcillo stealing a puck and stuffing home a wrap around past Ray Emery at 2:14. Exactly what you want to see from the fourth line energizer.

Inspired by a goal that reminded me of another former pest Sean Avery, the Blueshirts followed it up on the next shift by getting a second. This time, it was Rick Nash finishing off his 11th from Chris Kreider and Ryan McDonagh. The Flyers had a terrible defensive breakdown, allowing Kreider to easily find an open Nash for his fourth in four games. That made it two straight with one. If he continues to finish, that’s great news.

For the opposite side, it wasn’t so good with Philadelphia coach Craig Berube forced to call a timeout. Playing its second consecutive game over two nights, they weren’t sharp. Even though they fired 17 shots on Henrik Lundqvist, he was equal to the challenge. Following a missed hold, Dan Girardi was sent off for interference. Lundqvist fought off a few testers through traffic to keep the Flyers off the board.

”I got tested early, and you gain confidence when you make a couple of good saves,” Lundqvist said after winning his third straight start for the first time all season. ”I’m happy with the way I am playing.

”It definitely helps when we play the way we play in front of me and make good decisions all over the ice.”

With their goalie shutting the Flyers down, the Rangers made it three first period goals. Derick Brassard buried a one-timer top shelf for his eighth. Following a faceoff win in the offensive zone, a quick cycle resulted in Benoit Pouliot recovering the puck to Mats Zuccarello along the boards. While being checked, he had enough strength to center a perfect backhand saucer pass to a vacated Brassard, who made no mistake.

They could’ve had four. It’s arguably the best period of the season. Especially on home ice given who it was against. The Flyers have played much better and entered leading us by a point. With teams getting points around them, it was imperative for the Rangers to keep pace.

This was only my fifth game. The last one didn’t go so well with them losing badly to the Caps on my birthday. I entered 1-3-0. I was hoping to see a win against a hated rival. There were enough Flyer fans painted in orange and black throughout the arena. I’d say probably 20 percent. Despite their team’s discouraging play, they made their presence known. One of the highlights was a Flyers fan tossed out in the third. Typical of the rivalry.

Not shockingly, the Flyers tried to goon it up once they were down. Scott Hartnell earned a rough after engaging Carcillo during a scrum. I’m sure Carbomb said something to rile him up. A fairly appropriate Twitter moniker for a guy who’s made a living agitating opponents. At some point, you knew he was going to have a fight. That happened during the second when he stepped up in class and fought Luke Schenn. Much bigger in stature, Schenn rag dolled him a couple of times. But a game Carcillo got up twice and kept throwing earning cheers. This is a player we hated. If he keeps this up, you won’t recognize our fans.

”I just got here, and from what I can see, when we do the little things right and play the game plan that we want to play against our opponents, we seem to have success,” Carcillo said.

With the game more physical throughout, Nicklas Grossmann boarded Kreider from behind. For the most part, the power play struggled. On an abbreviated 5-on-3, they cut it too fine. Just as I tweeted another gem from my seat in 419, I said it would be nice for them to get one. That’s when Kreider came out sending a backhand off Braydon Coburn. His team-leading 12th broke a five-way tie. Four players are tied for second with 11 including Nash, Carl Hagelin, Brad Richards and Zuccarello. An odd balance. Brassard and Pouliot each have eight.

In the third, the only question was whether Lundqvist could get the shutout. But that wasn’t to be as the Flyers converted a power play goal with Zuccarello in the box. Former Islander Mark Streit’s one-timer snuck through a maze past Lundqvist cutting it to 4-1 with 13:11 remaining. Sean Couturier and Vinny Lecavalier had assists. For Lecavalier, it was career assist number 500.

A Ryan McDonagh penalty handed them a second straight man-advantage. But a focused Lundqvist wouldn’t allow the Flyers to get any closer. Once it was decided, they did what they do. The craziness came after we left. But we heard an incensed Dave Maloney on ESPN Radio getting on the officials for not giving Hartnell anything following a punch to Carcillo. What else would you expect? The circus included John Moore scrapping with Braydon Schenn and two players from each side earning misconducts including Brian Boyle, Carcillo, Luke Schenn and Wayne Simmonds.

The Flyers acted like babies because that’s who they are. When they lose, they can’t do it cleanly. That’s why they’re so universally loathed. The 1970’s were four decades ago. No wonder they haven’t won anything since.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Rick Nash, NYR (11th of season-4 goals over last 4 and looking dangerous with 6 shots in 15:37)

2nd Star-Henrik Lundqvist, NYR (his 37 saves can’t be overlooked-rounding into form)

1st Star-Daniel Carcillo, NYR (1st goal as a Ranger, drew a penalty, fought and drove his ex-team batty in 12 shifts-9:42)

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Zidlicky beats the clock and Florida with dramatic OT winner

Posted on January 12, 2014 by hasan4978

Sometimes I have trouble starting a blog because I’m not particularly anxious to recap a bad game. At other times it’s because there aren’t really many highlights to recap, or I haven’t watched the game.  None of that was true last night and I’ve still had writer’s block all morning. Not only were there a ton of highlights, close calls and great plays in a fabulous game last night but also sometimes games are good enough to stand on their own merit.  If I could have put the highights of last night’s dramatic OT buzzer-beater against the Panthers to music like they do in NFL Films I would…it would speak better than anything I could say.

Of course, there’s no way I’m NOT recapping last night’s dramatic win over the Panthers, which was as tense as any regular season game against a ‘classic’ rival could be, and quite possibly one of my seven-ten favorite regular season games ever – of the ones I’ve attended anyway. Maybe something was in the air from the ceremonial opening faceoff when Newark native and former NBA megastar Shaquille O’Neal dropped the puck…wearing an Alexei Ponikarovsky jersey.  A hilariously random choice of attire though it’s possible the big Ukranian’s jersey is one of the few that could fit on the self-proclaimed Big Aristotle.  When Panthers goalie Tim Thomas stopped Travis Zajac on a point blank chance just eight seconds into the game, we should have known what kind of roller-coaster we were in for. Maybe I had an inkling of what kind of game it was going to be when barely a minute later, Jon Merrill‘s horrendous giveaway led to a Scottie Upshall breakaway chance that Cory Schnieder shut the door on.  In many ways, that first seventy-second seconds was a snapshot of what the game would eventually become.

Merrill’s giveaway and a few other defensive snafus by both teams aside, last night’s game was a crisp affair with few penalties (just two power plays on each side), great offensive chances by each team and goaltending that invariably was up to the task.  It may have resembled pond hockey at times with how wide open it was, and perhaps should have been higher scoring than it was but in a battle of the old pro vs. the young stud, both Thomas for the Panthers and Schnieder for us stood tall.  Somewhat bitterly I started wishing Thomas had stayed on sabbatical in the third period after the umpteenth number of his great saves, but Cory did match him save for save.  Perhaps the only thing that was missing if you were going to draw up the perfect game for entertainment value was snarl, although there was some hitting and you thought tensions could blow over in the final minute when Ryane Clowe was hacking away at a rebound that Thomas controlled.  And in the case of last night’s game it was somewhat humorous to see the Panthers’ scratch list consist entirely of former Devils (Krys Barch, Mike Mottau and Scott Gomez!), might have been more fun if they’d played though I could easily have seen Gomez burning us the way he did in ’08 too.

Even without bad blood there was plenty of tension though, especially with both teams’ place in the standings.  After a slow early start that saw coach Kevin Dineen get fired just two seasons after winning the Southeast, the Panthers have surged under new coach Peter Horachek back to the fringe of the playoff race though still several points back of the final wild-card spot.  A resurgent and healthy Thomas is a big reason why, as the Panther offense is just as lacking as ours in goals.  Our situation is well-known to readers of this blog or any area hockey fans really, since the Rangers and Devils are both in hot pursuit of a playoff spot with the surging Isles rallying back to the outskirts of the race themselves.  With our upcoming schedule though – a four-game road trip to Toronto, Montreal, Colorado and Phoenix next on the docket – a win last night was absolutely imperative.  Especially with seemingly everyone else in the Metro surging at the moment.  In some ways with what was at stake it felt like Game 8 of the 2012 first-round even more than any of our games against them last year did, though many of the faces have changed on both sides since then.

With both goaltenders at the top of their game it would take seemingly perfect plays or bounces to get goals last night.  Which is exactly how it worked out on each of the game’s three goals. As has been the case often this season in spite of our offensive deficiencies, the Devils jumped out in front with a terrific shift from the Adam Henrique-Ryane Clowe-Michael Ryder line.  Both Henrique and Clowe made great plays to win the puck along the boards behind the net, with Clowe finding a wide-open Ryder in front for a one-timer at 15:22 of the first.  Ryder’s goal was his team-leading 16th of the season and extended his goal-scoring streak to four straight games.  For the longest time it seemed as if we’d need a case to deja vu to win with Schnieder making a single Ryder goal stand up for the second straight game.  However the lock Schnieder put on our net was finally broken when professional pain in the neck Tomas Fleischmann found Nick Bjugstad in front and the big centerman beat the goaltender with a perfect deflection up high, tying the game at 11:54 of the second.  From there, it seemed obvious next goal won – if there was a next goal – though no goals at all was just as good as a loss given our shootout woes.  Both teams had glorious chances to win and couldn’t convert.  Just when it seemed overtime was an obvious conclusion to the game, Schnieder had to stop Sean Bergenheim from point-blank range with under ten seconds left, then after the ensuing faceoff an open Fleischmann shot just wide.

After coming perilously close to getting zero points for their effort, the Devils tried desperately to end the game in overtime…but it was the Panthers who nearly won when Schnieder made a stop on an Aleksander Barkov deflection then Eric Gelinas of all people (he of the 5:20 of icetime last night, including 2:03 on the power play) swept the rebound away from the goalline, saving the day one more time.  With just 3.8 seconds remaining and a final offensive-zone faceoff my one friend with me asked whether Pete DeBoer would take his timeout here, I answered, ‘might as well, what else is he going to save it for?’.  Sure enough, he did though later accounts had Jaromir Jagr in the role of player-coach tweaking DeBoer’s designed play.  Although I started the game sitting in section 3 and it might have provided an even better view of what eventually happened, I ran into a couple of friends I haven’t seen since the draft and wound up sitting with them in the third period and overtime since the seats around them in the back row of section 5 were empty, despite the reported sellout.  Despite the timeout delay of thirty seconds – minutes it seemed to me – I figured we were just headed to another grinding, unhappy shootout. Especially with my record in OT games this year (six SO/OT losses, just one OT win when Steve Bernier scored in the final minute against the Sabres in late November).

Then…IT happened.

Zajac’s critical faceoff win against Marcel Goc went right to Jagr, who quickly tapped the puck over to Marek Zidlicky for a rocket one-timer that ironically deflected off the stick of Bjugstad and past Thomas for a miracle winner with one second to play. ONE…SECOND.  I was too flabbergasted to celebrate at first, just had my eyes wide open and my mouth dropped.  After all, this is the kind of game we usually lose – well, mainly against the Hurricanes.  Finally, I slapped hands with both my friends and resumed cheering the team off the ice with a fervor I can’t remember having since the ’12 playoffs.  You rarely see that kind of pinpoint execution in the normal flow of a game, never mind with all that was at stake there.  It was an interesting grouping too with Bernier taking the place of Danius Zubrus on that line to provide the screen in front.  Not to mention that was the only time we’d had three forwards on the ice compared to one defenseman as opposed to the standard 2-2 split.  Schnieder was even lobbying DeBoer to pull him for an extra attacker with so little time on the clock.  Fortunately it wasn’t needed last night.

I was tempted to tease my other friend who was complaining about needing to go to the bathroom about being glad she held her water with that finish, but hey I know the feeling.  Part of why I rarely drink much at games apart from maybe a juice or hot chocolate (she had one of those big 32-ounce sodas).  My normal seatmate who wasn’t at the game was texting me during the game and when it was over I just texted him back, ‘Holy ****’.  Too bad he wasn’t there for the game himself but hey, three home games in five days sometimes you wind up missing one or two.  I walked out with the two friends I’d met up with at the game and then back to my car, where it started raining again.  For once, the weather belied my mood.  Nothing short of another major snowstorm would have ruined my mood at that moment.  I honestly can’t remember the last time I was that giddy over a home regular season game, maybe beating Pittsburgh on Doc Emrick night a few years ago with a dramatic Jamie Langenbrunner winner in the final minute of OT.

In fact I’m kind of worried about the letdown factor tonight in Toronto though part of me thinks if Zidlicky’s OT winner doesn’t get them going nothing will.  Still, the offense is clearly an issue even in the best of times as evidenced by the winning scores of Schnieder’s three victories since the holiday (2-1, 1-0, 2-1).  After the kind of game we played last night though it’s hard to get up for tonight.  I don’t even feel like watching to be honest, I’d rather just bask in the glow of the game for another night and not ruin it with possible feelings of aggravation, maybe just concentrate on the NFL playoffs.  Of course I feel that way…but it’s the team’s job not to. Tonight’s game is even more important than last night’s game since we’re in more direct competition with the slumping Leafs for a playoff spot.  Perhaps signaling a changing of the guard or just going with the hot hand, Schnieder earned his third straight start in a four-day period.  Ideally he would be sitting in a back-to-back…especially with all the action and close calls last night, but with Martin Brodeur obviously slated to play Tuesday in Montreal, it wouldn’t be right to make Cory wait another five days and two games for his next start either. Plus with the situation we’re in we have to ride the hot hand.  If we’re not going to score goals it’s doubly important to prevent them.  And Schneider’s GAA once again dipped below 2 after last night’s OT thriller.

If nothing else at least last night provided a much-needed fun night out for yours truly at the Rock.  Hopefully it winds up meaning more than that to the team when this week’s all said and done.

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Nash’s late heroics lift Rangers past Stars

Posted on January 11, 2014 by Derek
Nash Heroics: A diving Rick Nash beats Kari Lehtonen for the game-winner with 1:58 remaining. Getty Images/Jason DeCrow

Nash Heroics: A diving Rick Nash beats Kari Lehtonen for the game-winner with 1:58 remaining.
Getty Images/Jason DeCrow

Rick Nash is paid to score goals. It’s been a challenge this season. He hasn’t always finished. In last night’s 3-2 win over the Stars, it was his big goal with 1:58 left in regulation that gave the Rangers their second straight win.

Twice, they trailed by a goal. Moments after a near miss from Tyler Seguin at the doorstep, Nash got to a loose puck and scored his third in three games. A spectacular effort goal in which he was off balance and got his stick on a Chris Kreider rebound before falling to the ice. Somehow, he put it top shelf past Kari Lehtonen.

”I think it was 50 percent luck … well, probably 70 percent luck and 30 percent skill,” a happy Nash told John Giannone while wearing the Broadway Hat in the postgame. ”I was just following the puck. It went a little bit higher than anticipated, but luckily it went in.”

Given the circumstances, it’s arguably the biggest goal he’s scored as a Blueshirt. He did it in a tie game with under two minutes remaining. With every point so crucial, it was huge. A couple of shifts earlier, Kreider set up Nash perfectly on a two on one. He missed the net. I tweeted a little frustration but also asked him to get one. To my satisfaction, Nash redeemed himself. He got it with sheer hustle and determination. I give him a lot of flak. It was great to see him come through.

Most importantly, it was big to follow up the win over the Blackhawks with another. For much of the season, the Rangers haven’t been able to sustain consistency. With seven points in their last four (3-0-1), they’re up to 23-20-3 with 49 points. The Caps won over the Leafs to tie the Flyers for second in the Metro Division. The Rangers sit fourth a point back. Philadelphia is currently trailing Tampa Bay 1-0 in a Saturday matinee. Interestingly, they would be in the playoffs due to the Atlantic coming back to the pack. Something Hasan alluded to. Detroit and Toronto would be out.

”We talked about it this morning,” Henrik Lundqvist said after finishing with 24 saves for his second consecutive win. ”It’s always a great feeling when you come up big in the end of a game.”

Lundqvist was good late with the game on the line. He made a few timely stops. He allowed goals to Cody Eakin and Ryan Garbutt. Eakin opened the scoring 4:06 into the first when he took a Garbutt feed and muscled one past Lundqvist. Ryan Callahan responded with his first goal since returning. He buried a Brad Richards pass for his eighth at 11:20. Richards was set up by Benoit Pouliot and got to his own rebound before finding an open Callahan in front.

The Stars went ahead again early in the second. On an odd man rush, a cutting Garbutt was able to bat down an Antoine Roussel pass and in one motion beat Lundqvist with a backhand upstairs. Eakin picked up a helper. Both he and Garbutt had a goal and assist. That was the Stars’ best line. They were dangerous throughout. Eakin also hit the post with a slapper in the third.

If there’s an area that’s really improved under coach Alain Vigneault, it’s the power play. No longer an NHL doormat, the Rangers rank sixth clicking at 21.3 percent. They’ve continued to improve under ex-Jackets coach Scott Howson. There weren’t many opportunities but they made the most out of a second chance to tie it. Mats Zuccarello has been their best power play player. His creativity has been a difference maker. Now on the top unit, Zuke set up Derick Brassard for his seventh. Taking a feed from Richards, Zuccarello quickly shot passed for an open Brassard for a neat deflection.

”I didn’t do much. I just shot it. All the credit to him,” the understated Zuccarello said. ”If it’s there, it’s there. If it’s not there, it’s not there.

”I just shot it. He made a really nice tip. It’s a skill play by him.”

It takes a special skill to execute such a play. Zuccarello adds that missing element. Brassard did a nice job in front. They also play together at even strength with Pouliot. That has been the Rangers’ best line during a stretch that’s seen them win seven of their last 10.

”When a power play works, it keeps the other team honest because they don’t want to see the power play on the ice,” Vigneault said. ”Our power play has been working real well for us. It’s been giving us momentum, it’s been giving us timely goals.”

The third was back and forth. The Rangers got another opportunity when the Stars were nabbed for a bench minor. With Garbutt and Carl Hagelin already off, it was a four on three. But they failed to convert. Joe Micheletti questioned Vigneault’s choice of not using Zuccarello during the first part. Instead, he had Richards and Derek Stepan out with Callahan and Ryan McDonagh. It didn’t make much sense.

Zuccarello’s hustle defensively bailed out a pinching Michael Del Zotto. For the most part, Del Zotto’s been steadier since returning with points in three of four. He threw his weight around delivering a thumping hit that drew a positive reaction from The Garden. In 20 shifts (14:47) partnered with John Moore (13:39), he had three hits and three blocked shots. He also was open on a two on two rush with Callahan, who opted to shoot. They nearly got burned. Callahan’s shot was blocked leading to a Stars break out. Seguin narrowly missed a tap in slamming his stick in frustration.

That led to Nash’s heroics. On a good forecheck, he and Stepan freed the puck getting it to Dan Girardi. He passed for McDonagh, whose shot was deflected behind the net by Stepan. A hustling Chris Kreider beat two Stars behind the net and came out and had a shot carom off Lehtonen. With both Stepan and Nash in the vicinity, the former Jacket got to the loose puck first to score his 10th. It touched off a nice celebration.

They still had to protect the lead. It took 58 minutes to get. They were up to the challenge. Lundqvist didn’t have to do much in the final minute. Sliding Rangers forced a couple of desperation Stars’ shots wide. The exciting ending reminded me of ’11-12. That’s how they won games. By getting the big goal and outworking opponents late. Maybe there is hope.

The Flyers visit tomorrow night. It’ll be my fifth game. I’m 1-3. It would be nice if they followed it up with another win. Especially against a hot team that they’re battling. This is a crucial stretch. The Lightning and Red Wings also visit this week. After a visit at Ottawa, the Rangers return to MSG for three against the Caps, Islanders and Blues. Then comes the Stadium Series against the Devils and Islanders at Yankee Stadium. They also conclude January hosting the Isles. Technically, they only have one road game. If you include the beginning of February against the Avs and Oilers, that’s 11 of the next 12 either at home or on a neutral site. The window of opportunity is now.

Miller sent to Hartford: As expected, J.T. Miller was sent back to Hartford. A healthy scratch for a second straight game, the 20-year old forward is better off with the Wolf Pack getting playing time. With Daniel Carcillo having a second straight strong game, it makes sense. Keeping Miller sharp is important for his development. Meanwhile, Carcillo showed that maybe he can be an asset delivering a game high eight hits in 11 shifts (8:38). As long as he stays under control, Carbomb can be effective. He’ll be facing another former team tomorrow. That should be interesting.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Dan Girardi, NYR (3 SOG, 3 blocks, 3 hits, 2 takeaways, +1 in 31 shifts-24:56-could easily be Eakin/Garbutt or McDonagh/Brassard. It’s time to recognize Danny G. He’s been much better.)

2nd Star-Brad Richards, NYR (2 assists, 3 SOG, 8 attempts, 13 for 25 on faceoffs, +1 in 20:23-one of his better games)

1st Star-Rick Nash, NYR (scored the game-winner with 1:58 left-his biggest goal as a Ranger)

Posted in NY Rangers | Leave a comment

Devils try to conclude ‘moving week’ with a flourish this weekend

Posted on January 10, 2014 by hasan4978

Before the Devils played the Flyers on Tuesday, coach Pete DeBoer referred to this stretch of four games in six days (with the first three at home) as a moving week, akin to Saturday at the Masters – where you either make a charge up the leaderboard or fall by the wayside.  For the normally close to the vest coach that was a telling and honest assessment of where the Devils were and are as a team, considering they began the week four points back of a playoff spot and with more than half the games played on the schedule, time is starting to run out.  At the moment things look a little better with three points in their first two games this week, and with the Atlantic teams falling by the wayside there’s now hope that the Metro can actually have more than three playoff teams.

Of course that’ll all mean very little if the Devils don’t take care of business this weekend, playing the Panthers at home tomorrow followed by a trip to Toronto on Sunday night to play an up-and-down Leafs team that’s lost three in a row since the Winter Classic.  Last night’s 1-0 win over the Stars doesn’t really suggest the Devils’ scoring problem is about to dissapear anytime soon, especially with Patrik Elias and Damien Brunner still out with injuries.  Elias skated lightly today and Brunner’s supposedly ahead of schedule in his return from a knee injury but who knows when either’s going to be back, really?  Considering Elias’s injury was supposed to be minor you really can’t count on the Devils for honest assessments of their players’ status.  What is certain is that the Devils have to find scoring from somewhere besides Jaromir Jagr, especially now that teams are shutting down his line more frequently.

Slowly but surely Michael Ryder‘s been asserting himself as the legit scoring threat everyone knows he can be.  While Jagr still has the team lead by a mile in points (ten ahead of the currently injured Elias), Ryder’s taken over the team lead in goals with his fifteenth last night, playing another good game against one of his former teams with six shots on goal.  In fact I’m almost hoping we trade him and he plays with every other team in the league before coming back here, given some of his performances against teams he used to play for this season – like the Habs for example, where he scored in back-to-back games.  Ryder’s goal was vitally important for as usual Cory Schnieder only had that slim margin to work with for most of the night.  To his credit Schneider made it stand up in a brilliant performance, turning aside 26 Dallas shots to put up his third shutout of the season in a tense 1-0 win.  After his holiday break to ‘mentally and physically reset’, Schnieder’s picked up his game again, giving up just three goals in his last three starts and even getting a pair of wins despite only getting a combined four goals of support in those games.  As the goalie would be the first to point out though, he had a lot of help from his friends as the Devils blocked eighteen shots last night, an unusually high number considering blocked shots haven’t been a big part of our game as long as Martin Brodeur‘s been in goal.  Not to mention the Devils’ penalty kill did the job on a crucial double-minor kill of a Stephen Gionta penalty late in the second period.

I couldn’t stay away from the game entirely last night though I did not turn it on until late in the second period, and then turned it back off after Gionta’s penalty until midway through the third where I watched the finish.  From what I saw it looked like the same game we’ve played about fifty times since the beginning of last season, a tense low-scoring game where every mistake can be fatal.  Stars coach Lindy Ruff remarked about the Devils that going through our defense was like ‘climbing through a barbed-wire fence in a sweater’.  Sometimes that’s what it feels like watching these games too, Lindy.  To their credit, the Devils’ seven-man battalion played well enough to get the job done although Cory clearly earned not only the first star but also a second straight start tomorrow night, the first time he’s gotten two consecutive starts since early December.  Among the few other Devils to deserve special notice was Travis Zajac, who played nearly 25 minutes last night leading the team in icetime in an energized performance after the birth of his daughter two days ago.  While Zajac’s scoring has hit another dry spell, his overall game continues to be strong.

I’ll be sitting in the lower bowl tomorrow, taking advantage of one of the many vouchers the Devils have been handing out this year after everything from toy donations to food donations to a coat drive.  Hey, if everyone else can take advantage of these babies I might as well do so myself, so I sold my regular seats and am sitting in section 3 behind the attacking net tomorrow, enough rows up so that I shouldn’t have any blind spots on the ice.  Usually the only time I sit below is when I deign to go to a preseason game, which hasn’t happened in a couple years between the lockout last year and my lack of interest in going to one in mid-September this year. I’m not particularly anxious to find out what this ‘arena takeover’ by Party Poker is tomorrow night, I just hope it isn’t as annoying as those orange Mercedes Benz ads on the ice immediately after the lockout.  At least the temperature is supposed to pick up tomorrow although we had another annoying snowstorm this morning.  I honestly don’t know how people in Canada or Buffalo put up with this and far worse besides.  Oh well, whatever they do it would be nice to see a home win again.  Of the five home games I’ve missed four have been Devil wins (three of them shutouts).  My only in-person win in the last month plus was December 18 against Ottawa.  A few more losses and I may just start no-showing to these games.  Then again with eight road games and a de facto neutral site among our last thirteen games before the Olympic break, there aren’t going to be a lot of opportunities to go to games over the next six weeks anyway.  At least that’s one way to avoid bad weather this winter.

If you want to look at it another way though, I’m still at NHL .500 somehow in my games attended (5-5-6).  New Jersey as a team is at NHL .500 (18-18-9), so from that perspective I guess I’m at par for the course.  Regardless, for the Devils to make the playoffs, both numbers’ll have to improve and soon.

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Stars vs Rangers Preview: Vigneault sticks with same lineup

Posted on January 10, 2014 by Derek

Tonight, the Rangers host the slumping Stars at MSG. Coach Alain Vigneault will stick with the same lineup that produced the best win of the season. Liking how they responded to the challenge defeating the Blackhawks 3-2 in regulation, the first-year Rangers bench boss wants to stay consistent.

That includes newest Blueshirt Daniel Carcillo. He debuted the other night logging nine shifts (7:15) with two hits and drew a penalty on Brandon Bollig that led to Mats Zuccarello’s power play goal. Even though he didn’t see much ice in the third, Vigneault liked what he saw. From a toughness aspect, Carcillo can provide that missing edge. Let’s hope he doesn’t lose his head.

For J.T. Miller, that means another night as a healthy scratch. When asked about him, Vigneault had positive things to say hinting that he felt Miller can become a good player. Already an active player who gets in on the forecheck, the 2011 first round pick would be better suited getting regular shifts at Hartford this weekend. Especially if he’s not going to play tonight or against the Flyers Sunday.

With Marc Staal and Anton Stralman reteaming to form a solid second pairing behind Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi, that gives the Rangers a balanced blueline. Like his predecessor, Vigneault knows he can lean on his top four in crunch time. Since returning to the lineup, Michael Del Zotto has posted three assists and been more firm. At the very least, he’s boosting his trade value. He is teamed with John Moore, who also has been better lately. Justin Falk remains the odd man out.

Henrik Lundqvist makes his third consecutive start. Coming off arguably his best performance to date, he’s looking to finally win three in a row this season. The last time he faced the Stars, he was magnificent stopping 41 of 43 shots en route to a 3-2 road win at American Airlines Center on Nov. 21, 2013. The Stars have slumped losing their first four of the new calendar year. They were shutout last night by Cory Schneider (26 saves) 1-0 in Newark.

During the losing skid, Dallas has been outscored 19-8. However, they do boast some talent in Tyler Seguin, captain Jamie Benn and rookie Valeri Nichushkin. Vet Erik Cole has had a resurgence with 11 goals. Always a net presence, the Rangers must prevent him from getting to Lundqvist. Ray Whitney is still effective on the power play along with defensemen Alex Goligoski and Sergei Gonchar. Avoid taking penalties.

Young forwards Alex Chiasson and Cody Eakin are also capable of contributing. Vernon Fiddler is the type of checking forward who has given the Rangers fits. They can’t get outworked. Figure Kari Lehtonen to get the start. He made 33 saves in yesterday’s 1-0 loss to the Devils. If Lindy Ruff decides to rest him, then vet Dan Ellis would be in net. A streaky backup capable of stealing a game. And we know how well our team has fared against those. 😛

If they get off to a good start, that should help. Score early and put some doubt into a fragile team. It’s important for the Rangers to start making The Garden rock. With a nice stretch ahead until the Stadium Series, this is the time to get it done.

Posted in Battle News, NY Rangers | Leave a comment

Devils news, notes and nonsense

Posted on January 9, 2014 by hasan4978

Devils CEO Scott O’Neill announcing PartyPoker sponsorship

Instead of my semi-usual recap of another soul-crushing defeat Tuesday or a recap of what will likely be a blowout defeat tonight at the hands of a Stars team who’ll no doubt be ready to play after getting whipped by the Isles a couple of nights ago, I wanted to do something different today.  Especially since there is a lot to discuss, so this will in effect be a potpourri post – only partly with Devil news and opinions.  I just didn’t want to sit here and run through the same complaints about the team yet again.  Like Cory Schnieder a while back, I need to hit the reset button mentally and physically on this season and come back refreshed on Saturday, so I probably won’t watch or recap tonight’s game unless it’s on replay later and we actually (gasp) win.

What’s the point really?  Aside from the entertainment value whoever else reads my rants gets out of it, which can also get a little stale if that’s all I wind up doing.  I can sit here and go nuts on Pete DeBoer toying with the idea of converting Eric Gelinas into a forward, and really the organization’s whole treatment of Gelinas this week which has been mind-boggling.  From announcing he was getting sent down on Saturday to effectively rescinding it Monday only to scratch him and then put him back in the lineup as a seventh defenseman while publicly musing about him playing forward without ever bringing it up to the rookie himself.  I can roll my eyes over Jacob Josefson‘s well-timed ‘virus’ that conveniently opened up a roster spot for Lou Lamoriello to re-claim defenseman Alex Urbom from the Capitals and finally be able to put him in Albany, just the latest of Lou’s shell games with the roster the last two seasons.  I can be skeptical of Adam Larsson being sent down to Albany and how long his erstatz conditioning stint will last (probably as long as it takes for Josefson’s ‘virus’ to magically hit someone else who isn’t playing).  God knows I’ve done enough complaining about the gang that couldn’t shoot straight the last two years or their inability to hold a lead – ever.

Really however, what’s any of that going to accomplish?  Other than increasing my agida tenfold.  Sometimes complaining (especially in the form of writing) is theraputic to be sure – I’m sure Derek will agree with this – but sometimes rehasing only increases my aggravation too.  Especially in this age of insta-news and a million outlets to discuss it.  For example, visiting message boards probably isn’t a good idea when the team isn’t doing as well.  Other than making you feel smarter when you realize how off the deep end a lot of other people are, I suppose, or reinforcing some of your own criticisms.  Sometimes it’s just best to drop the worrying about roster management, palace intrigue, etc and just enjoy the games.  Especially with the Olympic break coming up and it being more and more likely by the week that there’ll be no Devils hockey past the second week of April.

Of course it’s hard not to get caught up in all of that given the team’s not winning.  It would be easier to overlook the fact we’re systematically retarding the development of almost anyone under 25 and hindering what limited offensive talent we have if we were winning now.  Likewise, it would be easier to accept not winning if we were at least developing and giving our younger players real experience.  Right now though, we’re not doing either.  On some level it’s actually hilarious that Mattias Tedenby has more goals down in Albany in a handful of games than he has the last three years as a Devil.  Perhaps there’s some magnet in the nets around the NHL that repels pucks from going in off Devil sticks.  Tuesday’s game against the Flyers was a perfect example of how offensively challenged this team is.  During a first period where we could have had 25 shots on goal if we weren’t looking for the perfect play all the time, we still dominated the period and yet only managed an Adam Henrique goal in the first minute of the game.  That game had all the elements that will make you pull your hair out as a Devil fan – bad offense, yet another blown lead, a wild comeback (in this case a game-tying goal from Michael Ryder in the final minute that got us a -1 from the Flyer game instead of a -2 in the standings) and eventual defeat in overtime.  Right now we’re essentially closer to the last-place Isles than we are to a playoff spot in the Metro.

Like I said before though, I don’t want this piece to be a Charlie Brown-like tale of woe where I rant about how Lucy pulled the football away yet again.  So what else is there to talk about?  Well if you haven’t been in a cave the last seventy-two hours you know the Devils and NBA’s Sixers – both teams owned by Josh Harris and David Blitzer – are now partnering with an online gambling site (PartyPoker).  If anything the constant trumpeting of this new sponsorship is already a turnoff though I’m certainly not averse to the team making money or even partnering with a gambling site which I could care less about.  However the way this has been thrown in everyone’s face the last few days is the online version of turning the volume up on commercials.  Really, has there ever been 1/100th of the hype for ANY other sponsor?  I realize why it’s a big deal, this is really the first overt partnership of a major professional sports team with a gambling entity but the attention was just laughable, with social media continuing to trumpet a super-secret announcement even after press releases had sussed out exactly what it was.  Of course part of my annoyance came over the intial Devils Tweet which I allowed myself to believe meant we were getting an All-Star game:

The #NJDevils and @PruCenter will be going “all-in” with a big announcement on Thursday! Stay tuned for more info!

Of course the next tweet saying ‘we’re not bluffing’ about a big announcement a day later pretty much was a clue that it was not about a future All-Star game, and that all-in was referring to poker, not hockey.  Oh well, I’m sure one day soon we will get one of those since most of the new arenas have had All-Star games, and plus we just had an NHL Draft go off smoothly without a hitch in Newark.  I guess it was hard to expect everything in one fell swoop given the draft and the outdoor game in the last calendar year, though my annoyance with the weather this year has reinforced my initial reluctance to actually go to the Stadium Series or whatever our outdoor game and the other satelite games are called.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the 24/7 series on HBO (though this year the first three episodes of Toronto-Detroit lacked a little meat that only the last one really did) and the Winter Classic itself and I’ll be looking forward to watching this game probably on TV.

Looking at the vista and being in it are two different animals though.  Especially when the sub-zero wind chill walking to and from the arena to the parking lot on Tuesday brought that point home yet again.  Not to mention leaving around 9 AM to make the train (assuming there aren’t snow delays!) and get in the stadium in time for a 12:30 game, and essentially revolving the whole day around it.  Time consumed is part of the reason why I go to fewer baseball games than hockey games, it’s really a whole day excursion going to the city.  It’s much easier to spend forty minutes driving into and out of Newark than over two hours each way on trains and subways.  Of course the current state of my Mets has something to do with that too given that I was going to around 7-10 games during ’06-07 and top out at 2-3 per season these days.  And that’s when it’s nice out, for the most part.  I’m not a big fan of sitting in the cold weather either, though the Meadowlands is closer and there’s even mass transit now I hadn’t been to a Jets game in several years until attending a win against the Bills early this season.  That said I’d probably find my way to a Jet AFC Championship game if they ever had one at MetLife, January cold and all.  I’d surely find my way to Met games after August if they ever had big October baseball again.  I was a plan ticket holder in 2006 and got to attend the first game of the playoffs – which was a wild win over the Dodgers.  I would have gotten to attend a World Series game that year too, but we know how that NLCS ended.

These days it’s hard to even pay attention to baseball though I was into it enough to win an online fantasy baseball keeper league I entered into this year.  Fantasy sports – whether you’re playing for bragging rights, money or both – often are a fun way to stay involved when your real-life teams aren’t giving you much to watch.  Or even when they do, it can be a nice supplement to it.  Of course, I only play for bragging rights…playing for money is far too stressful for me.  I’m competitive to the point where even playing for bragging rights can be stressful at times.  Usually it’s only my two fantasy football league(s) that drive me to distraction though.  Though this year I finally won a coveted championship in the NJDevs board league after six straight seasons of finishing in the top four, doing it in the most unlikely fashion possible after gaining entry to the playoffs as a 6-7 team (though one that led the league in scoring).  Generally the format itself is stressful though, the whole head-to-head and one and done part of it.  With baseball it was head-to-head too but even that is over a week’s worth of games as opposed to a single day.

My twenty-team hockey league is rotisserie and thus not as prone to wild up-and-down swings and fluke results.  Plus I’ve won this league four times and other than several regular managers like me it’s generally not that active anyway since it’s a message board league so I’m not living and dying as much with it (particularly while I was immersed in my fantasy football playoff run this year), though it would be nice to dethrone the two-time defending champ before he wins yet again.  Perhaps the one issue I have with fantasy sports is having to count on rival players for production, especially when they’re playing your real-life team.  This is yet another reason why I will not play fantasy sports for money.  I don’t neccesarily avoid those players per se, I’ve kind of justified having them as a double-edged sword – either they do well for me or they stink and that helps my real-life team.  It’s the old glass half-full, half-empty scenario, others would see that in the light of either your fantasy team gets hurt or your real-life team does.  Sometimes having your real-life players is worse in a way cause then you’re really all-in on their production when they don’t do well.  I bring this up because of a situation that came up in my league over the last week, with the injury to the Wild’s Mikko Koivu (usually a guy I’ll draft every year cause he’s underrated and strong in faceoff wins).  Being down to only two ‘true’ centers in Ryan Johansen and Mikhail Grabovski with Cody Hodgson also out and wanting to put one of them at RW to up my faceoff total, I needed to acquire another fill-in center.  So I wound up traing Ryan O’Reilly – a LW with center eligibility but he’s almost useless at C cause he doesn’t take as many faceoffs this year – for…Derek Stepan.  So now I’m hoping Stepan picks up his offense just enough for the Rangers to lose 5-4 regulation games lol.

Getting back to my point about how fantasy helps you keep up on the league, I probably wouldn’t know who Johansen (a young up-and-comer for the Blue Jacket) was if I didn’t pick him up as a FA early in the season and roll with him in my lineup most of the season.  Or even a guy like the Bolts’ Ondrej Palat who I picked up in the midst of his recent scoring binge, who might help fill the void left by the trade of O’Reilly and the injury issues of Johan Franzen at my LW position.  At least I still have Patrick Marleau of the Sharks as my top LW.  My lineup is still pretty strong overall in spite of the injuries and dissapointment in my Chicago goalies’ low save percentage/shutout totals.  I need an improvement there and in plus-minus in the second half to make a push.

C – Grabovski, Stepan, Koivu (IR), LW – Marleau, Franzen (IR), M. Raymond, Palat, RW – Ovechkin, Johansen, Cole, Chiasson, Hodgson (IR), D – Weber, Phaneuf, Bouwmeester, Dillon, Trouba, G – Crawford, Raanta, Grubauer

Anyway, enough of a tangent…I’m off to relax for the night.  I’ll be back at recapping after Saturday’s game though, I’m sure there’ll be something to talk about by then.  Hopefully it won’t be back to the same old same old by then.

Posted in Battle News, Devils | 3 Comments

Struggling Devils look to get on track against Stars

Posted on January 9, 2014 by Derek

The Devils will host the Stars tonight at The Rock. Losers of three straight, they’re looking to get back on track. Following a New Year’s Eve victory over Eastern Conference leader Pittsburgh, they’re 0-2-1 and enter play 17-18-9 with 43 points. Currently sixth in the Metro Division, they trail the third place Rangers by four and must climb over Carolina and Washington.

With 38 games remaining, time is of the essence. Losing to the Blackhawks in an exciting home game Jan. 3 was expected. However, consecutive defeats to the Sabres and second place Flyers have them in trouble.

At least they found a way to earn a point in Tuesday’s 3-2 overtime loss to their I-95 rival. With Martin Brodeur on the bench, Marek Zidlicky found Michael Ryder for the tying shorthanded goal at 19:30. A well executed play that Andy Greene helped set up. Leading scorer Jaromir Jagr, who tied former Pens’ teammate Mario Lemieux for seventh all-time on the NHL scoring list with an assist for point 1,723- was in front drawing attention which created a seam for Zidlicky to set up Ryder for his team-leading 14th.

With Patrik Elias on injured reserve, they need others to step up. Adam Henrique’s been better lately tallying six points over his last six including four goals. After doing virtually nothing the first half, he’s showing signs of life. Up to 10 goals and 10 assists, his 20 points rank sixth in team scoring. Ryane Clowe, who recently returned from a concussion, has two assists in six games. Finally healthy, he’s definitely helped balance out the lineup. His grit and physicality is needed.

The Devils have gotten strong play from Zidlicky and Greene on the back end. Zidlicky ranks third in scoring with 23 points (7-16-23) including a team best five power play goals. Overlooked entirely by Team USA, Greene has been their most consistent defenseman totaling seven goals and 15 helpers for 22 points which is tied with Ryder for fourth on the team. On pace for a career season, the 31-year old who signed with the club as a free agent in 2006 is a bargain earning $3.25 million this season and $3.5 million next year. Considering what similar players will command this summer, GM Lou Lamoriello might want to give thought to extending him. Meanwhile, Zidlicky earns $3 million and is a UFA this summer. He’s 36. The Devils must decide if he’s worth retaining. The production speaks for itself.

In order for the team to stay alive in the playoff race, they’ll need Travis Zajac to continue contributing. He has a goal and assist over the last four. A key two-way center who takes draws and is a strong penalty killer, he needs to chip in offensively. On a better roster, he could get by as a solid checking line pivot. With Dainius Zubrus ice cold without a point in seven, it’s up to coach Pete DeBoer to find the right combinations. That includes 20-year old rookie Reid Boucher, who has one goal and four assists in his first 16 games. He’s getting around 15 to 16 shifts. Andrei Loktionov is getting less. A shifty skater, he has three goals and five assists in 38 contests. He might need more ice-time. That won’t happen tonight. He’s a scratch.

DeBoer relies on his checking line of Ryan Carter, Steve Bernier and Stephen Gionta. Carter has been in and out of the lineup. Finally back, he helps stabilize the club at center. Bernier at times has been decent producing three goals and six assists but is a team worst minus-15. Gionta has five points in 31 games. He’s best utilized on the penalty kill where he creates shorthanded opportunities.

The lack of scoring depth has been a sore spot. Losing Damien Brunner really hurt. The 27-year old forward who was named to Switzerland’s Olympic roster was starting to turn his season around when he went down to a right knee injury. He’s missed the last eight games and isn’t expected back until probably the end of the month. Brunner had four goals and an assist in his last five games before sustaining the injury against Anaheim on Dec. 20, 2013. For the season, he has eight goals and five assists for 13 points.

Also on the mend is Adam Larsson. In his third year, the 21-year old Swedish blueliner has missed over a month with a lower body injury. He’s played in just 20 games totaling a goal and two helpers. This is an important season for Larsson, who turns restricted this summer. He earns $925,000. That will increase regardless. Astonishingly, he was assigned to Albany two hours ago. In his place, Jon Merrill has been inconsistent. With two assists and a minus-seven rating in 22 games, the 21-year old 2010 second round pick is hardly a finished product. Eric Gelinas’ recent struggles makes it tougher. The Devils reclaimed Alex Urbom and assigned him to Albany.

Currently, the Devils’ blueline is Greene, Zidlicky, Merrill, Mark Fayne, Bryce Salvador and Anton Volchenkov. Gelinas will also return to the lineup meaning they’ll go with seven defensemen against Dallas. Cory Schneider gets the start.

The Stars also have lost three in a row. In losses to Montreal, Detroit and at the Islanders, they’ve been outscored 18-8. They’ve allowed at least four goals during the losing streak. In a 7-3 defeat to the Islanders, they led 2-0 before the roof caved in. The Islanders outscored them 7-1 highlighted by John Tavares’ hat trick. Afterwards, former Sabres’ coach Lindy Ruff fumed calling it the worst effort of the season. Not surprisingly, Ruff’s shaken things up for tonight. He’s reshuffled all four lines.

“You want to see how players respond to adversity,” Ruff said. “It’s easy when things are going good. I want to see how the guys respond to different situations. We’ve been a good road team and we’ve got to dig ourselves out of a hole on the road. We’ve been fortunate that some teams around us have lost some games, so we’re still right there.”

Here are both teams’ projected lines courtesy of NHL.com.

DALLAS STARS

Jamie Benn-Seguin-Peverley

Cole-Eakin-Nichushkin

Chiasson-Fiddler-Whitney

Roussel-Horcoff-Garbutt

Goligoski-Dillon

Jordie Benn-Gonchar

Connauton-Daley

Lehtonen

Ellis

NEW JERSEY DEVILS

Zubrus-Zajac-Jagr

Clowe-Henrique-Ryder

Carter-Gionta-Bernier

Boucher-Sislo

Greene-Fayne

Zidlicky-Merrill

Volchenkov-Salvador

Gelinas

Schneider

Brodeur

Posted in Battle News, Devils | 1 Comment