Battle Of Hudson

After nearly falling out of a playoff spot a few games ago before momentarily straightening out the ship with three wins in four games, the Devils’ backs are now firmly up against a wall after their 3-2 defeat at the hands of the Rangers last night.  Or more accurately, a game gifted away with mistakes galore and the usual lack of finish.  I had an inkling we were in for it last night when even Arlette came up with a hoarse voice and had to ask the crowd for help singing the anthem.  You know things are bad when the anthem singer’s day-to-day.

In the past, I’ve often made light of Devils slumps by using the ’80’s movie WarGames.  If you’re not familiar with the movie, Matthew Broderick plays a high-school computer hacker who accidentally creates havoc at NORAD, causing the US military to believe that the Russians are launching a nuclear attack and ramp up the defense readiness of the military.  DEFCON is the term that describes the defense readiness – with DEFCON 5 being peace in the nation, and DEFCON 1 being Armageddon, or World War 3.

Well, this is the moment…it is now DEFCON 1 in Devil land.  Yes, there are still 18 games left, but time is running out fast now that the Devils have slipped to ninth place on percentage points.  Yes, the cavalry with Martin Brodeur, Andrei Loktionov, Danius Zubrus and Henrik Tallinder are all returning soon (though now Alexei Ponikarovsky is the latest Devil to be shelved with an unknown injury) – with Brodeur and Loktionov both returning in Carolina on Thursday.  Will the cavalry fully arrive after the war has been lost though?

Bear in mind Brodeur’s been out nearly a month, expecting him to be razor sharp off the hop is unrealistic, although he did begin this lockout-shortened season that way after a much longer layoff.  Still, he wasn’t coming back from a pinched nerve that was causing numbness in his hand this offseason.  At least the puck-handling misadventures of the Moose can finally end.  While I understand Johan Hedberg trying to play the puck more than he should to make sure the rest of the team could play its normal system, the fact was that Hedberg turning simple plays into disasters by overplaying the puck cost the team at least two-three games during his thirteen starts.  Yes, he made big saves last night but his snafu in the first period could be one that ultimately keeps this team out of the playoffs.

Our forward depth, already reeling from the loss of a combined 50+ goals from Zach Parise and Petr Sykora this offseason, has felt the further pinch of losing Zubrus long-term and Loktionov short-term.  Yes, guys like Travis Zajac and David Clarkson need to score a bit more, but really with the lack of forward depth you can certainly key on the few good ones left.  Clarkson was another example of this steam’s stupidity last night regardless.  After being told by coach Pete DeBoer he needs to shoot more, Clarkson took it to the nth degree, becoming a black hole and putting every single low-percentage shot on Henrik Lundqvist possible, while passing up open teammates.  As a team, the Devils frequently shot when they should have passed and vice-versa.  Though the shot total told one story, it wouldn’t shock me if the Rangers had more quality chances last night.  Felt like they did anyway, especially during the third period where the Devils could barely complete two straight passes, or gain the zone until getting some late empty-net pressure in the final seconds.

Although looking at the schedule can be an utter waste of time – especially given how many bad-bubble teams the Devils have lost to over these last eighteen games in a 5-10-3 meltdown (after an 8-1-2 start), fact is the Devils need to make hay in the next few games.  In their next six, the Devils are going up against other bubble teams such as Carolina, Ottawa and the Islanders as well as playing a non-playoff team in Tampa and two games against the ghost of a Panther team who’s been destroyed by injuries this year after barely losing a classic series to us last year.  Anything less than four wins could spell doom and even that might not be enough.

Down the stretch, the Devils get the iron put to them with home/road games against Boston and Toronto, as well as other games at Buffalo and home against Ottawa before a final, potentially decisive six-game finish starting April 18 at Philly, home against the Panthers, at the Garden, home against Montreal and Pittsburgh and at the Garden again.  A playoff berth that once looked like a fait accompli is now in real peril, and we could be in danger of wasting one of the last years of Brodeur’s career without even playing a May game.  Next year things won’t get easier for any of the Atlantic teams with the additions of Carolina, Washington and a suddenly improving Columbus team and only a max of five playoff spots to come out of that division.

For at least 2/3 of the league including the Devils, the playoffs are already underway.

On an otherwise quiet Sunday – if you’re not out celebrating the ‘real’ St. Patrick’s Day – the Devils sent first-rounder Stefan Matteau back to his junior team of Blainville-Boisbriand in time so he would be eligible for the QJMHL playoffs, which are set to begin this week.  With Matteau only playing on and off (one goal, two assists in 17 GP) it was an easy decision for GM Lou Lamoriello to make.  After the Armada’s season ends, Matteau is then eligible to either go to Albany – who are themselves in a playoff run – or return to New Jersey.  As Lou said though, this was the best thing for the 19-year old Matteau’s development, adding ‘We know what we have there.  He’s going to be a size and strength forward in this organization for a long time’.

While it’s true the Devils burned a year off his entry-level deal by keeping him beyond the five-game limit, they did avoid another more crucial deadline – by sending him down before his 23rd game he doesn’t accrue another year toward free agency.  Seeing as Matteau had been a scratch the prior three games before playing barely five minutes last night, the writing was on the wall.  He’ll be back sooner rather than later though.  And if nothing else, at least he was able to get his feet wet and get his first NHL points under his belt.  It would be a tremendous success if he had a nice playoffs for his junior team, then got in some time in Albany before coming back for good.

New Jersey didn’t immediately announce a replacement for Matteau on the roster.  Perhaps the hurt Henrik Tallinder is ready to play, or at least ready to practice and take a place in the healthy scratches box.  Obviously the Devils would have to shed a forward to accomodate eight healthy defensemen.  Danius Zubrus is skating but not practicing with a stick yet, so he’s still a few games away at best.  Martin Brodeur may participate in practice tomorrow depending on how he feels, and he’s been skating and taking shots so perhaps his return is more imminent.

After winning three of four games, the Devils appeared set to close out this ungodly ten game in seventeen day stretch on a high note.  However, a shootout loss in Philly on Friday and a hard-fought regulation loss to Montreal at the Rock on Saturday kept the Devils squarely on the bubble of the playoffs heading into a monumental showdown with a Ranger team struggling even worse than we are in the standings and in their last three games.  Then again, other than five teams in the NHL (Chicago, Anaheim, Pittsburgh, Boston and the Canadiens), who isn’t on the bubble these days?  Besides Team IR down in Sunrise, who’s on the other side of the bubble.

Not that the Devils are a model of health themselves these days, the latest crippling injury being one to Andrei Loktionov, ostensibly day to day after a strain suffered or aggravated early in the Flyers game on Friday.  Not-so-coincidentally the offense has dried up in these two games with only a deflection goal by David Clarkson (his first goal in a month) on Friday and a Peter Harrold power play goal last night keeping us from being shut out in either game.  This despite actually playing well for the most part, even going against a far more desperate team on Friday and a better team yesterday on the back end of our most taxing part of the schedule.

Problem is, the Devils put themselves in a position during the losing streak of death where there really aren’t many acceptable losses left.  We currently sit in seventh with 32 points after 29 games.  Eighth-place Carolina is one point back with two games in hand.  Who’s in ninth and tenth?  New York, New York – with the Isles sitting three points back (one game in hand) and the Rangers at four points back (two games in hand).  There isn’t much room for error, and the projected cutoff line always winds up increasing after the trade deadline as teams make moves and the more desperate teams beat up on the less desperate teams and teams that are out of it.  I have the Devils needing to go 11-8 to secure a playoff spot, which would put us at 54 points.  Perhaps that’s too high of a guess but better safe than sorry.  Coach Pete DeBoer said at the halfway point the Devils needed to win two of every three games, so he’s even shooting higher.

Even the game itself wasn’t as discouraging as some of our own fans, not by a long shot.  I’ll bag on the team as badly as anyone when they deserve it like they did at times during the losing streak, but when they’re giving effort I’m not going to take them out to the woodshed.  With the way fans at the arena, and on the NJDevs message board complained all night long – particularly the loudmouth sth behind me who’s already gotten on my last nerve – you would have thought it was December 2010 when we got whipped by the Habs and Johan Hedberg got pulled before you could blink in the game. I don’t understand how any sane person could watch last night’s game and think the Devils weren’t trying or played lousy.  They outshot Montreal 33-22, including 26-13 in the final two periods when the team was clearly gassed (evidenced by Adam Henrique and Ilya Kovalchuk going to the locker room in the third period for ‘refreshments’ according to the latter – most likely IV treatment).

Yes, the Devils couldn’t score against the cripple ghost of Rick DiPietro with the way things are going, nevermind an actual good goaltender like Carey Price.  Really though, what does anyone expect?  It would be nice if Travis Zajac got to ten points before the end of the season, but losing Zach Parise not only took a chunk out of the total team goalscoring but out of Zajac’s personal offensive game as well.  We’re missing another top six/nine forward in Danius Zubrus and the guy who’d been a revelation leapfrogging Zajac and Adam Henrique into the #1 center role (Loktionov).  There aren’t exactly reinforcements lying around up front the way there are on defense, where we have Henrik Tallinder hurt, Mark Fayne (our best defenseman last year) a healthy scratch and haven’t skipped a beat defensively with Harrold in the lineup.  How Harrold himself only played one of the first twenty-four games or whatever it was is another stupid byproduct of our unbalanced team depth.

Back to our idiot fans though, it’d be one thing if it was just the stupid, obsessive complaining about the team, or complaining about the refs on every single call, but there’s really no reason for some of the lewdness and sexually explicit chants toward women – and I’m not just referring to the Devils Dancers.  During the ceremony to honor goaltending coach Jacques Caron before last night’s game, the nonsense started with unneccesary comments about his girlfriend (his wife passed away a few years back).  What, the guy can’t have a life after being widowed?  Perhaps I should have gotten an inkling at that point it would have been a bad night in the stands.

Not to mention the comments toward a couple of women who were leaving midway through the third period about how they weren’t real fans and a couple other insults thrown in.  Thing is, they weren’t actually leaving the game, they were leaving the section – I only know this cause I happen to know one of the women in question, nice girl who I was surprised was in the section last night cause her brother refuses to sit there anymore.  I almost wanted to turn around and haul off on the guy at that point but I was with three other friends on a night out, and didn’t really feel like starting up anything, especially since to be honest it wouldn’t have been fair at that point since the guy didn’t know ‘why’ she was leaving.  Even so, why be judgemental?  I’ll sometimes shrug when the family who sits in front of me always leaves early (particuarly when they left a 4-4 game against the Isles when we had a late power play in regulation) but you don’t really know everyone else’s situation.  You don’t insult them.  Unless they’re an annoying opposition fan anyway, emphasis on annoying.

That’s the unfortunate byproduct of sitting in one of the cheapest sections of the arena though, you get all the stupidity and drunkeness around you since people can afford to buy five beers given their ticket is the price of less than three.  My tickets got raised a whopping $5 per game for next year, while the loudmouth clown behind me still is at $22 per game one step away.  Last night was one of the few times I was glad it was a short season.  Of course I wound up renewing my seats for next year, and I can always relocate as nobody’s forcing me to stay in 120.  I just don’t want to, given the fact aisle seats for under $30 behind the net aren’t going to come along all the time.  How did I get these?  Simple, the sth who sat there last year was annoyed enough at the section not to renew.  He’s a whiny clown so I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of saying I see why he left, but…

Given all that I’m sure Tuesday’s going to be another barrel of laughs, especially if we lose a 1-0, 2-1 game which is entirely possible with our offensive woes.  Even given the Rangers’ own offensive struggles, and the fact they might be tuning out coach John Tortorella since his screaming fit(s) during and after a 4-1 loss to the Sabres, which came on the heels of winning 5 of 6.  That’s the difference between a nutcase like Tortorella and a calming influence like DeBoer.  He may yell at the team too, but he does it behind closed doors.  I don’t always agree with the coach withholding his criticisms, but in the long run it’s probably best.  And last night I agreed with Pete 1000% after the game:

‘We just needed another goal.  I don’t think I could ask much more of our group considering it was their third game in four nights.  Montreal’s sitting here resting, waiting for us, I thought the guys really emptied the tank and gave us what they had.  When I look at the scoring chances, for every one of those we gave them, they gave us probably three.  We just didn’t put them in.’

At least he can see the big picture, unlike many of our fans.