Stephen Gionta.

The New Jersey Devils will be taking the ice at Bell Centre this evening, hopeful to expand their winning streak to four straight games. The odds are pretty good – the Devils have won their last eight bouts against the Habs, with the last Montreal victory in 2008.

Pre-game notes:

* No morning skate for either team today.

* Cool fact: Ever sturdy Patrik Elias is 3 points away from hitting 900 career points.

* An excellent read about Martin Brodeur’s father, Denis Brodeur, who has fought through two recent and difficult surgeries. He will be watching the game from home.

* Something to watch for: Stefan Matteau. In the last practice, Matteau was moved up to the top line with Travis Zajac and Ilya Kovachuk, with Mattias Tedenby dropping to the fourth. Peter DeBoer has been impressed with Matteau over the past three games, but a decision soon needs to be made about the rookie’s development. Matteau is closer to the top of the roster in SOG; a place on the first line may very well help him earn his first NHL goal.

* Sibling rivalry: Brothers Stephen and Brian Gionta face off today. Stephen Gionta netted the Devils’ first goal in their victory over the Capitals on Friday.

“I hear they’ve got a pretty good kid in there as their third line centre, no. 11,” Brian said about his younger brother. “I think he’s pretty much been carrying the load for [Zach] Parise.”

* Brodeur will start in net. Carey Price will be in the cage for the Canadiens.

The puck drops at 6PM! Tune in on MSG Plus/RDS.

Adam Henrique. (Source: leehaes/Tumblr.)

The Capitals have had a rough start to their season. With a new head coach in Adam Oates (straight off the Devils coaching bench), a brand new system to get used to, and almost getting blanked last night at home by the Montreal Canadiens, the Caps are struggling. Facing up against a solid looking Devils team tonight, they’re going to have a difficult time.

Notes for the Devils roster:

* The two top lines have been adjusted. New lines are: Tedenby-Zajac-Kovalchuk and Zubrus-Elias-Clarkson. Barch is in for Janssen on the fourth line. D lines are the same.

* A reminder that a decision has to be made for Stefan Matteau soon enough. Tonight will be his third game on the big stage out of the allowed five before the first year of his entry-year contract is burned up, and Lamoriello and DeBoer need to decide if he’s worth keeping on the roster. So far, Matteau has impressed as a kid thrown rather suddenly on to NHL ice. After getting cut from the National Juniors team, Matteau has something to prove.

* Adam Henrique skated with the team this morning and is nearing a return from his thumb injury. He could be back by the Jan 31st homestead against the Islanders.

* Sorry for the lack of recap for the last game against the Flyers, but let me mention again that Martin Brodeur decidedly earned his 120th career shutout win.

* Brodeur will be in goal for the Devils tonight. Michal Neuvirth is in for the Caps.

Travis Zajac and Evgeni Nabokov.

The Devils had a good start to the season tonight with a 2-1 win over the Islanders. Sure, not everything was perfect, but for a team abruptly entering a shortened season the Devils did not look rusty at all. Standouts for the Devils in the win include Martin Brodeur, Mattias Tedenby, and Stefan Matteau, who enjoyed a healthy amount of ice time in his NHL debut.

The first opened with a quick penalty called on Devils captain Salvador for interference, sending the Devils to the penalty kill. The Islanders sustained no shots on goal for a solid half of the period, while the Devils led with 4-0 SOG. What kept them off the board? Islanders goalie, Evgeni Nabokov, had a stellar game overall. Matteau entered the game three minutes in and wasn’t shy about sending the puck to the net. The rookie put up a good show in five shifts for the fans and his family, who were watching from the stands. The 1st ended with 9-3 SOG, Devils.

» Continue reading “Devils Open With Win Over Isles”

Ironic indeed. (Credit to Twitter/ckraks.)

For those desperately missing hockey and seeing Ilya Kovalchuk tear up the ice, fear not. MSG Network will be airing the KHL SKA St. Petersburg vs. Dinamo Riga game today at 1PM / 8PM EST. Be sure to tune in.

Here’s a full list of the KHL on MSG.

EDIT: The MSG will not be airing the KHL game today. A statement they released on Twitter states, “We’re sorry fans, due to outages caused by the storm, we’re unable to broadcast #KHLonMSG today. We are working diligently to restore games.”

 ***

Travis Zajac will be participating in a charity game on Saturday, November 17th. The Goals for Dreams Hockey Challenge, born out of a partnership between the Winnipeg Police Service Patrolmen Hockey Club and the NHLPA, will raise money for the Dreams Factory and Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Team rosters will be split between Team (Andrew) Ladd and Team (Mark) Stuart. The Jets’ captain Ladd, defenseman Stuart, and New Jersey Devils’ Zajac will be joined by participating NHL players Blake Wheeler, Dustin Byfuglien, Olli Jokinen and Jonathan Toews among others.

Extended details can be found here.

***

» Continue reading “MSG Airs KHL, Travis Zajac Plays For Charity, More Kovalchuk And An Injured Brodeur”

This has been an official statement from the Minnesota Wild. (Disclaimer: Only sort of.)

Anytime a team has a good showing during the post season (or, god forbid, wins the Cup: see the 2010 Chicago Blackhawks), it’s no surprise to see the roster go their separate ways. In a successful post season, the team as a whole usually does well, and players need to be compensated for good performance. To most NHL clubs trying to navigate cap space, this is simply not affordable.

Now consider the Devils: a team with a lengthy post season run and a long history of debt and money issues. A team that is now composed of a roster that 1) took the team to within two games for the Stanley Cup and 2) is full of UFAs/RFAs that need to be paid for the 2012-2013 season.

Yeah, ouch. The club needs to navigate this, and fast.

» Continue reading “Navigating Free Agency – Just Like Russian Roulette”

Preparing for the team photo. (via NHLDevils/Twitter)

The Devils lost to the Kings in Game 6, with a final score of 6-1.

First of all: congratulations to the Los Angeles Kings on their 1st Stanley Cup! An award well earned and an excellent post season played. The first Cup is always sweetest.

Also, congratulations to the New Jersey Devils for compiling a charismatic and skilled roster, defeating their division rivals, and making Los Angeles sweat. After not making it last year despite their best effort, this season and post season were a treat to watch.

Inside: brief recap; Bernier – why we shouldn’t blame; refereeing; a breakdown of discipline; reflection on the playoffs.

» Continue reading “Devils Fall In Six”

Happiness is... (via xoxohockey/Tumblr.)

The Devils prevailed in Game 5 against the Los Angeles Kings, winning 2-1 and protecting their lead through a period and a half against a furious offensive barrage. Goal scorers for the Devils included captain Zach Parise, who scored his first of the series after an uncharacteristic flub from Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick and Bryce Salvador, whose 14 points tie him with Drew Doughty for most points scored by a defenseman.

Interesting facts:
* Kings lose two in a row for the first time this post-season.
* The Kings’ impeccable 10-0 road record has been snapped tonight.
* With tonight’s win, the 2012 New Jersey Devils join an exclusive club. Only two other teams have forced Game 6 after losing the first three games of the Stanley Cup Final.  It has been 67 years since the feat was last accomplished – until tonight. The 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs won the Cup. The 1945 Detroit Red Wings lost in seven games.

» Continue reading “Devils Win 2-1, Extend Season Another Day”

Ryan Carter. (via clydeorama/Flickr)

The Devils fell to the Kings in OT, 2-1. Yes, the same score as Game 1.

However, what differentiates Game 1 and Game 2 is that the Devils played much better this time around. It seems that the ‘feeling each other out’ period is over. The Devils started strong on the forecheck during period 1 and had some scoring chances. What ultimately ruined their strong opening momentum was their own power play.

In other words, what the hell’s happened to the Devils’ power play?

» Continue reading “Devils Fall Behind In Series, 2-0″

Martin Brodeur stands tall. (Photo by rubyswoon/Flickr)

Ah, the sting of defeat. Wait, no. The sting of not doing enough. More accurate.

The Devils fell to the Kings at the 8:13 mark of the overtime, thanks to a spectacular defensive breakdown and Anze Kopitar’s ensuing breakaway. Martin Brodeur was unable to stem off Kopitar, resulting in a 2-1 overtime loss.

(I called it on Kopitar, by the way. Henrique was my guess for the Devils, and his line came close. Damn, I’m good.)

What to say? The Devils were disappointing in the first and at times terrible in the second. What was that powerplay, anyway? However, they surged towards the end of the second and throughout much of the third to force overtime. That’s more like it, I thought.

It’s constantly frustrating to see this team oscillate wildly from not even moving their skates to looking dominant. In my opinion, the only thing that saved the Devils from an embarrassing many-goal loss early in the second was Brodeur.

Therefore, Martin Brodeur is my star of the night.

» Continue reading “Devils Fall in a 2-1 Overtime Loss to Kings in Game 1″

(Photo: Matthew D. Britt/Flickr)

The New Jersey Devils dominated the New York Rangers in Game 4 to tie up the Hudson River series at 2-2.

The number 4 seems to be a lucky one for the Devils. They are the first team to score 4 goals against the Rangers in this year’s playoffs. Martin Brodeur set the new NHL record for most assists recorded by a goaltender in the playoffs with 4.

Captain Zach Parise and defenseman Bryce Salvador stood out with strong performances tonight, with the captain leading by example with 2 goals, 1 assist. Salvador, held without a goal in 82 regular season games, started off the scoring for the Devils with a shot from the left point that went through the five-hole of Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist at 8:10 of the 1st period. It was his third goal of the playoffs.

Peter DeBoer, head coach of the Devils, shook up the lines after a startling Game 3 3-0 loss to the Rangers last Saturday. The new first line of Parise-Zajac-Zubrus proved effective with Travis Zajac scoring his 6th goal of the playoffs at 11:59 of the 1st with assists from Parise and Dainius Zubrus. Jacob Josefson, replacing Petr Sykora in the lineup and returning from a broken wrist, recorded no points but was a strong presence and recorded an ice time of 12:58.

The Devils maintained strong net presence and puck possession throughout the 1st and killed off a 2-minute minor tripping penalty going into the 2nd. The Devils’ Ilya Kovalchuk and the Rangers’ Ryan Callahan got 2 minute minors for slashing and roughing respectively, but the resulting 4-on-4 went scoreless.

The Rangers lost discipline in the 3rd period, resulting in a Devils’ power play goal. Parise followed a Kovalchuk shot on net from the face-off and snapped the rebound through the five-hole of Lundqvist for his second of the night.

An altercation began with Mike Rupp shoving Devils goalie Martin Brodeur at 6:18 of the 3rd after a whistle and ended with head coaches DeBoer and the Rangers’ John Tortorella shouting at each other over the head of the hapless Pierre McGuire, who has been in this situation before.

Unfortunately, McGuire had muted his microphone before the disagreement began. Both DeBoer and Tortorella declined to comment on the incident in their post-game pressers.

The Devils were unable to capitalize on the following 4 minute power play, which became a 5-on-3 with Carl Hagelin of the Rangers taking a slashing penalty at 8:58. The Devils overpassed the puck in front of Lundqvist, and the score remained 3-0 Devils.

Ruslan Fedotenko scored his first of the playoffs to put the Rangers on the board at 14:55 of the 3rd with assists from Brad Richards (8) and Michael Del Zotto (8). Shortly after, the Devils’ captain Zach Parise scored an empty netter from Salvador and Brodeur to result in a final score of 4-1, Devils.

While the Devils recorded a goal on the power play, work remains to be done on special teams. They were unable to take advantage of a 4 minute opportunity, of which 1:20 was a 5-on-3 advantage. Still, strong puck possession and winning battles along the boards allowed the Devils to control the pace throughout much of the game.

Mystery remains as to what DeBoer and Tortorella cordially chatted about. What are your guesses?

The series moves back to Madison Square Garden with Game 5 on Wednesday.