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Monday, December 21, 2009

May the best team win! And Win they did!

Devils defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins in a match up of the best 2 teams in the NHL. Both teams came into tonight's game on a winning streak. Devils at 4 and Penguins at 5. Devils increased their streak while the penguins ended. Tonight's win was a supplement of team play. All the good things we have been seeing this season held true in tonight's match up. The entire team showed up and played hard in an almost playoff like atmosphere.

The first period lived up to the hype, it was intense, hard hitting and some great goaltending. After the first period it was apparent that maybe the night before wasn't just a "bad" game from Atlanta as the devils were in the offensive zone for majority of the second period. New jersey was able to keep the pressure through a few shifts, without leaving the offensive zone. Within the First 12 minutes of the second period the devils scored 3 resulting in Marc-Andre Fleury being pulled.

Scoring opened in the first 5 minutes of the game with a snap shot from Bryce Salvador into the upper right of the goal over Fleury's shoulder. There was no more scoring but the intensity never drooped. Marty made some great saves in the first.

Second period the Devils were passing and moving the puck with ease and seemed like almost no pressure from the pens. Flash back to saturday, atlanta and the pens were running around with a little panic in their step. Bergfors opened the second period getting his 7th powerplay goal of the season and his 12th goal. He is second in the league for rookie goals. Patrick Elias added the 3 tally with a rebound that bounced out in the slot after parise made a great backhanded wrap around to keep the play alive. The final goal of the game was made by Fraser who has stepped up and blended into this team. You would forget that fraser is a rookie. His poise and physical size has allowed him to settle in nicely.

Tonight's shutout illustrates what this team is capable of. The devils still do not have a fully healthy team with a few solid guys, including one of their best defensemen still out. The defense has been involved in the offense all season Greene got 2 more assists tonight, as well as 2 goals by their defense. With our top scorers not putting one in the net its great to see that this team will still win, and win BIG!

Merry Christmas!!! and Congratulations Devils and Martin Brodeur- 104!

New Jersey Devils 4 @ Pittsbugh Penguins 0
Devils 26-8-1
-R

Sunday, December 20, 2009

A Collapse in the ATL. But a league leading 51st point for New Jersey.

Last night, the score did not reflect the level of play for both teams. The devils could do almost anything last night except score early on. Atlanta kept turning the puck over and stood back on D while the devils pursued the zone. New Jersey was able to push along the boards and keep their forcheck tight. Neidermayer was able to enter the zone a few times along the boards that resulted in a devils goal.

Congrats Pelley! After a long drought the hard work has payed off. Hope to see 1 or 2 more goals over the span of 4 games. Pelley has been working hard and reminds me of a clarkson from a few years back. Clarkson has turned into a strong all around player. I predict Pelley will fill a similar role.

Danis got to play after going 18 games without seeing time. Every year it is the same. Any goaltender coming into new jersey knows that time will be minimal behind Marty. But it's good to see that he is staying focused. I like lemaire's thinking with changing goaltenders early it shows the team that it doesn't matter what everyone might think, he (lemaire) will do what he needs to keep this team focused and on their feet. Danis played well allowing 1 goal over the two periods he played. Danis (now 3-0) kept focused and made the saves he needed to help the team come through with the win.

Lou Lamoriello's best move was bringing back Jacques Lemaire. It has worked out even better than thought. Due to all the injuries you have a lot of young players being coached by one of the best in the game. These young players are getting amazing experience. He turned a young Minnesota team around. With a balance of experienced players and young players this devils team has major potential for this season and a few to come.

Next Game: Monday vs pittsburgh!
-R

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Tough Conference Game: Ottawa Senators vs. New Jersey Devils

A few weird bounces in the past few games, but the goals register in the stats the same way a beautiful deke, and slapshot do. Pikkarainen tallied his first NHL goal against Montreal. The devils won that game 2-1.

Against the Sens, Bryce Salvador was able to tally a 65 footer as the puck bounced up over Elliot. The devils finished 4-2. They played strong and aggressive. The devils forcheck kept the pressure on Ottawa. It was also nice to see the devils power play work well. The powerplay was struggling for awhile resulting in very few shots let alone goals. They were between 2-4 goals in their last 20 something. Keep an eye out for tonight and the next few games, their powerplay will produce. For some reason we tend to see this team have streaks.

It showed a lot to come back so strongly against Ottawa who have some guys that can win a game on their own. I still love to see the pressure that our defense has this year. The devils D keep racking up the assists. Its nice to see that this team plays with pressure. In the past we all know and see this team back down after going up a goal.

Lemaire keeps this team focused. The devils will win their division and possible even the entire east. How about shooting for the presidents cup?!?!?

-R

More Records!

Martin Brodeur now has the most games played among any goaltender. Most wins and still counting, plus will break the shutout record soon enough. It will be a long time until any other goaltenders will come close to breaking any of his records. The ones that were close are no longer playing, Roy and Belfour.

The NHL is slowly changing. Goaltenders are not as durable as they used to be. With so many teams playing back to back, Less then half play as many games as Martin Brodeur. Ryan Miller in recent years have had many good seasons, but his age does not lend him the opportunity to catch up to Marty. Many teams in the league are shifting to a two goaltender system. Some reasons are injuries, however many teams have just done it to give net minders more rest. Teams like the islanders, panthers, now the flyers, washington, boston have all been flip flopping goaltenders. Flyers did lose emry to injury, however many teams don't have the strength in the net. Marc Andre Fleury plays a lot, and is young. He already has one stanley cup. He also has a strong team that plays in front of him. Maybe someday he will come close. Until then it will be awhile and its nice to watch marty play. He still has great reflexes and doesn't seem to be getting older.

-R

Friday, December 11, 2009

Sitting on 103.

It's been awhile for a post but I don't need to keep repeating the same headlines over and over. With another 4 home games, there is a chance to see Martin Brodeur break the alltime shutout record at home. Upcoming schedule:

Friday Decemeber 11- Florida
Saturday December 12- Philadelphia
Wednesday December 16- Montreal
Friday December 18- Ottawa

So like I said there is a chance. Playing Florida tonight has the most potential out of the next 4 games. The devils have been finding ways to win and have been playing strong as a team. Buffalo was the most complete game I have seen the devils play all season. I still would like to see the team play a full 60 Minutes. We have strong moments and control most of the games however, even in many of the wins the team has either come out flat or had a rough period. It seems to the be the devils trend however, when a full healthy New Jersey team reunites expect this team to start playing strong from beggining to end.

Over the next few games if they want to see Marty break the record they need to play start to finish with the team they have now. Our defense has been pretty solid with a few hick-ups here and there. The team needs to keep the pressure on the forcheck. The team produces when the defense steps up and stays involved in the offensive serge.

We have a very nice problem. What do we do with our young guys when players come back from injuries. The strength we have seen from our youth in the organization is a great look into the future of this club. Fraser is still playing very well and it is good to have a strong guy back who is not afraid to be physical. Guys like Corrente, Pelley and mchammond all are playing extremely hard and it shows. With so many players trying to make a name for themselves and trying to prove their worth. This competitive stride to be a starter pushes the whole team to do better, because there is a potential that anyone can be replaced. Lemaire doesn't play the favorites or points he plays the people he feels are the strongest.

Good Luck Marty and Go Devils!