Game 40: Woeful Start Dooms Devils, Losing Streak Now 8

The Devils have been playing behind seemingly all season, usually making a valiant effort to get back into the mix. Wednesday’s loss 5-4 to Boston was a microcosm of their recent struggles, as the Devils attempted to erase a 4-0 lead after being blessed with tremendous scoring opportunities early in the game.

New Jersey outshot Boston 12-8 in the first period, yet when 0-for-4 on the power play, surrendering two shorthanded goals and ultimately losing 3-0 before giving up another tally in the second period. Travis Zajac and Patrik Elias pulled two goals back late in the second period then Andy Greene cut the deficit to 4-3 with a goal at 5:58 of the third. Tyler Seguin essentially iced the win for Boston with a goal less than two minutes later while Matt D’Agostini tallied his first as a Devil in the game’s dying seconds.

The Devils can also expect to be without the services of at least one of their veteran defensemen, as Bryce Salvador blocked a Zdeno Chara slapshot with his wrist in the second period while Anton Volchenkov may be hearing from Brendan Shanahan and the NHL’s Department of Player Safety. Volchenkov threw an elbow at the helmet of Boston’s talented agitator Brad Marchand, earning himself a misconduct penalty.

While the Devils were able to make the game competitive and claw themselves back into the game, it simply wasn’t enough to overcome a woeful start. The Devils are seeing themselves slide further down the Eastern Conference standings with this recent eight-game skid, which was exacerbated on Wednesday by the Rangers securing the bonus point in a 3-2 shootout win over fifth-place Toronto.

The Devils face Ottawa on Friday, in essentially a must-win game if they want to entertain their hopes of making the postseason.

One has to wonder how Jonathan Drouin will look in red and black? Nathan MacKinnon? It’s unlikely the Devils will win the draft lottery, but the thought of the team getting an impact player in the draft is entertaining.

Game 39: Devils Get Another Charity Point, Lose 7th Straight

There are several ways to look at New Jersey’s 3-2 shootout loss to Buffalo on Sunday night: 1. The Devils picked up a point in their quest to stay in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt. 2. The Devils didn’t outright lose in regulation. 3. The Devils again outshot their opponent, this time 39-26. 4. The Devils are showing themselves to be woefully incapable of putting a team away when controlling the flow of play. 5. The Devils have lost seven straight.

New Jersey failed to convert three power play chances in the third period and could not register a goal while living in the Buffalo zone at even strength during a stretch of the second period. The team had their chances, but overpassed at times and simply could not score, a problem that was plaguing them even when Ilya Kovalchuk was in the lineup. Continue reading →

Episode 108 – Short and Sweet

Game 38: Devils Fall To Leafs, Playoff Hopes Dimming

Facing the playoff-bound Toronto Maple Leafs (yes, that is correct), the Devils desperately needed to stem their four-game losing streak Saturday at the Rock. Again, the Devils came up short. Again, it was a game in which they had the better of the play. Again it was a game where they outshot their opponent. Tyler Bozak’s breakaway goal at 8:02 of the third period proved to be the game-winner, as the Leafs secured a 2-1 victory over New Jersey thanks to the strong play of James Reimer.

The Devils have scored four goals in their last four games and currently are alone in ninth place, three points out of eighth, as the Rangers and Islanders won their contests on Saturday, beating Carolina and Tampa Bay, respectively.
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Game 37: Devils Battle Bruins Hard In Loss

The Devils did much right Thursday. Facing one of the presumptive favorites heading into the postseason in the Boston Bruins, New Jersey played with energy, saw opportunities to score and fell 1-0 behind a 40-save shutout by Boston goalie and Scrabble gold Tuukka Rask. The Devils peppered the vaunted Boston defense with 40 shots, yet could not crack the Bruins. Dainius Zubrus rang a wrist shot off the cross-bar in the third period, but the bounces simply were not going for New Jersey as they suffered their third-straight loss as they struggle to stay in the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

The unfortunate bounces were not only in the offensive zone for the Devils, as the game’s lone goal took a fortuitous bounce off career-long Martin Brodeur tormentor Jaromir Jagr, making his Boston debut following Tuesday’s trade from Dallas for essentially spare parts. Jagr, playing on a line with ultra pest Brad Marchand, drove the net on Bryce Salvador while Marchand carried the puck down toward the goal line on the left wing, dishing a pass back for Jagr that bounced off Jagr’s skate and by Brodeur, who made 25 saves on the evening. Continue reading →

Episode 107 – Week of The Living One Pointers

On this weeks episode David and John breakdown 3 games which saw the Devils give away 3 points.  Then they look at the additions of John Merrill and Reid Boucher to Albany, preview the upcoming trade deadline, guess which Devil’s season is in most need of a resurrection on Easter Sunday and so much more.

This weeks episode is 56 minutes long and 13mb big.  You can download it directly here.

Game 35: Devils’ Southern Train Wreck Continues

The Devils didn’t lose in a shootout on Saturday. Having dropped their last two contests in the skills competition, the Devils aimed to avoid that scenario at all costs Saturday in Sunrise, Florida against the vaunted Panthers. The Devils didn’t lose in a shootout on Saturday, just in overtime, falling 3-2 thanks to Dmitry Kulikov’s winning goal.

Saturday’s loss bore many similarities with Friday’s loss to Tampa Bay. The Devils surrendered a tying goal in the final minute yet again, this time to renowned sniper Shawn Mattias with 27 seconds remaining, an improvement from giving up the equalizer with 15 seconds left in the game Friday.

New Jersey squandered yet another lead in the final minute of play and saw what should have been two points become one again. The Devils have dropped their last three contests in overtime or a shootout.

Saturday’s winning goal was a bizarre play as the Devils scrambled around the defensive zone. Florida uber-rookie Jonathan Huberdeau split the Devils defense just inside the blue line and went in toward Martin Brodeur, whose poke check knocked the puck loose where it was unable to be controlled by the Devils. Soon enough, the puck found its way to Kulikov on a cross-crease pass where he fired a one timer back across the moving Brodeur, whose stick was not in the proper position following the poke check.

Matthias scored both of Florida’s goals in regulation while Steve Bernier grabbed both tallies for the Devils, including a third-period power-play marker that staked the Devils to a 2-1 lead. Bernier deftly deflected a Henrik Tallinder point shot past Jacob Markstrom.

Matthias knotted up the game midway through the first period by directing a puck off his skate into the goal past Brodeur after Bernier opened the game’s scoring, finishing off a nice display of passing at the 3:42 mark on a turnover from Florida deep in its own zone.

New Jersey has displayed an uncanny ability to put opponents away the last two games either by giving up late equalizers or failing to add an insurance goal.

The Devils currently sit seventh in the Eastern Conference with 39 points, five behind Toronto for sixth but with a five-point lead over the Rangers and Islanders (eight and nine) while Carolina is 10th with 34 points.

Notes
-Despite being a minus-2 on the evening, Travis Zajac won nearly 74-percent of his faceoffs.

-Andrei Loktionov’s assist gives him points in three straight games and four in the last five.

-Florida outshot the Devils 30-26 in the game.

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Game 34: Devils Cough Up Point Against Bolts, Fall In Shootout

True, the Devils took a point out of Friday’s 5-4 shootout loss in Tampa Bay. However, it’s a point lost as the Devils jockey for position at the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff standings. New Jersey held a 4-2 lead with 12:49 remaining in the third period when Steven Stamkos pulled the Bolts (as it says on their alternate sweaters) back with in a goal before playing the role of provider to rookie Alex Killorn as time dwindled down. Late in the game, with goalie Mathieu Garon pulled and the Devils clinging to a 4-3 lead, Tampa Bay whipped the puck around the offensive zone to Stamkos in his trademark spot atop the left circle where he slid a cross-ice pass to Killorn for an easy finish and a tie game.

New Jersey fell quickly in the shootout with Teddy Purcell and Victor Hedman beating Martin Brodeur while Garon denied Travis Zajac and Patrik Elias in their respective attempts to knot up or extend the game.

New Jersey staked itself to a 4-2 lead thanks to a 2-point effort from defenseman Andy Greene, who finished with a goal and an assist. Andrei Loktionov, Tom Kostopoulos and Ryan Carter throughout the game’s first 40 minutes. In more positive news for the Devils, newly acquired winger Matt D’Agostini tallied assists on two of the squad’s goals.

The Devils face Florida Saturday and look to end their three-game road trip Saturday in Sunirise, battling against the pesy Florida panthers.

Game 33: Shootout Goes For Sens, Minor Devils’ Injuries

The Devils’ first game without Ilya Kovalchuk on Monday hopefully will not be a harbinger of the several weeks the team is slated to be without their dynamic winger. New Jersey again played from behind twice in the nation’s capital only to fall 3-2 in a shootout to Ottawa, a depleted team rapidly staking a firm claim to a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The game was a tightly played checking contest between teams missing their top offensive players with the Devils knotting up the game three times if one counts Travis Zajac’s successful shootout attempt to force the skills competition to a sudden death frame. Mika Zibanejad expertly executed a backhand deke against Martin Brodeur on the next attempt to put Ottawa in front before Andrei Loktionov was denied by Ben Bishop for the Senators’ win.

The Devils also lost captain Bryce Salvador (lower body) and grinding winger Stephen Gionta (upper body) to injuries, both remaining sidelined after the first period. There is no word yet on the nature of the injuries to two of the team’s more important depth players, as noted by the Bergen Record’s Tom Gulitti.
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Episode 106 – Two Steps Forward, A Few Steps Back

On this weeks episode David, John and Dan recap a busy week for the Devils.  They breakdown the games, look at the Matt D’Agostini acquisition, the return of players from injuries, the new injury to Ilya Kovalchuk and the whole it creates for the team.  They also look at some NHL wide issues such as the visor debate, goalie pads and supplementary discipline.

This weeks episode is is 58 minutes long and 13mb in size.  You can download it directly here.