Battle Of Hudson

I just don’t know what to say anymore.  This season has become like one never-ending Peanuts cartoon with Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown time and time again in an endless loop.  Over and over the Devils find a way to keep the game just close enough to frustrate everyone in the end, including themselves.  Whether it’s by blowing late leads, throwing away points against bad teams…or as has been the case for much of the last three games, by somehow finding ways not to score no matter how much they control the game.

Tonight’s loss to Buffalo however ensured a new low point for this Devils team – their seventh straight defeat, which set a new franchise record.  Yes, even the John MacLean Devils somehow managed to avoid losing seven straight games.  Of course, it’s easier to prolong a losing streak now than it was in the early days of Devil history when you actually had to lose a game to lose it.  Four of the Devils’ losses during this streak have been of the overtime slash shootout variety, giving them four points.  Just enough to keep the corpse on life support long past its expiration date (I really want to insert a Terri Schiavo joke but won’t).

I don’t want to hear the Devils are just two – really three – points back of a playoff spot.  They can’t even win any games, unlike their competitors.  Eventually the Devils are going to have to win again to entertain any hope of getting back in the race with just nine games remaining, especially considering they’re not going to have the tiebreaker on anyone with their lack of regulation wins.  Just like when the Devils lost Martin Brodeur and went in the toilet with six straight losses, this team hasn’t won a game since Ilya Kovalchuk got hurt during the Devils’ last win at the Rock against the Panthers.  Coincidentally – or not? – that game was Martin Brodeur‘s 666th career win.  Perhaps 666 really did turn out to be a curse <shudder>

Yes, they’re trying for the most part – although the first few minutes of tonight’s game looked like yet another depressing mail-it-in performance just like the Islander fiasco a few games back.  Pretty much the only good thing about tonight’s game was listening to Dave Strader on the mike.  Never thought I’d be glad to have a game on NBCSN (particuarly since I’m not fond of Ed Olcyzk and Pierre McGuire, but fortunately we didn’t get the main broadcast crew) but I’m getting sick and tired of our own broadcasts constantly talking up the opposition, to say nothing about the amateur hour mistakes by Steve Cangelosi and Chico Resch that are funny when you’re winning but just serve as more annoying when you’re not.

Pretty much the only good thing about this season is it’s almost over.  Nine games remain in what’s been a lost season since the Devils beat Pittsburgh in that home-and-home in mid-February that gave the illusion of the Devils being contending team when they were 8-1-3.  Since then, the record’s been an ugly 7-14-6.  I’ve literally lost count how many games we’ve dropped against non-playoff teams.  Until recently the Devils have earned their bad breaks.  If anything they were lucky they’ve remained in the race for so long despite being god-awful for the better part of two months.  Our bad luck for much of the last three games only serve as our sins coming home to roost, sins from Lou Lamoriello on down.

Failing to address the scoring issue, or the defensive logjam has ultimately come back to bite the team right in their rear end.  I’ve made the joke recently Lou’s been shopping at Woolworth’s to try to stock our forward core in-season, but it’s not really funny now.  Other than Andrei Loktionov, none of the acquisitions have really paid any dividends.  Management needs to be more aggressive trying to replace the scoring that walked out the door when Zach Parise left.  Especially before we completely burn out Kovlachuk increasing his icetime every single year.

Doing a full autopsy is for another day though.  I’ve just had it with everyone and everything right now.  I’m not even going to pretend to make the case the Devils have a shot at the playoffs or that they even deserve to make it.  They have no shot of beating Boston on Wednesday.  No shot, none…and that loss will probably and justly end any illusions remaining that this team can make the playoffs.

King Henrik stands tall making 48 saves in 4-1 win over Carolina. Copyright Getty Images/by Gene J. Puskar

Henrik Lundqvist’s performance was fit for a king. King Henrik lived up to his billing with a virtuoso performance in Raleigh. He made 48 saves backstopping the Rangers to a 4-1 victory over Carolina. In the second of a back-to-back, Lundqvist showed no ill effects after pulling his hamstring the night before. Instead, he raised his level to the best its been this year. 

“I knew I was gonna get hit on the forecheck there,” Del Zotto said. “I just tried to kind of reverse hit and brace myself. I’m not sure exactly what happened. I have to see it, but I hope he’s OK.”

No surprise. It’s hard to determine if there was intent. Del Zotto has been playing his best 

hockey. He might not be racking up the points but MDZ has been meaner around the net,

protecting Henrik Lundqvist. Loved seeing him throw Evgeni Malkin down post whistle. 

That edge is what Garden Faithful have been looking for. Hope it continues.

Jussi Jokinen made Marc-Andre Fleury’s performance stand up with the shootout winner. Copyright Getty Images/by Gene J. Puskar

Simply put, Marc-Andre Fleury prevented the Rangers from a sweep of the home-and-home. It was his clutch goaltending that was the difference in the Pens’ 2-1 shootout win in the Steel City. He made  34 saves to out-duel Henrik Lundqvist, who was almost as good finishing with 26 stops. Again, Hank allowed two-or-less. But this time, got victimized in the skill competition.

I was gonna recap this game last night, but I really couldn’t think of anything to say other than the obvious.  For a rare occasion during this losing malaise of death, the Devils played sixty minutes with both intensity and crispness.  Against arguably the top team in the conference now with the Penguins’ injury issues (and the Bruins’ own trade deadline deal for Jaromir Jagr), the Devils honestly dominated the game for the most part. Granted, the 40-26 shot difference wasn’t always indicative of the quality of chances, but Danius Zubrus and David Clarkson also hit posts and those didn’t even count as shots.  We held the Bruins to one fluke goal defensively – a pass from Brad Marchand that was redirected in off the skate of Jagr early in the second period, and gave them few chances throughout.

In short, we did everything you could reasonably expect out of a hockey game…except score, and win.

While it’s impossible to have a beef with the Devils 1-0 loss last night in terms of effort, facts are facts.  We lost yet again (only seven wins in our last twenty-five games, just four in regulation), and the regulation loss punted us out of the top eight for only the second time this season.  Almost as bad as the Rangers and Islanders passing us is the fact that the Flyers have come back from the dead to win four straight and pull to within two points themselves.  More and more it seems like the die is cast – now four Atlantic teams are going to be fighting for the last two spots in the playoffs.  Especially with Winnipeg’s collapse and the Caps’ surge seemingly handing the Southleast to a Caps team that was once in the crypt.

Thing is, as Steve Cangelosi pointed out in the postgame the Devils still control their own destiny for the moment due to the fact we have a game in hand on the Islanders and are only one point behind.  But barely, since we almost certainly won’t have the regulation wins tiebreaker on anyone when it’s all said and done.  And our three combined games remaining against the Flyers and Rangers are all in enemy territory during the final week and a half of the season.  A more sobering reality was illuminated by writer Tom Gulutti, who points out the Devils don’t have a single win against a team currently in the top eight since the last week of February when we beat the Caps (and they were struggling then).

I want to focus on the positive, I really do.  Time’s run out for moral victories though.  I saw in a couple different places people calling this the ‘best loss of the season’.  Are you freaking kidding me?  There is no such thing is a best loss at this point, with the position we’re in.  Especially given the fact this team still hasn’t won a game since losing Ilya Kovalchuk nearly two weeks ago.  Unless perhaps it’s a one-point loss against a good team you’re not competing with for a spot (say, the Ottawa game last Monday).  Eventually however, the Devils need to start getting wins again, and fast.  At about the halfway point – the last time the Devils fell out of the top eight – I guesstimated the Devils needed to go 14-7-1 to be assured of a spot.  With results since then, that number’s gone to 8-2-1 in our last eleven.  That might wind up being a touch high, but not by much considering the fact the Isles, Rangers and Flyers are all surging while we can’t get out of our own way.

And at this point, there are only eleven games left to save the ship from going down in 2013.  I can’t accuse coach Pete DeBoer of not recognizing the gravity of the situation, calling early first-period timeouts to keep games from getting away early against Ottawa and the Isles, or calling a final-minute timeout in the second period after an icing to prevent a potentially crushing second goal against.  Although DeBoer hasn’t gone off on the team publicly just yet, he has hinted once or twice that maybe the players aren’t thinking of this as a stretch run just yet.  Normally at the 35-40 game mark you’re thinking about the All-Star game instead of the playoff push.  I can’t accuse the players of not showing intensity last night though.  It was there, unlike the first period on Monday night.

Our final reinforcement from the outside is arriving on Saturday after Steve Sullivan took his physical in New Jersey yesterday.  I’m at a loss to figure out how the Rangers could get their players in from Columbus literally the day of the trade hours before their game against Pittsburgh at MSG but we have to wait three days to see Sully but whatever.  Although Lou hasn’t done anything drastic the way he has in other years with the team struggling I can’t accuse him of not recognizing reality considering all the acquisitions we have made attempting to strengthen a flawed forward core.  While teams paid premiums on deadline day and just before for potential improvements, Lou acquired Andrei Loiktionov, Matt D’Agostini, Tom Kostopolous and Sullivan all on the cheap (none for higher than a fifth-round pick).

It would have been nice if Lou could have shed a defenseman at the deadline, but last night’s an example of what you get when you have eight defensemen around and many are older and making huge salaries.  With Peter Harrold playing up front to give Kostopolous a night off after his knockout loss on Monday night, we iced seven defensemen…and only 2011 #4 overall Adam Larsson was sitting in the press box.  At this point I’m really starting to think it would have been better for all parties if Larsson had just stayed in the AHL the whole season.  As bad as that would have been at least he could have gotten steady time without worrying about being yanked out of the lineup after every little mistake.  Same goes for Mark Fayne and our other defensemen.  Having only seven instead of eight – with the eighth still available in the AHL – would have made a world of difference in not having to rotate guys in and out and off of pairings as much.

What’s done is done at this point though, and we only have eleven games left to save 2013.  It seems apparent that Martin Brodeur‘s going to play them all until the ship is either saved or goes down with only two back-to-backs remaining.  One of the back-to-backs is this weekend but with the light schedule before and after (three games in our next ten days after this Sunday) I’d bet on Pete going to the wall with Marty now.  And at this point that’s fine with me, although hopefully he can work out his rust sooner rather than later.  He wasn’t tested all that much last night but couldn’t exactly be faulted on the goal against.

At this point we just gotta start making progress one game at a time.  No worse than three points in these next two games (home against the Leafs, at Buffalo) will do and preferably all four with what’s coming up on our schedule after that.  I’m at the Jim Mora point though when thinking about the playoffs.  ‘PLAYOFFS?!  Don’t talk to me about playoffs!  I just want to win a game…any game’.

”I didn’t have time to be nervous,” Brassard said after a memorable Ranger debut in which he scored a goal and three assists highlighting a 6-1 blowout of the Pens. ”I was stressed out with everything and saying bye to my teammates.

”We got here like 15 minutes before, and everything was ready for us. It’s a great experience I am going to remember for the rest of my life.”

Clowe Meets Zucc: Ryane Clowe is congratulated by midget Mats Zuccarello. Copyright Getty Images/by Frank Franklin II

Nobody could’ve predicted this. Even Glen Sather probably didn’t foresee his newest acquisitions making him look like a genius. Ryane Clowe, Derrick Brassard and John Moore all scored in their Broadway debuts, igniting the Rangers to a 6-1 rout of the Penguins.