A new weekly feature here at Running With The Devils is going to be our “Stock Up / Stock Down “ report. These reports will happen every Friday afternoon where we look back at the games from the previous Friday Night through Thursday Night (in this case Dec 2^nd – December 8^th) and pick a few guys whose stock is up or down. Some weeks it might be all up or and some weeks it might be all down but let’s hope those are few and far between.

This week the Devils played 4 games in the Friday to Thursday stretch, losses at Minnesota and Winnipeg and wins in Toronto and at home vs the Senators.

Adam Henrique – This kid gives me hope for the future. He just finds a way to make it on the score sheet each night. This week he either had a goal or an assist in every game played including 2 assists last night vs the Senators and the game winner in the shootout. What more can you ask from one guy?

Martin Brodeur – He had three starts this week against Minnesota, Toronto and Ottawa. He lasted a whole 8 mins and 17 seconds against the the Wild and was pulled after the first period against Ottawa. He let in 7 goals and the two he let in against the Senators came off rebounds he couldn’t control. You may want to argue with me but Marty is done. Stick a fork in him. He used to be so dominating in the net and I understand that he’s older now but his game has declined faster than his age has. He’ll always be special to this organization for all that he accomplished but this is getting painful to watch.

Ilya Kovalchuk – I know I wrote this article the other day and believe me, I still feel as strongly today as I did the day I wrote but, this week, Ilya has looked good. He had 3 goals and 1 assist in this 4 game stretch, so like Henrique, I can’t really ask for anymore production than a point a night. However, his defense needs to improve and the last thing we really need to see is Kovy starting a scrum behind the net.

Andy Greene – To me, he’s lost out there. In fact when I started putting this list together and looking at the names that might appear, I had to see if Greene even played this week.  He did, Minnesota, Winnipeg and Toronto. He doesn’t do very much on the ice and this is a guy that before he signed his big deal over the summer, made us take notice whenever he was out there. Talk about buyers remorse!!

Dainius Zubrus  - He continues to be that guy that fits the Devils mold in my opinion. He comes up with big moments and other teams seem to forget about him. Last night against Ottawa he had the game tying goal and then actually had a chance to put the go ahead goal in the net at one point. This team used to be built on the concept of interchangeable  parts and to me, Zubrus is still that kind of player.

So would you agree or disgree with these? Let us know

What a game!! I spent the better portion of the first half of the game pretty much cursing at the entire Devils team. They couldn’t seem to do anything right most of Marty Brodeur so when he got the hook, I wasn’t surprised or displeased.

The first two goals were ridiculous. Usually Marty is great and playing his rebounds but on these two he put them in bad spots and got burned immediately. Then the Devils did something in the second we hadn’t see them do yet this yet this season, give up a PP goal at home. Alfredsson buried the one time and the Sens were up 3-0, looking like they were just going to run us out of the building as they almost game up another shorthanded goal.

Enter Zach Parise. From the moment Tedenby got called for holding in the corner that led to the Alfredsson goal, you could see Parise was hot. Like a captain is supposed to, he got the Devils going by putting in a shorthanded goal to make the game 3-1.

Zubrus would follow Parise’s  example and score a shorty of his own. 3-2 Devils and the way they’ve started to take control of the game, you HAVE to believe that 2 points is within their reach. A couple minutes later, Tedenby would tie the game at 3 and you just knew the 4^th goal wasn’t far behind. Little did I know that goal would come 45 seconds after the Tedenby goal.  It was probably the nicest goal of the night as a tick-tack-goal from Henrique to Parise to Kovalchuk in the slot gave the Devils the 4-3 lead.

But wouldn’t you believe it, it wouldn’t be enough. The Senators tied it with 5 seconds left to play in the 3^rd while a man down.  Eventually the Devils would win in a shootout but this game should have NEVER gotten to OT. I am so tired of the Devils giving other teams a point even when we skate away with 2 points.

Montreal comes to town tomorrow afternoon and like the Devils have been playing mediocre hockey all season. Should be an interesting one!!

The Matchup:  Ottawa Senators (13-12-3) vs. New Jersey Devils (13-12-1)

7:00 pm at the Rock

TV/Radio:  MSG Plus 2/ WFAN 660 AM

Know Your Enemy:  The 6th Sens

What We Think Of The Senators:  This is the first of 4 meetings between the Devils and the Senators this season.  Last  season, the Senators won the season series 3-1.  If the teams’ records so far this year tell us anything, they seem to be pretty even. The Sens have started December 1-2-1, but Milan Michalek is in a 3-way tie for the league lead in goals with 17.

Tonight’s Game:  The Devils ended their losing streak inToronto on Tuesday night by defeating the Maple Leafs in overtime.  While it’s great for them to get a win, it’s becoming more than slightly concerning that the majority of their wins have come in OT or the shootout.  It’s a dangerous way to play and allowing their opponents to walk away with a point certainly doesn’t help the Devils very much in moving up the standings.  DeBoer shuffled the lines a bit on Tuesday, putting Mattias Tedenby on the line with Patrik Elias and Petr Sykora and moving Dainius Zubrus to play alongside Ryan Carter and David Clarkson.  David Clarkson shone in Toronto scoring two goals with one of them being the OT game winner.  The Toronto hockey world already thinks Clarkson is an amazing player, so last night’s game could only increase his trade value.  (Still holding out hope).  The Devils are number one in the league on the penalty kill with 94.7%.  If only they could improve on the power play…

FUN FACT:

Travis Zajac skated with the team on Wednesday and reported that his legs feel fine.  Look for him to return to the lineup after the upcoming Florida road trip.


GO DEVILS!!! 

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I’ll admit it, I was looking at this game more as an end to a miserable road trip than I was as a possibility to end a losing streak.  Toronto is a deep young team and I always fear going into a place like the Air Canada Center because the noise and the crowd can make all the difference.

But I was wrong, not only was it the end of the road trip, it was the end to the losing streak as well. Of course, nothing this season has come easy so why would a win in Toronto be any different. I said it on Twitter and I will say it again, David Clarkson has continued to prove me wrong this season. I was a hater, I doubted him but he keeps coming up with these clutch moments. Hopefully now that I have admitted that I was wrong,  he doesn’t stop doing it.

The Devils were on fire in the first period. They outshot the Leafs 11-4, went 2 for 2 on the PP and had a 2-0 lead going into the first intermission. But then the Devils do what they seem to do a lot this season and that was blow a 2-0 lead but we will get to more of that in a second. First I want to address the power play in the first period.

There was tremendous puck movement on the first power play opportunity. At one point, all 5 Devils touch the puck with Clarkson alone in the slot just missing. I believe it went Kovalchuk to Larrson to Elias down low to Parise who fed a beauty to Clarkson in the slot but Reimer was able to get a piece. EVERYTHING was done perfectly on that play, Reimer is just a beast. Immediately after, Sykora found Kovalchuk with a cross ice pass who buried the one timer. If Kovalchuk would do that just a little more often, I would write articles like I did the other day about the man.

Elias then found Clarkson alone in front of the net on the next power play opportunity who pulled Reimer out of position and easily buried the puck for a 2-0 lead. All the sudden, the worst PP in the league was 2 for 2.

But as I mentioned, the Devils would do what they’ve been doing all season. The Leafs started to tilt the ice in the second period and the Devils just sat back a little and let them come. I don’t know why we do this. I don’t know why we think we can weather the storm because it bites us time and time again. This time, Kessel closed the gap and made the score 2-1. It was a crazy goal because everyone was crashing the net and the puck went off his boot.

Starting the third period, I didn’t feel very confident that the Devils could hold the lead because they’ve proved they can’t and the Leafs are a deep team with many threats. Matt Frattin tied the game at 1:56 of the 3^rd. So when I say that the Leafs have many threats, Frattin wasn’t one that came to mind but none the less, it’s a 2-2 game and the Leafs have really taken control of this game.

Clarkson had a chance to win it late in the 3^rd when he found himself alone with the puck and no one but Reimer in front of him but he just couldn’t bury it. There was a moment at the end of the game that just really aggravated me and it’s something that Kovalchuk does A LOT. He mishandled the puck and coughed it up to the other team and basically stood there and watched as the other team  got an opportunity to put the puck in the net. He made little effort to try and stop that guy.

Clarkson would redeem himself in OT and as took a feed from Zubrus and buried it past Reimer for the game winner ending the Devils losing streak. Good night for Clarkson who had 2 goals, another huge opportunity and did this in front of his friends and family and against the team he grew up loving. A huge night and moment for Clarkson.

I thought Marty was much better tonight and redeemed himself a little for the game he had in Winnipeg.  He made a HUGE save on Kessel in the first that they kept replaying all game and proved to be huge once Toronto tied it at 2.

Next up are the Senators tomorrow night at the Rock.

The NHL's Board of Governors approved a radical realignment plan Monday night. This new realignment would see the NHL shift away from the conference format back towards the divisional format we’ve missed so much.

So what will they be? I haven’t heard anything about how they will be named but this is the layout we are looking at.

A) Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks, Phoenix Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers

B) Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues, Chicago Blackhawks, Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota Wild, Dallas Stars, Columbus Blue Jackets, Nashville Predators

C) Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs

D) New York Rangers, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, Carolina Hurricanes

Notice, there are two divisions with eight teams and two divisions with 7 teams.

So how does this all work?

Teams would play six games against conference foes (three home, three away) and two games (one home, one away) against out of conference opponents each year. Fans have long argued that they should have the opportunity to see every team in their own building once a year and with this realignment, we will get just that.

The top four teams in each division will make the playoffs where #1 plays #4 and #2 plays #3. When a winner emerges from each division, the four remaining teams will be re-seeded based on total points, or something that has to still be worked out by the general managers. The two remaining teams would then play each other in the Stanley Cup Finals. So it is very possible to see some bizarre matchups for the cup, like Vancouver/Chicago or New York/ Montreal or Detroit/Colorado (wouldn’t that have been something in the late 90’s!!)

So a few thoughts…

The playoffs become much more regionalized and we are pretty much guaranteed that games in the first two rounds will be nasty rival games since we play our own division. While we could meet the Flyers and the Rangers in the same playoff year under the current system, it rarely happens but will be a very good possibility under the new system.

I hope that the NHL goes the whole distance with this and brings back  Smythe, Norris, Patrick and Adams for the names of the divisions and hopefully we end up back in the Patrick Division.

Call me a homer but I see Division D, the one that the Devils have been placed in as the hardest division in the league. No one can argue that the Rangers, Flyers, Penguins and Capitals are going to be stiff competition for one of the 4 spots that get to play in the postseason but let’s not forget about the Hurricanes who have put together some good seasons as well. And yes, I am taking a big dump on the Islanders, well because they are the Islanders and haven’t really been relevant in a long time. Not to say they couldn’t turn it around but Garth Snow could possibly be the worst GM in the league.

Sorry, I’ve digressed.

Try to find a tougher division and make your argument but Division D is a very tough division to play in.

The one thing I don’t like about the realignment is that some interesting matchups we see now will only happen twice a season. Montreal/New York, Philly/Boston and Colorado/Detroit come to mind right away.

I know the NHL is saying every team in every building but I am missing something when I break out the old calculator. 6 other teams in our division x 6 games each = 36 games. 8 teams in Division A & B x 2 games per team = 32 games. 7 teams in Division C x 2 games per team = 14 games. Add all that together and we get 82 games but if you do the math for a team in an 8 team division, we end up with 86 games needed.

It looks as if Division C or Division D, most likely C, is setup to add Quebec once the Coyotes move out from the desert.

All in all I am in favor of this. I never really understood why we moved away from this type of format to begin with. So what do you think? Do you like it? Do you think we consistently miss the playoffs and watch New York, Washington, Pittsburgh and Philly compete in our division come the post-season? Would you go back to the old naming scheme?

Watch It: MSG   Listen To It: 660 AM

The Last 10 Games:  New Jersey is 4-6-0 (and falling) while the Leafs are 5-4-1

Season Series: Toronto leads 1-0 after beating NJ 5-3 on Nov 2nd

Know Your Enemy: Puckin Eh

 What We Think of the Leafs:  There is only one original six team I can’t stand and that is not the Toronto Maple Leafs so hats off to them for the season they are having. You knew it was a matter of time before Brian Burke had this team playing in the top half of the standings. Yes, the Leafs had to go through a few bad seasons but it looks like that’s yesterday’s news. Almost wish the Devils were mimicking the Leafs in that department but we aren’t a bad team and we certainly aren’t a good team so it might be years of mediocrity for us.

What To Expect Tonight: This horrible road trip continues and ends tonight. The Devils have been outscored in the last 3 games 14-5. To add insult to injury, we got pounded by the Avs, a weaker team, lost to the Wild, which was expected but then lost to the Jets, another weaker team.

The Devils are slumping and slumping badly right now. There hasn’t been any sign of life since we left NJ on this road trip. Hopefully the Devils found that life as the returned to NJ the other day before heading up to Toronto.

Toronto is a tough team and visitors have a tough time in their building so tonight will be interesting.  The Devils will need to pay attention to Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul because they are deadly with the puck. The Leafs are one of 6 teams that average 3+ goals a game this season (5^th overall in the NHL while the Devils are 27^th).

Players To Watch:

Joffrey Lupul – He has 13 goals and 18 assists this season which is far more than any Devil has this season. He also led the league in points for the month of November with 19 points which is more than half of his 31 points accumulated so far this season. To say Lupul is on a tear would be putting it mildly. Burke knew what he was doing when he went after this guy last season

Adam Henrique -  He’s been a pleasant surprise so far this season.  He has a current 5 game point streak and has been one of the few bright lights lately. I do get excited when this kid touches the puck.

Projected Lines:

Forwards:
Parise - Henrique - Kovalchuk
Tedenby - Elias - Sykora
Zubrus - Carter - Clarkson
Boulton - Sestito - Palmieri

Defense:
Greene - Volchenkov
Tallinder - Fayne
Salavandor - Larsson

Goaltender:
Brodeur

I feel obligated to tell you that if you are an Ilya Kovalchuk supporter, you might just want to close your browser and skip right past this article of mine.

As I mentioned last week in my quarter season review, I get the feeling when I watch the Devils that something is just missing. In fact there are many things missing but one of those things would be a guy that whenever he has the puck, you get the feeling that he just might put that puck in the net. I thought Ilya Kovalchuk was that kind of player. It seemed like he was that kind of player when he played in Atlanta but for some reason, Devils fans have never seen that side of Ilya Kovalchuk and honestly, probably never will.

Let’s look at some recent facts:

• Kovalchuk was on the ice for 3 of the 4 goals scored by the Jets on Friday night.
• Kovalchuk was on the ice for 3 of the 4 goals scored by the Wild on Friday night.
• Kovalchuk was on the ice for 5 of the 6 goals scored by the Avs on Wednesday night.
• In 20 games played, he’s a -11, which is #1 on the team for worst +/- rating.

All in all he was on the ice for 11 of the last 14 goals scored against us in the last 3 games and 13 of the last 17, so I ask you, does the dude know how to play defense?
He is currently ranked at 123rd in the league in the goals column. Let us just take a quick look at some of the guys ahead of him in this column.

• Olli Jokinen
• Cal Clutterbuck
• Nathan Horton
• Jason Chimera
• Scott Hartnell
• David Clarkson

ARE YOU F&#$^#G KIDDING ME??  Kovalchuk is currently making $6 million dollars this season, which jumps to $11 million next season. Now admittedly, the cap hit stays at 6.667 million each season but we are still spending a boat load of money on the guy and guys like Cal Clutterbuck and David Clarkson are outscoring him? Plus, we have to add on to this that Kovalchuk is ahead of all these guys when it comes to TOI/G.

I’m being serious here when I say this. The Devils have come off a horrible weekend and are 0-3 on their current road trip, heading into Toronto which doesn’t make me feel good about not going 0-4. There are lots of problems everywhere with this team but I do believe the main problem starts with (not ends with) #17. He’s not the kind of guy that fits in the type of team we have. We aren’t getting a lot of offense from him and his defense is pure crap.  I’ve seen countless guys with less talent come on to this team and succeed. You need an example, how about Jeff Friesen or even Jason Arnott 1.0? Both guys weren’t supposed to do much when they got here and did exactly the opposite.

If I had to do it all over again, Kovalchuk wouldn’t be in NJ and the money used to sign him would have been used on either a #1 center or a true #1 defenseman and I would probably go defenseman first.  I know I can’t change what has been done but I don’t see Kovalchuk ever changing his way. He spends too much time on the ice and and is making too many mistakes. He’s become the centerpiece of this team but doesn’t play like other centerpieces in the league and doesn’t really appear to care about that either. It’s going to be a long contract that we will argue over for many, MANY year so thanks Lou, you royally screwed this team and we STILL owe the NHL of our first round picks.

And that my friends is what can be extremely frustrating about this team. A few weeks ago when the Devils played the Kings, DeBoer mentioned after that game that the effort put forth that night was probably the best he had seen this season. Well if that were true about that game then you can honestly say that last night was the worst we’ve seen this team play this season.

Last night’s game reminded me so much of the John MacLean era I sit here and wonder if we’ve really moved on from that? There were so many breakdowns last night and getting blown out by a team we should have beaten. The Avs have the worst home record in the league and have managed to score 24 goals at home so far this season. How could the Devils let them run up the score and only manage to find the net once?

This, after a home and home against the Islanders that saw us barely beat them on Friday and not be able to contain them at home on Saturday, which I might mention the Islanders hadn’t won on the road yet this season. This team has been in a downward spiral since that Florida game where they lost a 3-0 lead.

I watch A LOT of hockey, just ask my wife and when I watch other teams and then switch back to the Devils, I just feel like there is something missing. I don’t know what it is but there is a hole there.  Whatever it is, they need to figure it out. Now admittedly it is December and the Devils are currently  10th in the Conference and sitting with some decent teams, Washington, Tampa Bay and Montreal so it might not be as bad as I feel this morning.

Debra's MUD award tonight goes to Peter DeBoer because he obviously doesn't have this team focused.

But the Devils do need to come back with a strong effort against the Wild, who lead the NHL with 33 points. They have played some of their better games this season against better competition so maybe, just maybe Friday night will erase this feeling.

Watch It: MSG+   Listen To It: 660 AM

The Last 10 Games:  Colorado is 3-7-0 while NJ is 6-4-0

Know Your Enemy: or in this case Enemies!! JibbleScribbits & Anyone But Detroit

What We Think of the Avalanche:  I still hate the Avs for the 2001 defeat in the Finals but that’s ancient history at this point. The current  Avs are a team that is struggling to win games. Surprisingly, the reason I think they are struggling is due to the man that is supposed to be stopping pucks from going in the net. The Avs spent a 1st round  pick in trading for Semyon Varlamov over the summer and the guy has been downright horrible. Apparently though, the whole entire team is filled with a bunch of girls, but I’ll get to that in a minute..
 
What To Expect Tonight: Put the Islanders game behind us. It was a BAD call made by the guys in Toronto and we were cheated out of a point. Instead of dwelling on that fact, let’s get fired up about it and stick it to a bad Avs team. Hopefully that call will light a fire under Parise because he’s been too quiet outside of the shootout.
The Power Play has been getting a lot of attention because of its continued suckage. At this point, I’d like to see the Devils just forget about the power play and roll their regular lines during any opportunity. Something needs to change so why not just try to start there? Maybe, just maybe they’ll start putting some in and gain some confidence on the PP or at the very least, stop giving up shorty’s!!

Be smart with the puck. The Devils turn it over way too much which creates opportunities for the other team. Need evidence, just look back at the last game. Islanders killed us by scoring goals on our turnovers.

Apparently we are playing a bunch of girls tonight or so says the Colorado Avalanche PR department!!

Players to Watch:

Matt Duchene has 9 goals and 8 assists so far this season. While he doesn’t lead the team in assists, he does so in goals and points so he’s certainly the biggest threat to keeping the Avs in the game tonight. He plays with some pretty good guys on his line as well as Milan Hejduk and Paul Stastny are #’s 2 and 3 in points on the team, right behind Duchene. Bottom line, stop their top line.

I still say that I’ve been fairly unimpressed with the play of Zach Parise this season. Sure, he’s lights out when it comes to the shootout and while he does have 6 goals this season, I thought he’d be more visible. There are times where I just think he disappears while he’s out there. It is time for him to step up and take control of this team, take control of the power play and start showing us why we should entertain the idea of driving the money trucks up his driveway this summer.

…and finally: There was a story in my local paper this morning that had to do with the NJ Devils organization. Back in October, a police officer in one of the towns near my house was killed while he was on duty. A drunk driver slammed into his police cruiser in the early hours on October 16th. The Devils have announced that they will dedicate one of their Zambonis to the memory of Office Joseph Wargo.  While he wasn’t really a hockey fan, he was an accomplished power lifter he loved all sports and would have appreciated the gesture. Bravo to the Devils organization for their recognition of Joe Wargo. The Zamboni will be dedicated at the next home game, Dec 8th, against the Ottawa Senators.

There is no question in anyone’s mind that the start to the Devils 2011/2012 season has been much more enjoyable than the start they got under head coach John MacLean last season. But, that doesn’t mean there aren’t problems or things to worry about.

First, let’s look at some of the good things about this team. The one thing to take away from the first quarter is that there is certainly hope about the future. Adam Larsson looks to be a very promising young defender and Adam Henrique has certainly delivered when the team has needed him to. Zubrus, Elias and Clarkson are all playing at levels we haven’t seen in recent years and Hedburg has once again proved how valuable he is to this team.

The Devils have had their fair share of injuries this season. Marty missed a bunch of games to begin the season, Ilya Kovalchuk had a stretch of 5 games where he watched from the cheap seats, Jacob Josefson has been shelved for 3-4 months with a broken collarbone and our #1 center has yet to even practice with the team this season but despite the injuries, the Devils have found ways to win.

If all that is going on and the Devils are within striking distance of the playoffs, why do I feel like I am waiting for the other shoe to drop? Let me tell you why…

• The Power Play is awful, plain awful. It’s bad enough that the power play can’t seem to score but we’ve let in too many shorthanded goals. I personally think the Devils should just roll their regular lines during the power play at this point. Maybe that will ease the stress that the Devils seem to experience when up a man. Obviously, Elias and Kovy as point men where the defensemen should be is creating too many shorthanded chances.

• A buddy of mine used to joke that the Devils were a “third period team.” Ok, it wasn’t a joke, the third period used to be a great period for us but this season, we’ve lost a lot of leads in the third period.

• Ilya Kovalchuk, our superstar, the guy we’ve paid so much money to only has 4 goals. I know he was hurt but he needs to step it up in the goal scoring department. I mean David Clarkson has more goals. Maybe he should be moved back to left wing because he’s obviously more comfortable over there.

• Figure out the fourth line. Look at the teams that win the cup. They successfully roll 4 lines. DeBoer’s refusal to play the fourth line in the 3rd is just plain stupid.
And finally, the biggest issue for me this season:

• Name our best defenseman…………………. (I’m still waiting!!)………………….(Can’t do it can you??)……

Even with all that, I do feel the Devils are going in the right direction. We learned last year that the slow start was the nail in our coffin. We’ve had a decent start this year and are right outside of being a playoff team. I don’t expect the Devils to get on a tear like they did when Lemaire came in last season but if they can improve a little bit or even sustain what they’ve been doing, there is no reason to think they couldn’t grab a spot in the playoffs, even if it was the  6, 7 or 8th spot. 

The one thing I know for definite, I am on board with Peter DeBoer as our head coach, which is something I certainly couldn’t say about John MacLean 1 year ago.