The Devils are on a small roll having completed come from behind victories against the  Rangers and then the Canadiens. What do those come from behind victories have in common? David Clarkson!! He’s been a huge part of the wins this week and hopefully he can continue his hot streak as the Devils travel to one of those places we hate – Philadelphia, PA.

This will be the 4th time we meet up with the Flyers this season and to be honest, the two of those three meetings didn’t go well at all. The Devils opened the season at home against the Flyers and were shutout 3-0. They also lost to the Flyers at home 4-1 on Jan 21^st. If there has been any good in the series with the Flyers this season, it’s that our only victory against them came in their building, a 4-3 shootout win on Nov 3^rd. Maybe Philadelphia is exactly where we want to be today

Marty will sit which means Hedburg will get the call which will be his first since a 2-1 overtime win in Edmonton on Jan. 11. The news on Henrique seems to be positive as they say that he is getting closer to returning to the ice and while he hasn’t been ruled out against the Penguins on Sunday, he has been for the Flyers game. The list of injuries for NJ is starting to pile up.

NJ Injuries - Adam Larsson (bruised lower back) Ryan Carter (sore hand) Travis Zajac (sore left Achilles tendon) Henrik Tallinder (blood clot in left leg) Adam Henrique (groin) Bryce Salvador (ankle) but is probable.

Winning in Philly won’t be easy, it never is. The Flyers are coming off of a win against Nashville and are 6-2-2 in their last 10. As I mentioned earlier, NJ is coming off big come from behind victories against NY and Montreal and are 6-3-1 in their last 10. Philly currently sits in 4^th place in the Eastern Conference (2^nd in the Atlantic) with 66 points (3 behind NY and 7 ahead of NJ) while NJ sits in 7^th place in the Eastern Conference (4^th in the Atlantic) and sits 1 point ahead of 8^th place Toronto and 3 points ahead of 9^th place Washington. Points are desperately wanted by both of these teams.

I’d like to see a game where NJ doesn’t need to battle from behind. While they were able to do so against NY and Montreal, Philly to me is a much more physical team and probably would give NJ a lot tougher battle should Philly find a lead. NJ has to watch out for Giroux, who has been having a great season. The other guy that will need a little attention is James van Riemsdyk because it always seems that he raises his game whenever NJ is on the ice against him.

It certainly would be nice to keep rolling with a win this afternoon.

When it comes to NJ in Philly, how can you not think of Elias's finest moment in their building?

                       

 The New Jersey Devils look to conclude their 6 game homestand with another victory, looking to win back-to-back as they would faceoff at the Rock against the Canadiens. Carey Price vs. Martin Brodeur, Devils-Habs, what a game we have here...



A first period that went from bad to worse... A mere 4 minutes in, Montreal centerman Dave Desharnais broke the silence, ealry, from the side of the cage. Five minutes later, the Habs put New Jersey in a deeper hole than they were to start as Andrei Kostitsyn capped a second goal for Montreal. The goal was Kostitsyn's 12th of the year as the assists were awarded to Weber and Leblanc. Soon after, Zach Parise would gain his 42nd point on the year as he beat Carey Price on the low right side to cut the Canadiens lead in half. Along with Parise, Ilya Kovalchuk too was credited with his 42nd point, as Kovy was credited with the secondary assist, along with Dainius Zubrus. Throughout the period, play began to gain an increased amount of physical play, a handful of penalties, two for New Jersey, one for Montreal. Eric Cole of the Canadiens hit the sin bin first as he was whistled for roughing at the 12:49 mark, along with Ryan Carter of the Devils also got called for roughing, a little later on though, almost 3 minutes later. Both penalties would be killed off. At the end of the period, a dangerous hit by Patrik Elias along the bench would arouse a series of penalties to be issued throughout the opening minutes of the second period. Elias' penalty was a boarding call at 18:54 of the first. The Devils were unreasonably out shout by the Habs 11-5. Teams went scoreless on the powerplay opportunities in the first as well. New Jersey would begin the period short handed.



 The second period would begin with one penalty ending, as another one began. The Elias boarding call was killed off by the #2 ranked PK unit in the National Hockey League (second to Montreal). No sooner does Elias escape the box, Montreal rookie Raphael Diaz takes a seat on a two minute minor penalty for interferance. Montreal would capitalize big time on the PK. Montreal Canadien Mathieu Darche would score shorthanded, his 3rd goal of the season recieving the pass from Tomas Plekanec. The Devils were nearly down & out. 3-1 the score early on in the second period, to a Montreal team that was clicking on passes, getting shot after shot off, killing penalties, recording scoring chances and more importantly, scoring more goals. That would all be true until the Devils' surprise player of the season, David Clarkson scored on the powerplay. David Clarkson, yet again, coming up with a BIG goal. His 18th of the year, a career high for Clarky was a solid one at that. A powerplay goal scored by a team that hasnt been registering on the man advantage in games of late. In the second period, the Devils would have 3 total powerplay opportunities in which they would record one tally, bringing them to within one goal of the 14th placed Canadiens hockey club. Shots on goal were in favor of the Habs, 10-9.



 In the third period, the ice would appear to be tilted, in favor of the home town team. 6 and a half minutes into the 3rd period, Dainius Zubrus would set up a beautifully executed play in which he set a pick for Clarkson to pass it back to the top of the faceoff circle for Ponikarovsky to fire a shot which was tipped in by Zubrus. The Devils would gain momentum throughout the period as they seemed to be on a roll in which could not be stopped. To summarize briefly, New Jersey would go on to score a total of 3 third period goals, a total of 4 unanswered, one of which was an empty netter. The other goals were recorded by Zach Parise, his 18th of the year on a weird bouncing puck off a Montreal defender which was directed to the wide open captain who burried one past Carey Price, who nearly made the glove save. Parise's goal was assisted by Kovalchuk, his 3rd of the game, and Patrik Elias. With time winding down and the Habs down by one, they went into desperation mode, Canadiens head coach Randy Cunneyworth hailed Price's name to the bench for the extra attacker, which would be a mere insult as David Clarkson, again, scored for the Devils on the empty net. The goal was Clarkson's 19th of the year. The Devils would hold off Montreal who came out of the gate full forces scoring 3 goals on their first 21 shots, out scoring the Habs 5-3, despite being held to single digit shots recorded in each period (5 shots, 1st period/ 9 shots, 2nd period/ 8 shots, 3rd period).

                         FINAL 3 - 5 

 All in all, a handful of Devils showed their stuff tonight as forwards David Clarkson and captain Zach Parise both scored two goals on the night, Dainius Zubrus with one of his own. Ilya Kovalchuk was the big helper in the game, getting in on 3 scoring plays as he finished off the evening with 3pts, 3 assists, no goals despite having 5 shots and wrapping up the night with a +/- rating of 0. Along with Kovy, Clarkson and Zubrus too had three points; Clarkson 2 goals and 1 assist, Zubrus 1 goal and 2 assists. One player who I believe went relativley unrecognizez, despite getting the 3rd Star of the Game award, was Marty Brodeur. While giving up 2 goals on his first 11 shots faced, and 3 in the game, he showed the resiliency to continue to make big save after save in aid of the team's comeback. Brodeur would stop 27 of 30 shots. 
 
 The Devils have in fact begun to go streaking, winning their second game in a row, their first in an important divisional game versus the Rangers which many believe may in fact be the turning point for the Devils' season. New Jersey has come back to tie the game 4 times in their last two games, scoring at least 3 goals in each contest.

 New Jersey will head out and onto the road Saturday afternoon against the Flyers. Philadelphia is currently 6-2-2 in their last 10 winning tonight against the red-hot Nashville Predators, 4-1. Philly is now 7 points ahead of New Jersey in the Eastern Conference playoff scheme, reziding in the 4th seed, trailing league leading New York (Rangers) by 3 points, who remaind idle tonight after a 1-0 S.O. victory in upstate New York against the Sabres. In what'll be the 4th matchup between these two teams, the Flyers have won 2 out of 3 games against New Jersey as they have managed a head-to-head record of 2-0-1 in three meetings this year.

I know it was only one game but the way in which NJ battled back against the Rangers the other night still has me feeling good two days later. Now we get ready for the Habs as they come to town.  It’s hard to believe how far they’ve fallen in such a short amount of time. Two years ago they scratched and clawed their way to the Eastern Conference final, losing to Philly in 5 games. Last year, they took an early exit in the first round, losing to the eventual champion Boston Bruins but it took OT for Boston to win that game 7. Now, the Habs are closer to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings than they are to the top 8. They are 10 points out of the playoffs and being 10 points out on February 2^nd pretty much means you’ll be finished after 82 games.

Montreal has been dealing with injuries this season but when all teams seem to go through a period of injuries, can you really lean on that as to the reason why your team is 10 points out of the playoff picture? Still, injuries have hit them. For example, look at tonight’s injury report for Montreal..

Travis Moen (upper body) has missed the last two games and Petteri Nokelainen (upper body) has missed the last three. Ryan White (sports hernia surgery), Brian Gionta (right biceps surgery) and Andrei Markov (knee surgery) are all on the injured reserve list.

Those are some pretty important guys on that list.

The big story /question going into tonight’s game for the Devils has to be, can they build on the momentum they gained in their come from behind shootout victory over the Rangers? After the win the other night, I realized that the Devils have played a number of 1 goal games this season and I wondered what their record was in 1 goal games this season

In 49 games they are 16-4-3 in games decided by 1 goal. Compare that record to their record in games decided by 3 goals where they are 4-8 and I don’t think I’m alone when I wish for more 1 goal games the rest of the way.

Speaking of the rest of the way, Peter Deboer announced that he is going to ride Brodeur for the rest of the season, but he will still use Johan Hedberg in back-to-back situations, which means Marty will be in net tonight and we will most likely see Hedberg this weekend at somepoint.

Tonight marks the 3^rd of 4 meetings this season. Each team has come away with a win in the other teams building, which isn’t a great stat for us going into this game.

As for tonight, the Devils need to continue what they did against the Rangers. Battle for the puck and generate some shots on goal. Montreal isn’t a team that dominates a game when it comes to puck control so NJ will have chances. I would like to see a more consistent game from the Devils defense. The other night against the Rangers, the D would look very good one minute and be chasing the puck around the next. As much as I blame Marty for quickly giving the lead back to NY after the Kovalchuk goal, the defense looked pretty soft on that goal.

Tonight’s lines should look something like this…

Petr Sykora - Patrik Elias - David Clarkson
Zach Parise - Dainius Zubrus - Ilya Kovalchuk
Alexei Ponikarovsky - Ryan Carter - Steve Bernier
Eric Boulton - Jacob Josefsen - Brad Mills

But apparently the defense is a little more confusing as Salvador was missing from the morning skate with a leg injury. There were D guys on the ice this but they weren’t grouped into pairs so it’s a little early to call the defensive pairings.

By the looks of it, Janssen is going to be a scratch again tonight which begs the question, why is he still here?

When it comes to Devils vs Canadiens games, you can’t help but think of that night Marty scored his first career goal.

This was the cbc feed because the Fox Sports feed was extreme poor in quality but if you want to hear docs call, this is it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul1uMdwoQQ0

                                       

 All I can say about tonights game, is WOW... What an amazing team effort to pull out the victory in a thriller against Hudson River Rivals, the New York Rangers.



 WOW, if you missed the first period, you missed a lot... 18 total shots, 10 for New York, 8 for Jersey. 7 scoring chances to 6, also, in favor of New York. With barely any stoppages in play throughout the first 20 minutes, play was, considerably, VERY EXCITING for both teams, both fan bases. An extremely entertaining first period had one penalty, which was killed off by the 3rd ranked PK unit in the league when Rangers defenseman Michael Del Zotto got the call about 7 minutes through for interferance on Clarkson. New Jersey is ranked second league-wide when short handed. Along with the penalty, the Rangers put a marker up on the scoreboard with about 30 seconds left in the period. Former Blue Jacket Anton Stralman scored his second goal of the season on a rebound that was kicked right of the cage by the pad of Brodeur. Assists of Stralman's goal were the prolific goal scorer and All-Star Game MVP Marian Gaborik, and rookie All-Star Carl Hagelin. Despite the goal, (which, in my opinion, was allowed by sloppy defense) Brodeur was fantastic. Marty managed to stop 9 of the 10 Ranger shots on goal in the first, plenty of which, were scoring opportunities. Brodeur made vintage kick-saves followed by flaring glove save after glove save, one save hopping up onto his feet from his hips gobbling up a shot with his chest in a frog-like, leaping motion. A very physical period as well, fans being witness to many hits by a wide variety of players. Kovalchuk had a handful of opportunities throughout the period, but couldnt manage to punch one past the OTHER Marty, Marty Biron. The teams would head to the locker rooms with one goal on the board, the New York Rangers leading their Cross-River Rivals 1-0.



 The second period would see New Jersey finally crack Biron's goose egg. The captain, Zach Parise would get his 16th of the year on a beautiful read off a rebound in which he managed to place it just over the right shoulder of Biron while getting the shot off nearly on the goal line. A fairly even second period, highlighted by the goal by Zach, 3 penalties (two Devils penalties, 1 Rangers penalty), couple hits and the Devils out shooting New York 11-8 in the middle period. Couple more big saves made by "The Marty's". One BIG answering blocker save by Biron after giving up the tying goal to Parise shortly followed up by a breakaway opportunity for Brad Richards which was kicked aside by Brodeur. The Rangers would go into the third period with the man advantage at the expense of Mark Fayne getting called for holding, 19:19 minutes through the second period.



 A third period that opened up with a goal, not on the power play, but an even strength goal scored by Brian Boyle for the Rangers would result in a third period, for the AGES. After killing off another penalty, one that carried over from the second period, the Rangers moved ahead on the scoreboard, deflating the hopes of the home-town crowd. The Devils wouldnt get back into the game until later on in the third when Ilya Kovalchuk would tie it up, with under 5 minutes left on the clock. Kovlachuk rifled one past Biron for his 20th of the year as he punched the boards and SCREAMED into the rafters as though he were playing possesed! No sooner does New Jersey get BACK into the game, they give one up, and they do it quickly... 36 seconds later as a matter of fact. Rangers defenseman Michael Del Zotto stunned Jersey, with 3:59 left in the third, bringing New York to a one goal lead, and one goal closer to 2 points in the playoff race. When all seemed doomed, Brodeur racing to the bench for the extra attacker, and the Devils, one step closer to a fourth straight loss, it was a miracle, an unsung hero, tying his career high in goals with his 17th of the season, it was David Clarkson, "Clarky", tying the game, 3 goals a piece, with under a minute left in play. The Rock was rockin'! An outburst of "YOU SUCK!" chants reigned from the Devils faithful as their team remained to respond time and time again in a see-saw type of game between the Rangers which alternated goals throughout. The teams would be forced, into overtime.



 In overtime, we were all witness to not one, but TWO, heart stopping, "almost" game winners for both teams. The five minute sudden death period would be as exciting as the last period of play. With the Devils on the attack, it was a near GWG for Dainius Zubrus when he was stuffed by the stick of a Rangers defenseman on the doorstep, which was immediatly followed up by another missed opportunity, this time by Kovalchuk. Soon after the play makes its transition into the neutral zone, the Rangers had an offensive outbreak, 2 on 1 opportunity with the defense trailing, the Rangers managed to sneak one behind and around Brodeur. BUT COULDNT SCORE! It was a spectacular, heads-up defensive play by Andy Greene, playing in his first game since returning from injury, who slapped the puck out of the crease and off the goal line before a diving Marian Gaborik could punch it in for the GWG. Overtime would end scoreless leading to a shootout in Newark.


 
 After five minutes of overtime, followed up by another five minutes of the zamboni cleaning up the ice, the teams would commence the shootout. The lineups were as followed, DeBoer would send Kovalchuk, Parise, and Elias while John Tortorella would mimic the Devils head coach by sending Stepan, Richards, and Gaborik, saving the teams most prolific scorer to shoot third. It would wind up costing the Rangers the game. Kovalchuk would shoot first, recording the eventual GWSG (game winning shootout goal) as he fired a lazer, 5hole on Biron who appeared to be a statue on the first shot. Rangers forward Derek Stepan with the second shot of the shootout would move in on Brodeur, only to fire wide right of Marty's blocker. Parise next in line would be shut down, loud, by a pad save from Biron. Next for New York would be alternate captain Brad Richards. In Richards' shootout attempt, he too would be stopped by Martin Brodeur. The third shooter for the Devils, looking to close out the game, was Elias; Patrik drove straight forward on Biron, only to loose control of the puck while getting poke checked from the Rangers netminder. It was ultimatly left up to Marian Gaborik to keep the Big Apple in the game, as it was up to Marty to hand deliver the Garden State the victory over their Atlantic Division rivals. Gab's skated up, moved in on Brodeur... STOPPED! The Devils had defeated the Rangers in the shootout 4-3 awarding the team 2 MUCH needed points in a playoff picture which allowed New Jersey to climb to seventh in the East, remaining 4th in the Atlantic Division.

                     FINAL SO 3 - 4 

 The Devils' next game will be on Thursday evening against Carey Price and the Montreal Canadiens. New Jersey looks to win their second straight at home, hoping to close out their home stand on a good note before heading to the City of Brotherly Love to play the Broad Street Bullies, the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday, before returning home Sunday to play Evgeni Malkin and the Pens.

With 34 games left in the regular season and 9 of those 34 games coming against either the Bruins, the Flyers or the Rangers, there is no easing back into it for the New Jersey Devils. Tonight, the hated Rangers come to town and it appears that Henrik Lundqvist has the night off. Not sure if that means the Rangers don’t take us seriously or that they just need to res t Lundqvist after the All-Star weekend.

I actually don’t remember the last time that we got this far into the schedule and we can say that we’ve only played the Rangers once. That’s going to change real quick as we’ll see the Rangers 5 times between now and March 19^th. I’m sure every Devils fan remembers the last and only meeting between these two so far this season. The Rangers beat us 4-1 and used a shorthanded goal against us to really put the game away.

The Rangers were well represented in Ottawa for All-Star weekend. Marian Gaborik, Henrik Lundqvist, Dan Girardi, Carl Hagelin and John Tortorella made the trip to Ottawa so we can only hope that they return to the ice tonight a little worn out, of course Lundqvist gets the night off. The Devils however didn’t make the trip to Ottawa so hopefully they return to the ice as a well-rested bunch.

Last 10: New York 7-3-0; New Jersey 5-4-1

Injuries are a major concern for NJ. Adam Henrique who still appears to have a groin issue did not take part in Monday’s practices. Travis Zajac is still out with a sore Achilles tendon which is starting to me people wonder if 2011/2012 is just going to be a lost season for him. Tallinder is still gone for a good chunk of time. Andy Greene has returned to practice but isn’t expected to return to the lineup tonight.

The Devils recalled Jacob Josefsen, Matt Taormina and Steve Bernier from Albany of the AHL on Monday.

Much has been said about the Devils struggles against  the top teams in the conference this season. A good way of shutting people up would be to skate away with a win tonight. The Devils are currently in the middle of a season-long six game homestand  and have gone 1-2-1 so far, so a win tonight is very much needed.

Need something to get you pumped up for tonight? I invite you to revisit 1992 as the benches emptied after the Devils tied the 7 game series at 3-3 following game 6

So as we jump back into some hockey after having a few days off, I bring you this funny little video that has been making the rounds on the internet.

So what are the things that NJ Devils fans don’t say??

“What an amazing Power Play we have”
“I can’t believe we are NBC’s Game of the Week again!!”
“Lou needs to be more cryptic in the things he tells the media”
“If the Devils don’t win the cup, I hope the Rangers do, it’s a long time coming for them”
“I wish the league would keep us more informed about Sidney Crosby’s injuries”
“Our third jersey looks AWESOME”
“Can you believe the Devils are going to play in the Winter Classic”
“I’m so glad that Doc Emrick is gone…his voice was like nails on a chalkboard”
“I can’t believe we traded Brian Rolston”
“Marty should try to play at least another 5 years”
“This was the greatest All-Star Game EVER!!”

Join in the fun and add your own!!

Pretty self explanitory... huh? Where will Zach end up if he is dealt before or on the February 27th trade deadline? Will he stay, or will he go? Can Lou manage to sign the captain long-term, or will he be just a meer memory? Hopefully, Parise will stay put... but until a decision is made, we can only speculate. Below are 10 teams that Parise could end up with along with a brief summary in regards to his new destination.




 






































 Hopefully Zach WILL remain a Devil and a GREAT one at that. Regardless of where he plays the game, he'll win. An all-around fantastic athelete, one of the more underrated players in the league and a spectacular leader. Zach Parise will be a fan favorite in ANY city in which he plays for, but, for now, lets be selfish and keep him all to ourselves!

The Devils are in a much better position heading into the All-Star break than they were last season but there are no guarentees for games 83, 84, 85 and 86. Here are three questions heading into the All-Star break.

1. Will They Make The Playoffs

They’ve dropped 3 straight going into the All-Star break and while they weren’t in the games against the Bruins or the Flyers, they did have a chance to win against the Sabres and did skate away from that game with 1 point. The Panthers are free-falling through the Eastern Conference standings at the moment and the Leafs are looking to turn things around. I do believe the Devils can pull it together post All-Star game and find a way to solidify a spot in the postseason but I certainly don’t believe that position will be anything higher than a 7^th seed.

2. Will they make a deal?

I think the big question on everyone’s mind has to be, what do we do about Parise? Do we trade him or hang on to him in hopes that a) should we make the playoffs, he helps us find a way to make it past the first round and b) we find a way to sign him long term. I’m not sure what the answer is. The truth is, if we make the playoffs, we are probably headed for a matchup with the Rangers or the Bruins. I don’t know how well we’d play NY considering we haven’t played them much this season but we know the Bruins have our number. Should we trade Parise at the deadline to try and help out our team for next season, which assumes he would sign elsewhere July 1? I’ve heard rumors of Miller maybe wanting out of Buffalo. Could we trade Parise for Miller which would give us a replacement for Marty (assuming Buffalo would trade Miller and assuming if Marty doesn’t retire, we’d be ok letting him go elsewhere). Would we want to do that? In answer to my question, if we make a deal, I would imagine that it would HAVE to involve #9.

3. Who steps up in the second half?

I don’t know if it’s a matter of who steps up but how about continuing? Kovalchuk is contributing, Henrique is having a great rookie season and Elias has been awesome this year. This team doesn’t seem to be about 1 person stepping up but rather a team effort. I’d like to see someone of the defense step up and help this team find a solution to their third period problems. Ultimately, I would love it if Marty Brodeur was the guy to step it up in the second half and start stealing some games. He’s been getting better but I ALWAYS want more!!

 

 Well well well, another one goal effort by New Jersey results in a third straight loss. New Jersey fell to a slumping Buffalo squad that had lost their last 5 games before walking into Newark, along with a miserable 10 game record of 2-7-1. Through three periods it seemed like New Jersey was eventually, and, i'd like to STRESS the word EVENTUALLY, (becuase thats how the last three games have all been) going to get something going; weather that drive of momentum would result in a goal or two in the 3rd, or a GWG in overtime. 


 
 Our first period at the Rock was, well, in my opinion... odd. The whole atmosphere was just a tad bit off, very empty in the stands, the crowed appeared to be out of the game, the Devils came out of the game rather sluggish, despite hitting the net 6 times. Late in the period, after a weird bounce, Sabres forward Jordan Leopold punches one past Brodeur, who started in his 5th straight game, to give Buffalo a lead that would hold 'till mid-way through the 2nd period. In his last two games against the Sabres this season, Martin Brodeur has recorded a tremendous 51 saves on 55 shots faced recording 2 wins and averaging a .927% save percentage. Brodeur would add on 14 more saves tonight in a loosing effort which ended in a shootout in which Marty stopped 2 of 4 shots faced. In his second game as a Devil, Alexi Ponikarovsky was called for a trip early on at the 1:47 minute mark in the first. Poni now has added 2 penalty minutes to his Devils resume, along side a goal scored in his first game with the new club in a loosing effort to Philadelphia on Saturday.


 
 The second period was an entertaining period for Devils fans as they saw Jersey get on the board and back in the game on a powerplay goal scored by the red-hot Patrik Elias. The goal scored by Elias was his 18th of the season, now bringing him to 46pts in 47 games played. Captain Zach Parise and defenseman Kurtis Foster were the helpers in the Elias goal as both men added an assist to their statistics with the goal scored at thje 10:22 minute mark. Sabre Derek Roy recieved a total of 4 penalty minutes in the game, both being assesed in the middle period, about three minutes apart from one another; the first, 6:37 minutes in for tripping, giving the Devils their first powerplay opportunity of the night, resulting in a sucessful kill for Buffalo. Derek Roy's next penalty would be the one that got away from Buffalo as he got the whistle about nine minutes in for boarding. With a strong series of saves from Miller (who had his A game going all night), Buffalo looked near perfect until the second effort from Elias brought the score even. New Jersey out-shot Buffalo 12-3 in the period.


 
 With both teams itching for a victory and an extremely important 2pts that are an absolute necessity for BOTH clubs, the third period was important. Although New Jersey for the second period in a row out shooting the Sabres 6-4, both teams would go scoreless leading to an exciting start to a 5 minute overtime period, awarding both Buffalo and the Devils, 1 point each. No goal scorers, no penaltys, but quite a few scoring chances and hits highlighted the third. A big hip check from Ryan Carter on Buffalo forward Patrick Kaleta with seven minutes left in regulation, was just one of a few bright moments by the Devils, in response to an amazing, Play of the Night glove save by Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller on Jacob Josefson right in front of the net, which should have easily made it a 2-1 game in favor of Jersey.

 
 
 Overtime. In the O.T. period, like the 3rd, was highlighted by strong, dominant saves by the relentless efforts of Buffalo goalie Miller. Two breakaway saves approximately one minute or so seperated from one another on a feed from Bryce Salvador to Ilya Kovalchuk, and one from Dev's captain Zach Parise, who was tripped up and couldnt get a solid shot off. ALong with the two breakaway saves, Miller shut down Devils All-Star rookie forward Adam Henrique on a near-perfectly executed fake pass, toe drag wrist shot which was gobbled up by Miller, who, I cannot say enough, played phenominal; stopping nearly every puck faced recording 27 saves on 28 shots taken by the Devils. Overtime would end without a goal as the teams would head to a shootout. New Jersey has an incredible 8-1 record in shootouts, where Buffalo has split 4 shootout bids evenly, two wins, two losses. 


 
 New Jersey would send 4 skaters out onto the ice for the shootout, in order, the players were Ilya Kovalchuk, Zach Parise, Patrik Elias, and Adam Henrique, for Buffalo, it would be Vanek, Boyes, Pominville, and Nathan Gerbe. The shootout would result in 2 goals for Buffalo, a meer 1 for New Jersey. Kovalchuk set the bar with a goal in the first round, a goal, that would be unanswered until Jason Pominville beat Brodeur high glove side, followed by a missed opportunity by Henrique, setting up Gerbe beating Marty, handing Buffalo the W. 



 The two teams concluded play tonight for one whole week as the league approaches the All-Star Game which will be held on Sunday north of the border in Ottawa, Ontario. Representing the Devils will be two rookies, one forward, one defense, both named Adam. 4th overall pick Adam Larsson, and 22yr old Adam Henrique will be playing for either Team Alfredsson, or Team Chara. Play for the Devils resumes a week from tonight, Tuesday, January 31st in their second meeting of the season as the Devils look to hault their 3 game skid against Atlantic Division leading New York Rangers.

In an effort  to keep things fresh around here, I think a little change to our previews is in order!!

After back to back games against two of the top 4 teams in our conference and having come away with from those games with 0 points and a bruised ego, I certainly welcome that the Buffalo Sabres are coming into town to close out our schedule prior to the All-Star Break.

The Devils are coming off 2 straight losses and are 5-4-1 over their last 10 games. By comparison,  the Devils have been doing much better than the Sabres have been. Buffalo has dropped their last 5 games and have a 2-7-1 record over their last 10. To add insult to injury, they’ve lost their last 12 games on the road and currently own the worst record in the Eastern Conference (1 point behind the Islanders and Lightning).

The most important thing for the Devils to do tonight (or rather not do) is take the Sabres for granted. Yes, they are sitting in the basement but that doesn’t mean they can’t find a way to beat us, especially if we give them the right opportunities. The Sabres aren’t a great team when playing 5 on 5 hockey but they are tied for 14^th when it comes to scoring on the power play. Combine that with the fact that our Penalty Kill has been horrible in recent games, staying out of the box is a must.

Word on the street is that Marty will get the start again tonight (his 5^th in a row), which isn’t a terrible idea considering he’ll get close to a week off as the Devils won’t return to the ice until next Monday due to the All-Star break. There is also word that Peter Harrold will play right wing tonight alongside Eric Boulton and Ryan Carter. Oh, did we forget to mention Harrold is a defenseman? Wait, WHAT!!?? Not a bad idea as this gives NJ 7 defenseman on the bench.

I’m certainly looking for something more from this team. Yes, they are in a position to make the playoffs but the way they’ve been playing against the elite teams in our conference this season, going 5 games in the first round isn’t very likely. If Deboer believes the Devils belong with the elite, than start showing it. An elite team would bury the Sabres tonight.

Tonight marks the 3^rd of 4 meetings this season between these two teams and the Devils have won both of the prior meetings. Hopefully we make it 3 out of 3 by the end of the 3^rd period.  It would be nice to go into the All-Star break having snapped our 2 game losing streak.

Here is the projected lineup for the Devils tonight:
 
Zach Parise - Adam Henrique - Ilya Kovalchuk
Petr Sykora - Patrik Elias - Dainius Zubrus
Alexei Ponikarovsky - Jacob Josefson - David Clarkson
Eric Boulton - Ryan Carter - Peter Harrold
 
Bryce Salvador - Mark Fayne
Matt Taormina - Adam Larsson
Anton Volchenkov - Kurtis Foster
 
Martin Brodeur 

And finally, in an effort to get you pumped up for tonight’s game, who remembers when the Devils and Sabres met in the 1994 playoffs?