Carter & Clarkson Combine to Carry Devils Past Rangers

DEVILS 4                    NY RANGERS 1

The New Jersey Devils beat the New York Rangers for the third time this season on Tuesday night at Prudential Center 4-1, and it was the first time in four games that they scored more than one goal against Henrik Lundqvist. David Clarkson and Ryan Carter scored goals 1:54 apart early in the third period, breaking the 1-1 tie and giving Martin Brodeur enough offense to pick up his first win in his last six starts.

Ilya Kovalchuk opened the scoring with a breakaway goal 49 seconds after the opening face-off, capitalizing on multiple blunders by the Rangers in the neutral zone. First they turned the puck over while they were changing personnel sloppily, and then defenseman Ryan McDonagh slipped trying to defend against the speedy Kovalchuk, giving the sniper a clear path to the net. “They turned the puck over and Zach (Parise) made a great play,” said Kovalchuk in describing the goal. “They were in the middle of a change and I got a breakaway; this was a big goal for us.” His 26th goal of the season came on a snap shot, giving the Devils a 1-0 lead that they would hold onto until the second period.

Derek Stepan (4 pts. in 5 games) and Carl Hagelin (6 pts. in 5 games) continued to rack up points against New Jersey this season as they were the key components in the lone Rangers tally of the night. Hagelin’s pass from behind the net was tipped by Brodeur’s goal stick and the puck went right to Stepan who then fired a knuckling shot for his 16th goal of the season at 6:56.

Entering the third period 1-1, Clarkson netted the eventual game-winning goal 2:27 in, and he had no idea that he was the one that scored the goal initially. After another turnover by New York Clarkson carried the puck over the blue line and dropped it to Petr Sykora, who was playing in his 1,001st NHL game. Sykora let loose a slap shot that changed direction after nicking Clarkson’s leg and sailed past Lundqvist. “I had no idea (it was my goal) until I got off the ice and onto the bench,” said Clarkson after the game. “It was just one of those plays where I was going to the net, it bounces off of me and goes in. It’s one that I’ll take, but I had no idea it hit me until I got off the ice.”

Carter scored his first goal since November (37 games) 1:54 later when he converted a two-on-one with Jacob Josefson and fired a one-timer past the Blueshirts’ netminder.

The Rangers best chance to get back in the game came with just over eleven minutes left on a power play scramble in front of the net that was defused by the combination of Brodeur and defenseman Bryce Salvador. “I was part lucky on that play, and it hit the post,” Salvador told reporters after the game. “You have to give credit to Marty too, he made some big saves for us in the second period and gave us a chance to win.”

Patrik Elias finished the scoring when he potted his 22nd goal into an empty Rangers net with 1:53 left on the game clock, ensuring that New Jersey would take a 3-2 lead in the season series with their rivals (the final match-up of the regular season will be March 19 at MSG).

Game Notes: The NHL and New Jersey Devils each presented Sykora with gifts prior to the game in honor of his 1,000th game in Long Island on Sunday. Salvador assisted on Elias’ goal for his 100th career point (23g-77a); Stepan now has points in four consecutive games. Brandon Dubinsky only played 42 seconds and did not return to the ice after his first period fight with Carter. Kovalchuk led all skaters in ice-time with 23:38 and all players in shots on goal with 8; Dan Girardi led New York in ice-time with 23:09, while Stepan and McDonagh led their team with four shots on goal each. New Jersey (79 points, 6th in East) is off until Thursday when the host the New York Islanders (65 points, 13th in East) and the New York Rangers (91 points, 1st in East) will be in action that same night in Ottawa (76 points, 7th in East).

Dan’s 3 Stars of the Game:
#1 — Ilya Kovalchuk (NJ): goal (26), assist (38)
#2 — Martin Brodeur (NJ): 25 saves, win (23-17-3)
#3 — David Clarkson (NJ): gw goal (26)

Dan Rice can be reached at drdiablo321@yahoo.com.

Gaborik Scores Twice as Rangers Roll Past Devils

NY Rangers 4                Devils 1

       

Lately, when the New Jersey Devils play the New York Rangers it seems like groundhog’s day — what I mean by that is the script/recipe is always the same when the Rangers win, just like in their 4-1 victory over their Hudson Riverrivals at Prudential Center on Tuesday night. The Devils scored early, but only once — allowing the Rangers to hang around until they tied the game with a late second period goal. New Jersey then became less aggressive and it was exploited for two goals and an empty netter in the final twenty minutes to put the finishing touches on their first loss since December 10.

With Patrik Elias (flu) out of the Devils lineup Travis Zajac moved up to Elias’ second line center position between Dainius Zubrus and Petr Sykora and the move paid off early for coach Pete DeBoer. Zajac, who missed the first 30 games after achilles surgery scored his first goal of the season at 15:51, pouncing on a loose rebound that Sykora fanned atop the crease of Rangers netminder Henrik Lundqvist. “They really came out strong and put us back on our heels,” said New York’s Mike Rupp. “Hank was big for us tonight; you kind of take it for granted sometimes. You always ask your goalie to keep you in the game, give you a chance to win. That’s what he did tonight.”

The game stayed 1-0 until 17:28 into the second period when with the Rangers being out-shot 20-9 Artem Anisimov buried a pass from Derek Stepan past Martin Brodeur. On the play Anisimov scored his seventh of the season when he slipped between the Devils duo of Zach Parise and Kurtis Foster to collect the perfect pass.

The tie didn’t last long as Marian Gaborik collected a rebound alone at the side of the net and netted his 18th goal of the season 4:45 into the final period. Gaborik’s goal was the eventual game-winner, but the back-breaker was rookie Carl Hagelin’s shorthanded goal with 5:18 left in the period. Hagelin controlled a loose puck that got past Ilya Kovalchuk and fired a twisted wrist shot over Brodeur’s glove hand. Gaborik finished the scoring on an empty net goal with four seconds left, giving him 19 on the season — one away from the NHL leader Steven Stamkos.

“We were never able to get that second goal,” said a frustrated Parise afterwards. “I thought Lundqvist played really well tonight, he was definitely the difference.” Despite the loss the Devils captain like his team’s effort in the rivalry game, “No matter the outcome, I thought we played a good game; our effort was good, we played hard, had a great start. We were mentally ready and into it, we did a lot of things we wanted to do, we just weren’t able to get that second goal.”

Game Notes: Stepan had three assists, giving him five points/assists in seven career games against the Devils; Gaborik’s first goal was the 600th point of his career (302g-299a) and he has 18 points in 19 career games against the Devils. Zajac’s goal was the 250th point of his career (90g-160a). Rangers’ defenseman Dan Girardi led all skaters in ice-time with 29:09, while Kovalchuk led New Jersey with 27:04. Gaborik was +3, while Kovalchuk and Foster were each -3; New York captain Ryan Callahan led all players with four hits, while his teammate Ryan McDonagh led all players with five blocked shots. New Jersey (18-14-1) is off until Friday night when they host Washington (17-14-1) and New York (19-8-4) travels to play the NY Islanders on Thursday night.

Dan’s Three Stars of the Game:

#1 – Marian Gaborik (NYR) – 2 goals, gw (19), assist (11)

#2 – Henrik Lundqvist (NYR) – 30 saves, win (13-7-4)

#3 – Derek Stepan (NYR) – 3 assists (17)

Dan Rice can be reached at drdiablo321@yahoo.com.

Who Will Be the Beast of the East?

Who Will Be the Beast of the East?

Eastern Conference predictions

Round 1:

(1) Washington over (8) NY Rangers

(7) Buffalo over (2) Philadelphia

(3) Boston over (6) Montreal

(4) Pittsburgh over (5) Tampa Bay

Round 2:

(1) Washington over (7) Buffalo

(3) Boston over (4) Pittsburgh

Round 3:

(3) Boston over (1) Washington

Washington (1)      vs.    NY Rangers (8)

Last Cup Win: Washington (never), NY Rangers (1994)

Why the Capitals will win: They aren’t intimidated by the Rangers or their goaltender whom has been known to get in some of his opponents’ heads (see: New Jersey Devils). Washington is also one of the deepest teams in the league and they will wear their undermanned first round opponent down.

Why the Rangers will win: They spanked Washington twice this season (6-0, 7-0) and when they are on their game, the Blueshirts have all of the necessary components to go toe-to-toe with any team in the league; solid goaltending, timely scoring and team defense will lead New York to the upset win over the Caps.

Washington’s most important player: Tempted to say Alex Ovechkin, but it’s Mike Green; if he is healthy and has fresh legs he could bury the Rangers (a team that has taken a penalty or two) with his power play prowess.

New York’s most important player: The soul of the Rangers is Henrik Lundqvist, if he falters, they are cooked. He’s only won two playoff series in his career, but his league-leading 11 shutouts this season tell you that he is capable of shutting down any team in the NHL.

Washington’s biggest question mark: It has to be the goaltending, despite the fact that they won the East with three goaltenders — two of them rookies. Michal Neuvirth will get the nod to begin the series, and that’s probably the right call. He won back-to-back Calder Cups for the Hershey Bears and was victorious in 27 of his 48 starts with the Caps this season.

New York’s biggest question mark: Which version of Marian Gaborik will show up in this series? Will it be the same Gaborik that had only 48 points (22 goals) in 62 games this season or will he become the two-time 40-goal scorer that the Rangers are paying for?

Players with Stanley Cup Rings: Washington (Jason Arnott, Mike Knuble), New York (Chris Drury, Ruslan Fedotenko)

PREDICTION: CAPITALS IN 6 — Gaborik and Lundqvist will show up and the Rangers will put up a fight, but Ovechkin will eliminate them with a hat trick in Game 6.

Philadelphia (2)     vs. Buffalo (7)

Last Cup Win: Philadelphia (1975), Buffalo (never)

Why the Flyers will win: Since the start of last season’s playoffs Philadelphia has probably been the best team in the NHL. With the talent on this roster they should walk all over the Sabres, but only if their power play finds itself. This season they ranked 19th in the NHL out of 30 teams, with a putrid 16.6%. Offensive juggernauts that were ranked ahead of them: Buffalo, Colorado, Atlanta, Minnesota and Ottawa.

Why the Sabres will win: They have Ryan Miller and the Flyers don’t; it’s as simple as that. He has won playoff series as the favorite and the underdog in his career, and Buffalo is the hottest team in the league heading into the playoffs. If Miller is at less than 100%, then the Sabres will be in trouble.

Philadelphia’s most important player: Chris Pronger’s presence alone will make a difference in the series, but only if he’s healthy enough to be there. His absence over the final weeks of the season is the reason the Flyers crashed and stumbled out of the East’s top spot.

Buffalo’s most important player: Aside from Miller, it’s Thomas Vanek who very quietly had a solid season — 73 points (32g-41a) in 80 games. If Drew Stafford can get into one of his hot streaks it will make a big difference in the series.

Philadelphia’s biggest question mark: As always since Ron Hextall left, it’s goaltending. Sergei Bobrovsky will start Game 1, but lurking behind him are somewhat proven veterans in Michael Leighton and Brian Boucher.

Buffalo’s biggest question mark: Can Tyler Myers and the Sabres’ defensive corps stop the flock of talented Flyers forwards is a good place to start; also how will smallish rookie Tyler Ennis (who had a real nice season) hold up in a seven-game series against the rugged Philadelphians?

Players with Stanley Cup Rings: Philadelphia (Nick Boynton, Sean O’Donnell, Pronger, Kris Versteeg), Buffalo (Rob Niedermayer)

PREDICTION: SABRES IN 7 — Miller shines as Buffalo wins a l-e-n-g-t-h-y Game 7 in Philadelphia.

Boston (3)       vs. Montreal (6)

Last Cup Win: Boston (1972), Montreal (1993)

Why the Bruins will win: Boston’s depth is only matched by Washington in the East as far as I’m concerned, especially when your top three centers are Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Rich Peverley. The addition of Tomas Kaberle really balanced out the defense in Beantown too.

Why the Canadiens will win: If I had to pick one team in the East that would give Boston the biggest challenge, I’d say Montreal. These two teams know each other inside and out with all of their legendary battles throughout time. Also how will Boston react after blowing a three games-to-none lead in last year’s East semi-finals.

Boston’s most important player: Tim Thomas is the easy choice here, if he continues playing the way he did during the season (35-11-9, 2.00 GAA, .938 save %, 9 shutouts), the Bruins should be able to choke-out the sometimes offensively challenged Habs.

Montreal’s most important player: Where were you this season Scott Gomez? Horrible season (7g-31a, minus-15 in 80 games) from one of the veterans on the Canadiens, but during last spring’s run to the East Finals he put up 14 points in 19 games. If he can get on that type of run it would be much appreciated in Montreal.

Boston’s biggest question mark: The Bruins had a great year, but after choking away last season’s opportunity to beat the Flyers in the semis, anything less than a trip to the East Finals would be a failure. It will be interesting to see how they react if they get Montreal into an elimination game.

Montreal’s biggest question mark: Last season’s dramatic run was led by goaltender Jaroslav Halak, who is now with the St. Louis Blues. Now it’s Carey Price’s turn and judging from the season he just had (38-28-6, 8 shutouts) he could be a difference maker, not only this season but for many, many more to come.

Players with Stanley Cup Rings: Boston (Mark Recchi (2), Shawn Thornton), Montreal (Gomez (2), Brian Gionta, Travis Moen, Hal Gill, Brent Sopel)

PREDICTION: BRUINS IN 7 – Boston will bend, but won’t break as they hold off the Habs; Nathan Horton, playing in his first playoffs, will have a monster series.

Pittsburgh (4)                vs. Tampa Bay (5)

Last Cup Win: Pittsburgh (2009), Tampa Bay (2004)

Why the Penguins will win: They have an elite goaltender in Marc-Andre Fleury and Jordan Staal will not only shut down Steven Stamkos, but he’ll also chip in a few big goals.

Why the Lightning will win: Without Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin, the Lightning can focus their attention on solid team defense and timely goals. Whether or not Stamkos and Simon Gagne can score multiple times will be determining factors in the series.

Pittsburgh’s most important player: It will be all of their penalty killers; they led the league killing off penalties at an 86.2% clip and if they can shut down Tampa’s powerful power play the series could be a quick one.

Tampa Bay’s most important player: If he becomes a playoff-beast once again, it will be the league’s second leading point getter Martin St. Louis (99 points). He’s a proven playoff performer (48 pts in 45 games) and if he gets hot the Pens will become postseason spectators.

Pittsburgh’s biggest question mark: If there is a small chance he can play, does Pittsburgh risk everything and put Crosby out there? If Crosby doesn’t play, who else besides Staal is going to contribute offensively?

Tampa Bay’s biggest question mark: In the 2006 playoffs, Dwayne Roloson led the eighth-seeded Edmonton Oilers all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals and then blew out his knee in Game 1. That was the last time he played in a playoff game, so five years later it’s hard to tell what you are going to get from the veteran netminder.

Players with Stanley Cup Rings: Pittsburgh (Chris Kunitz (2), Craig Adams (2), Fleury, Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Alex Kovalev, Pascal Dupuis, Matt Cooke, Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik, Tyler Kennedy, Michael Rupp, Max Talbot, Eric Godard), Tampa Bay (Vincent Lecavalier, St. Louis, Pavel Kubina)

PREDICTION: PENGUINS IN 7 — The Lightning prove to be a valiant opponent but Fleury will top Roloson in a wild Game 7

Dan Rice can be reached at drdiablo321@yahoo.com.

Moose Trumps King as Devils Blank Rangers

In nine games since returning from the All-Star break, the New Jersey Devils are now 8-0-1 after Friday night’s 1-0 win over the New York Rangers at Prudential Center. They continue to gain ground on the teams ahead of them in the standings, and if they are in contention come April with six games remaining they may get some help from their recovering star Zach Parise; a player better than any player a team ahead of them (Rangers, Sabres, Thrashers, Hurricanes) will acquire at the trade deadline.

Ilya Kovalchuk netted the game’s only goal in the second period on a clean breakaway, snapping the puck past Henrik Lundqvist for his 21st goal of the season; he now has goals in four consecutive games and points in nine games in a row (7g, 4a). He also has four game-winning goals in New Jersey’s last six games.

That would be all the offense that Johan Hedberg needed, as he turned aside all 16 Rangers’ shots; he even admitted on TV to MSG’s Stan Fischler that it was a pretty easy game in net. The shutout was Hedberg’s second of the season and the win was the second for his team against the Blueshirts after dropping the first three match-ups. The sixth and final meeting between the Hudson River Rivals will take place on April 9 at MSG; the second-to-last game of the year for the Devils and the last game of the season for New York.

Devils Climb Out of the Cellar

In their 1st three games against the NY Rangers this season (all L’s), the Devils scored a total of two goals. On Thursday night with 4:56 left in the second period, New Jersey had three goals on the board at MSG and had sent their nemesis Henrik Lundqvist to a rare early shower.

Ilya Kovalchuk scored his 15th 1:04 into the match on a Kovalchukian shot that beat the Blueshirt netminder over his left shoulder; it wad the kind of shot that fans have been expecting since the Russian sniper was acquired by the Devils last February.

The 1-0 lead held up until 8:01 of the second period when Dainius Zubrus continued his recent hot play and beat Lundqvist with a hard shot that was assisted over the line by New York defenseman Dan Girardi. Seven minutes later Brian Rolston one-timed a shot from just inside the blue line over Lundqvist’s blocker side. Patrik Elias set up Rolston on the play, extending both of their point-streaks to a season-high seven games.

Just over a minute later Ryan Callahan scored for the Rangers, and Vinny Prospal (playing in his 1st game of the season) cut the Devils’ lead to one during a 5-on-3 early in the third period, but that would be as close as they would get. Martin Brodeur was sharp again for NJ and finished with 25 saves as his team climbed out of the NHL basement for the first time since three days before Christmas.

Talk of making the playoffs may still be a bit premature — they are still 18 points behind 8th place Atlanta, but they are trending in the right direction.

Dan’s 3 Stars of the Game:
#1 — Dainius Zubrus (NJ) — goal (9), assist (11)
#2 — Brian Rolston (NJ) — gw goal (7)
#3 — Martin Brodeur (NJ) — 25 saves, win (12)

Off the Ice with…Martin Biron

Recently I was able to screen New York Rangers goaltender Martin Biron long enough to ask him a few questions about the life of an NHL goalie, as well as his favorite movie, TV shows and what he brings with him on road trips. Biron is a 33-year-old from Lac St. Charles, Quebec, who was originally drafted by Buffalo in the first round (16th overall) in 1995. Over his 13 NHL seasons his record is 212-178-49 in 469 games, with 26 shutouts, a 2.63 GAA and a .910 save pct. He is considered one of the ‘good guys’ of the NHL, always a good interview and trust me — he has never met a microphone he didn’t like. His best season to date was probably in 2001-02 when he won 31 of the 72 games he appeared in for the Sabres and posted a stellar 2.22 GAA.

Biron finally made the Sabres roster as a regular during the 1999-2000 season, as the backup to future Hall-of-Famer Dominik Hasek and finished the year with a 19-18-2 record and five shutouts. In total he played parts of nine seasons in Buffalo, but never really had a hold on the number one goalie job. After finally taking over when Hasek left to play in Detroit, Biron broke his thumb and the Sabres called up Ryan Miller, who is still the starting netminder in Buffalo’s crease today (see: 2010 Vezina Trophy, 2010 Silver Medal for Team USA). During the 2006-07 season, Biron was dealt to Philadelphia and the following season he helped lead the Flyers to the East Finals before losing against Pittsburgh. He stayed in the Philly for a total of two and a half seasons and in 2009-10 he served as Dwayne Roloson’s backup with the New York Islanders, but he had only signed a one-year contract there. This past summer, he inked a two-year deal with the Rangers, to give All-Star Henrik Lundqvist (who has been overplayed) some more games off.

So far this season he has done exactly what the Rangers have asked of him — in seven games he is 4-2-0 with a save percentage of .907 and a 2.33 GAA. So just who is Martin Biron off the ice? Read on:

Dan Rice: What do you remember about your first win in the NHL?

Martin Biron: “Oh, I remember I got called up from Rochester (AHL) to play against Dallas at home, in Buffalo; I was having a pretty good year in Rochester, (my second year there). A bunch of my buddies from Pee-Wee hockey and Bantam hockey from Quebec City decided to drive up, so they were at the game. I remember Rob Ray made a joke, a funny comment before the game, between warm-ups and the start of the game, he said: ‘Don’t worry Marty, if it doesn’t go well, you’ll get over it; we all do.’ It was a subtle comment, but relaxed me before I had to play against the defending champion Dallas Stars. I played a solid game, we won 2-1; it was one of those days where I don’t remember what happened in the game. It was so crazy and I’ve played so many games between now and then, but I remember little things like that. At the end of the game — the excitement of having your first NHL win was incredible. Then we had a huge snowstorm, so the next day we got snowed in and didn’t have practice; so I got to sleep in and enjoy the first win a little bit more! A couple of days later we played Philadelphia and tied 1-1, so I had a really good week my first week in the NHL.”

DR: Do you have the puck from that first win?

MB: “I do. It’s at my parents’ place right now on a plaque in the basement. I’ve got a picture that my sister-in-law got me in a frame, and it’s engraved: first NHL win, Dallas 1, Buffalo 2 with the date. It’s kind of funny because I have my arms up and I’m on one leg celebrating the win (smiles).”

DR: What are your memories from the day you were drafted?

MB: “It was so exciting. It was in Edmonton in 1995, there was a lot of excitement in not knowing where you were going to be drafted. Was I going to go in the first round or not? I had talked to a lot of teams, but funny enough I hadn’t talked to Buffalo at all. Four picks before Buffalo was to pick made a trade — they traded (Alexander) Mogilny to Vancouver and in exchange they got (Mike) Peca and an extra first round pick. They picked Jay McKee with that pick and then about three picks later it was their time again and I was sitting there and saw the NHL people coming over to my section, cameras starting to get ready; I kind of had an idea that they may take me with that second, first round pick. I heard my name and when I went on stage I remember posing with the team’s personnel, just standing there and one of the guys said to me ‘You can wave to the crowd.’ I kind of just waved my hand and was shy, didn’t know what to do really. It was a very fun day — my whole family was there, it was a lot of excitement.”

DR: Do you have a best friend in the NHL?

MB: “Yeah, me being a goalie it’s kind of funny because a lot of guys are usually good friends with their D-partner or their linemate; for me as a goalie, you play with so many guys and you get to be good friends with your goaltending partner. Over the years I’ve gotten to be really good friends with JP Dumont, in Buffalo we were roommates together. I am really, really good friends with Danny Briere, we were roommates together in Buffalo after JP left for Nashville and then we played together in Philly for a couple of years. Some of the guys I have played with I stay close with in the summer like Jay McKee, Michael Peca — those are guys that in the summertime in Buffalo we do the family thing, going out together and always keep in touch; text or talk once in a while during the year. Those are probably the closest group of friends I have around the league right now.

DR: Do you have a favorite sport other than hockey?

MB: “I do, I’m a big golf fan; I like to play, but I don’t play as much as I used to. My little guy is six now and he wants to play, so it’s fun. We go to the range and go to the course a little bit. I love baseball; I’ve always been a big fan of the game. I loved it growing up; I still play slo-pitch during the summer. That’s so much fun during a nice summer day. I’d say those are my two top sports outside of hockey.”

DR: What’s your favorite movie?

MB: “Movies kind of change, they come and go. It depends on what kind of mood you catch me in. One of my favorite movies would be The Negotiator with Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey. Every time that movie is on I get drawn to it, I like the excitement of it and the mental aspect of it; I think it’s a really well done movie. It’s one of those you pop into the DVD player once in a while just to watch it again.”

DR: What’s your favorite TV show?

MB: “I love The Office, my wife and I watch it all the time. Now she’s gotten me into Modern Family, that show is so funny; definitely one of my favorites. Another one that I like is Entourage, I got to meet the guy that plays E (Kevin Connolly) being in Long Island last year and he’s a huge Islanders’ fan. It’s kind of fun when you get to meet somebody and see them on the TV. Those are my favorite TV shows right now.”

DR: Typically, what do you bring on a road trip?

MB: “Typically I bring my iPad, my Kindle and I will bring a change of clothes depending on how long the trip is. My iPhone, my iPad, my Kindle are usually the things that I bring with me everywhere. I never liked to read much, and my wife got me a Kindle a few years back and now I’ve read so many books on that thing. I don’t know, I’m just a gadgety kind of guy, so I think that thing is kind of cool. I always have that with me and I always carry my Bible with me, we are a Christian family and with the kids; it’s always something I like to go back to. Those are the things that always stay in my bag and the rest of the things, they change around depending where we go and how long I am gone for.”

I hope everyone enjoyed learning about Martin Biron and if there is a player you’d like to read about in a future column or have a question you’d like to see a player asked, let me know:

Dan Rice can be reached at drdiablo321@yahoo.com

Offense Vanishes Again as Rangers Blank Devils

NY Rangers 3                Devils 0

The New Jersey Devils found yet another way to lose at home — this time it was via the shutout — making matters worse it was against their most-hated rivals, the New York Rangers by a score of 3-0 on Friday night. Henrik Lundqvist made 33 saves for the Blueshirts before a sold-out crowd at the Prudential Center, the fifth time in his career that he has shutout the Devils over 32 games (20-7-5). New York’s Brandon Dubinsky scored two goals (including the game-winner) in the game giving him ten, which is surprisingly tied for the NHL lead through the first month of the season.

For New Jersey, they fell to 0-5-1 at home this year, which is a major factor in their gruesome 4-10-1 start to what appeared to be a promising season in September; they have scored an NHL-worst 25 goals this season. “We played hard. We competed hard; we just didn’t generate enough offense,” said Devils coach John MacLean, who may soon be on the hot seat. Once again the injury-bug hit the team as goalie Martin Brodeur (bruised elbow) and defenseman Colin White (flu) sat out the contest; one bright spot was the return of defenseman Anton Volchenkov who hadn’t played since game number two when his nose was broken blocking a shot in Washington.

Backup netminder Johan Hedberg played okay in the crease for the Devils, but the lack of offensive and defensive support didn’t help either as he surrendered three goals on only 20 Rangers’ shots, one in each period. Hedberg’s teammates took five penalties in the game and it was the second goal, a New York power play goal that really broke the back (and spirit) of the entire team.

Five seconds after the goalie made a nice glove save on Todd White’s shot from the deep slot, Brian Boyle deflected a long shot into the back of the net, staking New York to a 2-0 lead at intermission. “I just tried to stay in front (of the goalie) and put my stick in a spot,” Boyle explained after the game. “Danny (Girardi) shot right at my stick, I didn’t move my stick. Just a little redirection like that — even if he does save it he has no idea where the rebound is going. All around it was a great play by everybody; I just kind of stood there, and I got the goal, so it was nice.”

Dubinsky started and ended the Rock party for the Rangers — first opening the scoring with a rebound goal 7:35 into the game — and then notching a shorthanded goal 3:41 into the third period; ensuring the goal-starved Devils would be unable to catch up. Lundqvist made sure he was going to get his second shutout of the year when he snatched Travis Zajac’s wrist shot out of the air with 7:50 left in the game.

Game Notes: The Devils have now called up an eye-popping 11 players from their minor-league affiliate in Albany and the season is only 28 days old. Boyle, in his fourth NHL season, set a career-high with his fifth goal; he had four in each of the previous three seasons. The Rangers played without one of their best players — Ryan Callahan — who sat out because of soreness. Dubinsky led all players with six shots on goal; four Devils had four shots on goal each, including Stephen Gionta (younger brother of ex-Devil Brian Gionta) who was making his NHL debut…wearing the same number 14 that Brian wore. “It’s just a great honor to put that sweater on and go out there and play a game you’ve been playing your whole life and dreaming of,” said the 27-year-old Gionta. “It’s unfortunate we didn’t get the win.” Rangers’ defenseman Dan Girardi led all skaters in ice-time with 27:33, while Henrik Tallinder led New Jersey with 25:44. New Jersey (4-10-1) is off until Wednesday when they host Buffalo (3-9-2), while New York (7-5-1) returns to MSG to host St. Louis (7-1-2) on Sunday.

Dan’s Three Stars of the Game:

#1 – Henrik Lundqvist (NYR) – 33 saves, win (6), shutout (2)

#2 – Brandon Dubinsky (NYR) – 2 goals (10), gw

#3 – Artem Anisimov (NYR) – 2 assists (8)

Dan Rice can be reached at drdiablo321@yahoo.com.

Devils-Rangers Postgame Quotes [03.25.10]

Here are some of the postgame quotes after the Devils 4-3 shootout loss to the Rangers Thursday night:

Jamie Langenbrunner:

Talking about the game…

“We caught up to Pittsburgh a little bit; would we have played a better game had we won the shootout? I don’t know, we played a good hockey game and they won the game at the end.”

Are there positives to take out of this game?

“Absolutely, we played pretty well. They scored a lucky power play goal — that bounced off a couple of things and went in the net, and they did a good job of scoring one late. I think we played a good game; we battled hard, we missed some opportunities. It was a must-win for them and they delivered; we had opportunities to bury them and we didn’t deliver.”

Talking about his goal…

“It was a good play by (Andy) Greene hitting Patty and Patty saw me and obviously deflected it over there (to me). We connected with each other a few times for semi-breakaways, breakaways, and finally one went in. I thought we did a lot of good things tonight and if you do that and get those chances, we’re going to score goals.”

Martin Brodeur:
Talking about the tying goal…

“I think they sent the puck behind the net and we went chasing after it. The guy made a pretty nice pass — he faked on his forehand and went to his backhand — and (Chris) Drury was all by himself there. He was so close, it’s kind of hard (to stop it), if he hits a hole, it’s going to go in.”

Could you tell on the shootout goal by Erik Christensen that it was a goal?

“I didn’t see it. I heard it hit the post, then the other post and I felt it go on my back; I just tried to make sure I wasn’t going to knock it in. The linesman knew right away it went in.”

Does it sting a little more because it was the Rangers?

“No; it was an emotional game. I thought we played real hard, real well. We did a lot of good things out there, we just didn’t get the job done at the end of the game and that’s the bottom line.”

It seems like when you play these guys; it’s hard to get more than a one-goal lead…

“When there’s a rivalry, emotional-wise, it’s always a roller coaster when you play them. They’re competing to save their lives these guys, so we knew they weren’t going to roll over.”

Zach Parise:

Talking about missing out on jumping ahead of Pittsburgh in points…

“We still have a game in hand, but it would’ve been nice to get that extra point. We played pretty well; I thought we just have to be a little bit better.”

You out-chanced them tonight; does that make it more frustrating?

“I thought Lundqvist made a big difference (for them); we outplayed them, out-chanced them, like you said, a lot of good things came out of it. It was just unfortunate we didn’t win.”

Did you get the shot that you wanted during the shootout?

“Yeah, I got my shot off, he made a nice save. I got the shot I wanted, that’s where I wanted to go.”

Patrik Elias:

What went wrong on that last play where they scored?

“You can analyze it as much as you want; maybe you have to win the face-off right from the get-go. They put it behind the net. Either be aggressive or maybe be a little more patient, because we left a guy right there on the goal line. It just happened; it’s too bad because we had control of that game.”

Talking about his goal early in the third…

“Those guys, Clarkie and Zubie, did a good job getting the puck deep and holding onto it there. We had good changes going on today, Nieds came off and I jumped on as the fresh guy and just went into the slot; it was a nice pass by Clarkie.”

You had a SH breakaway early in the game, were you unable to settle the puck down there?

“Is that what you saw? Well you saw more than me then. No, I just made the right play, the right move that I wanted; he stayed deep and didn’t give me much room there. He played well tonight.”

Henrik Lundqvist:

Talking about his team’s record in overtime/shootout…

“We haven’t had a good record at all in overtime; it’s funny how sometimes we give up a lot of scoring chances in overtime, but we managed to take it to a shootout and it was great to see us score right away. That gives me confidence to be more patient against my shooters.”

What’s going through your mind when Drury scores that goal?

“I didn’t even look; I was talking to Alex (Auld) on the bench (laughs), complaining about not winning and then from nowhere we tied the game — it was a great feeling. To stay alive, we needed this.”

Did you know anything about the shooters in the shootout?

“No, not at all; I just try to approach it the same way no matter who I’m facing. They’re good shooters; I’ve faced them a lot over the years and you have to respect them a lot, but today was my day.”

Devils-Rangers Postgame Quotes [03.10.10]

Here are some of the postgame quotes after the Devils 6-3 win over the NY Rangers on Wednesday night:

Martin Brodeur:

Talking about the game…

“It was kind of a weird game early on, but we were able to establish our game after we scored the fifth goal.”

Is it easier to get motivated for a game against the Rangers or Pittsburgh, i.e., teams in your division?

“Well I think it shouldn’t be like that, the crowd gets into it a lot more; especially since we haven’t played a home game for a while here with the Olympic break. It was nice to get back home and play in an emotional game, we needed something to get ourselves jump-started here and hopefully a game like that will do it. We have a big challenge on Friday against Pittsburgh – who’s playing real well.”

Travis Zajac:

Talking about his goal…

“Good play by Zach and Zubie to get the puck through the neutral zone; Zubie made a good pass to me and I was all alone coming down (the wing) and I was able to sneak it by him.”

The first half of the game you gave up three goals, the second half none, what if anything changed?

“I don’t think anything did. We played a pretty good hockey game all night, we were competing. Those goals (we gave up) its not because we weren’t trying, they’re going to get one once in a while. We did a good job countering that, making sure when we had the two-goal lead to continue to pressure them and continue to get (scoring) chances.”

Have you been making an effort to shoot the puck more this season?

“A little bit; Zach’s always yelling at me to shoot more so (laughs) I’m trying to shoot more often. Even if you don’t score it creates rebounds for Zach and Zubie to get in there, and that’s what they’re good at — around the crease, that’s where they get a lot of their goals. I think it helps the whole line when everyone is shooting, everyone’s dangerous.”

You scored your career-high 21st goal tonight, any significance to you?

“Not really; I think every year you want to build on the year before, get better and become a better hockey player. That was my goal coming into this season, just become more of a dangerous player and a guy who can be counted on to score some goals.”

Zach Parise:

Talking about playing the Rangers…

“When you play your rival it’s always a fun game. It always seems that regardless of where the two teams are in the standings, it’s always a tight, good game and both teams are pretty excited about the match-up.”

Was the meeting yesterday or playing against the Rangers the cause for the offensive explosion?

“I don’t want to, blow the meeting out of proportion, but I think it helped (get us back on track). It was good to get a team in here that a lot of times, brings out the best in us. We have to get excited to play them because we know they are fighting for their playoff-lives; it’s a rival, you have to play well against them.”

Jamie Langenbrunner:
Is this a byproduct of having the team meeting yesterday?

“It’s easy to point at that and say that, I’d like to think that it’s a byproduct of once you hit a certain point that there’s nowhere to go but up. I think it just got our focus going in the right direction; I don’t remember who said it in the meeting yesterday, but it was like we were waiting for something to happen. Finally something was said and I think you saw a better effort tonight — a lot more of the determination and battle that we’re going to need to get points down the stretch and going forward.”

The first three times you scored, they responded; how did the team keep its focus?

“I think three days ago we might have (lost our focus). We had a different mindset tonight; you could hear it on the bench. After they scored the third goal, we were like ‘it’s no matter, we’re still going to get it.’ That wasn’t there the last little while, where when something goes wrong it’s like ‘here we go again.’ We had a much better mindset and I think it showed in the way we played as solid a 60 minutes as we have in a while.”

Why do you think it was a better mindset, was it the meeting?

“That’s part of it, maybe; but we had a lot of guys focused out there tonight. We hit a certain bottom point and hopefully a little bit of a wakeup call.”

Seeing Henrik Lundqvist get pulled after the fifth goal, was that an accomplishment?

“I think the win was the accomplishment, I don’t know how many of those you can fault him on. There were a lot of deflections, a lot of going to the net; that’s the way we need to play hockey. I’m sure it was them trying to shake things up a bit too.”

Is this game a nice reminder of what your team is capable of with balanced scoring?

“I hope so, I think the key for us will be how we respond with these next games; we have another tough battle on Friday (Pittsburgh) and then another divisional game on Saturday (NY Islanders) and then turn around again on Monday (Boston). We need to have that same intensity and same focus night-in and night-out, we’ve shown spurts of it and the key for us is to make sure we get out of it and play good hockey for the duration of the season.”

How many questions have you answered so far about the meeting?

“Too many (smiles).”

The first half of the game you give up three goals, none after that, did anything change?

“No, I think that’s part of playing hockey games, you have to realize that everything’s not going to always go perfect and you just have to continue to play the game. In January we played them to a 0-0 game heading into a shootout; tonight it wasn’t going to be that game — you have to play this (night’s) game. I think we did a lot better job tonight of not getting rattled even though we didn’t play the perfect game. We just went out and played.”
Jacques Lemaire:

Is it that easy where you have a team meeting, say you want team unity and you get this kind of performance?

“It’s not that easy; I think the players did their share and that’s the reason it worked. The guys were focused to play this game; this was probably one of the few games where we played three periods — the same way. We still did some mistakes here and there, but we played hard three periods, the same way.”

Team Russia Looks as Good as Gold…

The ice hockey tournament begins tomorrow and after long consideration I’ve made my pick for who will win the gold medal. In looking at all of the rosters I feel that the Russian squad is poised to win their first Olympics gold medal in 18 years, mainly because of their firepower and their strength in goaltending.

Up front the Russians can throw two lethal lines at their opponents with any combination between Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Ilya Kovalchuk, Pavel Datsyuk, Alexander Semin and Maxim Afinogenov. In my mind it doesn’t matter how you combine these six and they are still the scariest two lines in this short tournament.

Finishing out the bottom six forwards will be familar names gone from the NHL, but in active duty for the Russian league — the  KHL: Sergei Fedorov, Viktor Kozlov, Alexei Morozov and Alexander Radulov. All players who are capable of taking over a game when they are in a groove.

The Russians will be led on the blueline by the always-steady Sergei Gonchar and the underrated Andrei Markov, with solid depth provided by Fedor Tyutin, Anton Volchenkov, Dmitri Kalinin & Denis Grebeshkov. Gonchar will be the key player here — his passing and work on the power play will go a long way in determining the difference between evenly-matched teams in elimination games.

In goal Evgeni Nabokov, the backbone of San Jose’s great regular season success over the last three seasons, will begin as the starter, but if he should falter they can still turn to Washington’s Semyon Varlamov (who proved last postseason that big games don’t faze him) or Ilya Bryzgalov, who has pulled Phoenix from the ashes of the NHL to fourth in the West with 19 games left. Between the three of them, most likely Bryzgalov or Nabokov, they have the ability to shut down an explosive, high-powered team a tad more than some of the other goalies in the tournament — including Martin Brodeur and Henrik Lundqvist.

I think the gold medal game will be Russia vs. Team USA, final score 5-2 Russia.

Canada will win the bronze medal game 4-3 in ot against Sweden.

Hope that I am wrong…but I won’t be…