The Matchup: New Jersey Devils (11-8-1) at New York Islanders (5-10-4)

3:00 pm

TV/Radio: MSG PLUS 2, MSG PLUS (HD)/WFAN 660 AM

Know Your Enemy: Islanders Hockey Blog

What We Think of The Islanders: Ouch. The Islanders are coming off of a terrible loss, blowing a 3-1 lead in OT against the Flyers. That pretty much sums up their season so far. They’ve only won twice since October 15th and find themselves in the basement of the Atlantic Division. Despite these numbers though, the Islanders have shown flashes of offensive brilliance – such as scoring 3 goals in a row in their last game against the Flyers. If goaltender Rick DiPietro can start playing better, the Islanders may just be able to pull out some more wins. (Let’s just hope this doesn’t happen today or tomorrow).

Today’s Game: Today’s game is the first of a home-and-home series against the Islanders. The Devils are fresh off of their shootout win against Columbus on Wednesday. The Devils love to win in OT and the SO, but I really hope they can start winning more in regulation especially games like today’s against division opponents. This is the first of six meetings between these two teams. The Devils went 4-2-0 against the Islanders last season.

 

FUN FACT:

Dainius Zubrus became the 267th player to appear in 1000 NHL games on November 16th at Buffalo. Congratulations, Dainius!

 

GO DEVILS!!

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The Last 10 Games:  Blue Jackets are 4-5-1 while the Devils are 6-4-0

Know Your Enemy: Light the Lamp

What We Think of the Blue Jackets:  I really thought the Blue Jackets would be much better this season. We saw Jeff Carter at least 6 times a season for a number of years and we know firsthand his ability to destroy the opposition. Teaming him up with Rick Nash was, I thought, a can’t miss. Vinny Prospal was so valuable to Marian Gaborik two years ago in NY, adding him to the mix I thought put the Blue Jackets over the top. But, there they are, at the bottom of the standing yet again. They are coming of back to back wins, which is something they hadn’t done in 42 games. OUCH!!

What To Expect Tonight: Let’s just forget that we are playing a team that sits at the bottom of the standings as opposed to the top. Treat this like we’ve treated the last few games against Boston, Buffalo and Florida. Speaking of Florida, let’s not repeat that performance. It was great to get up by three goals in the first but the Devils boarded their plane early and let the Panthers come back and win in regulation. Not even a point to show for it.

The Jackets have, in my opinion 4 guys that can easily put the puck in the net. Carter, Nash, Prospal and Umberger are guys that always make me nervous when they touch the puck. The Devils defense will certainly have their hands full with these four tonight.

I would expect to see a lot of Fedor Fyutin and James Wisniewski tonight, who are two very good defenseman on the Jackets roster and also two guys that aren’t easily intimidated. Beyond that you have Curtis Sanford who is doing a great job in place of the injured Steve Mason. Sanford has a 1.46 GAA and a .940 save percentage and has stopped 80 of the 85 shots sent his way.

I think it’s pretty clear that the Blue Jackets need a lot more respect than their record of 5-13-2 would suggest.

Players To Watch:

For Columbus, it has to be none other than Jeff Carter. How many times did Jeff Carter put the hurt to us while he was in a Flyers uniform? He’s back from injury and he’s starting to look comfortable in his new surroundings. He’s coming off a game where he found the back of the net twice and has 3 goals in his last 2 games. The last thing Devils fans want to see is a confident, streaking Jeff Carter.

If you are a regular reader of this site, you know this probably kills me but yes, I will be watching David Clarkson tonight. He seems to be finding confidence this season and I have to say that Peter DeBoer’s belief in Clarkson is the reason why. DeBoer was Clarkson’s coach in Kitchener where the two won the Memorial Cup together in 2003. Clarkson has 3 goals and 1 assist over the last 4 games for the Devils. With tough defensemen like Wisniewski and Fyutin on the ice tonight, Clarkson is going to have to be a little scrappy tonight.

Line Combinations:

Petr Sykora - Patrik Elias - Dainius Zubrus
Zach Parise - Adam Henrique - Ilya Kovalchuk
Nick Palmieri - Ryan Carter - David Clarkson
Mattias Tedenby - Tim Sestito - Cam Janssen
 
Andy Greene - Adam Larsson
Henrik Tallinder - Mark Fayne
Bryce Salvador - Anton Volchenkov
 
Martin Brodeur will make his fourth straight start between the pipes.

...Adn Finally:

This is our 3rd season of bringing you our Devils commentary and I can’t thank you enough for being part of it. So whether you visit the site on a regular basis or you get our input through our iPhone app, Thank You!! Without you, this site wouldn’t exist. I’m extremely thankful that you guys keep coming back to read our stuff. A special thanks goes out to Deb has been a part of this site for the past couple of months. She really is a great writer and extremely knowledgeable about hockey and the Devils and we are all very lucky to have her onboard.

All of us here at Running With The Devils and Bloguin wish you and your families the happiest of Thanksgivings. Enjoy yourselves!!

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Watch: MSG Plus 2 : Listen: 660 AM

Last 10 Games: New Jersey 5-5-0; Tampa Bay 6-4-0

Know Your Enemy:  Lightning Hockey Blog

What We Think of TB: The have great scoring ability but for some reason are content on bring boring hockey back to the NHL. Their 1-3-1 is absolutely mind numbing and this, coming from a Devils fan!!

Tonight: Keep doing what they did in Buffalo. The offense was in high gear all night and the defense looked pretty good as well. Marty probably played his best game of the season and wil; be in net tonight. Stay out of the box because TB can be deadly when up a man. I kind of want to see Cam Jannsen kick Steve Downie's ass but that would mean our 4th line against their 1st line and that didn't work so well in Buffalo.

Projected Lines:

Zach Parise - Adam Henrique - Ilya Kovalchuk
Petr Sykora - Patrik Elias - Dainius Zubrus
Nick Palmieri - Ryan Carter - David Clarkson
Mattias Tedenby - Brad Mills - Cam Janssen

Henrik Tallinder - Mark Frayne
Andy Greene - Adam Larsson
Bryce Salvador - Anton Volchenkov

Martin Brodeur

Guest blogger Dana W kept up with the Devils and Sabres game for us. Hopwfully we will see more from him around these parts. Thank you Dana!!

I know I am supposed to write a recap, but today, I am going to 'recap' for you Devil fans as the action unfolds. This might get a bit long winded, but I dont want to leave anything out. 
As I sit here, waiting for the game to start, wearing my throw back 'Christmas Colors' #30, I am pondering if we have what it takes to make it to the play offs this season. In my last report I talked about how proud I was even though we lost, and last nights game reaffirmed what I had said. We really are a contender, going goal for goal. Our current rank and points do not reflect it, but I believe we really are getting better with every game. We were very close to beating, or at least capturing that 'one point' last night against the Bruins. Yes we fell short in the last 3 minutes, but do not forget they are the defending Cup winners. We have played HARD against teams that are ranked higher then us. This is another one of those games. 
I see #17 is out on the ice, that is a relief. Even though we are 3-2 with him sidelined, it is always good to see our power winger back on the ice. I expect great things from him this game. 



The puck just dropped. Let the game commence. 

OH YES! Short handed goal 2:06 in! Man I hope Lou can do something to keep Zach Parise in town next season. He is carrying the team, and he truly is the captain we needed last season to rally the troops. 
Its now 4 on 4 and Parise ALMOST sunk another one. I dont think I can write enough about his skills and his team work. His dedication, devotion, and on ice finesse is truly awe-inspiring. 
Kovalchuk just flings one past Enroth and through the pipes. Beautiful! That is what we pay him the big bucks for. What a way to come out strong. Oddly enough, Brodeur is given credit for an assist. 
I tell yea it is awesome to be able to watch the game as it happens. Not online and not in a bar on a super-low-def TV with no sound. I live in Phillys Comcast market, so when they are home, well I dont watch hockey those nights. 
Parise and Kovalchuk, what a great pair. Nice cross ice pass with Kovy taking an off angle one time shot that just went wide. 
Even though we are currently 2-0, and we are looking like a team on fire, we having found ourselves in the same hole, climbed out, and won. While I try to keep my spirits up, we DID just hit Enroth, which is a big issue for buffalo, whos other goalie, Miller, was laid out in an earlier game. That might have just rattled their bench enough get them in the game. 
Yikes! Pipe ringer! Gotta control that puck guys! 
Buffalo charging in again and goes wide at the tip of the crease. Yeah, they are awake, Brodeur is working hard to keep the puck in play and out of the net. 
Another successful PK, but, Carter is back in the box not even 3 seconds on the ice.
Buffalo just capitalized on Carters stick indiscretions. Brodeur was fighting hard for that and the puck just squirmed its way out of the pack and was an easy chip in. 
First 20 down. 40 left to go. NJ 2 Buf 1




WHAT HAPPENED? We come out looking sloppy! Bad passes, turning over the puck, and getting out skated. 
Spending way to much time in our end of the ice and I dont like it. Buffalo must have gotten quite the pep-talk in the intermission, they are playing strong. We are looking so sloppy, its depressing. The first period we were a playing like we wanted to win, we desired the win, we determined to win. Now, we are giving up way to many chances, and way to many bad passes. 
Henrique almost puts it in, wins the face off and Fayne finishes it off! 3-1 now! Apparently we were just a bit sleepy? Now we are swarming all over Buffalo. We went from giving away shots to taking charge and firing everything at the net that was fit to shoot. We have become really good at the face-off-quick shot to the top shelf. Sykora has done it twice and now Fayne follows up with the same method for his first goal. 
Zubrus is hit HARD and drops. No penalty? I guess it was a clean hit, just really dirty in my book. 
Brodeur is just acting like he is in his 20's again. Stacking the pads and up-side-down flying glove catch. Twice now he reminds the sabers why he is a legend.  
40 minutes elapsed, Devils 3 Sabers 1





Lets close out these last 20 with a big fat W and 2 points in regulation. 
Buffalo had only 4 SOG, but they were very aggressive in our zone. 
Did we just set up the trap? The ol' Jersey TRAP PLAY? 
That just set up Elias to hit a one timer past Enroth! 
THIS is Devils hockey! Hard aggressive offense with the neutral zone trap play. 
Wow, what a game this has turned out to be. 
What just happened..? Myers just beat the glove and short side of Brodeur to bring them to 2. 
CLARKSON with the breakaway and makes it a 3 point game again! Say what you will about how much of a piece of wet paper he is in a fight, the man can finally hit the broad side of a barn, and hit it well. When was the last time that the Devils put 5 up on the board and had LESS SOG then their opponent? I keep saying this, WHAT HAPPENED? Where was this Jersey offense before? I thought they were playing hard, but now, they are playing WELL. The second period must have been a fluke. Passes are crisp, hits are hard, and they are swarming again. 
Leopold just bounced one past Marty, he had a pad on it, but it just wasnt enough. Two point game again with just under 5 ticks on the clock. 
HA Clarkson wants to fight.. PLEASE please dont.. 
Empty net, can we take advantage of this? No, but it doesnt matter.
The horn sounds and the Devils have posted 5 goals and played such an awesome game. 

Devils be proud!

Watch It: Versus (but no Doc) or Listen To It: 660 AM WFAN

The Last 10 Games: Buffalo is 6-4-0 while NJ is 5-5-0

Know Your Enemy:

What We Think of the Sabres: The Northeast division will be an interesting one to watch this season because I expected Boston and Montreal to top the division and Toronto and Ottawa to round out the division with Buffalo stuck in the middle. It hasn’t turned out that way and the question is, will it?  Quick, name the 3 top Sabres leading the team in points. I couldn’t do it either and guessed Vanek was probably #1, which he is but I didn’t come up with Pominville or Roy as 2 and 3. What I know about the Sabres is Thomas Vanek and Ryan Miller and that Lindy Ruff is a genius so I guess that’s what Buffalo is playing so well.

What To Expect Tonight: You will see #17 on the ice tonight. It has been confirmed that Ilya Kovalchuk will skate tonight against the Sabres after missing the last 5 games. Let’s hope the time away from the ice has made him extra hungry because we could sure use a few goals from him.

Here is what I am worried about going into tonight’s game. Playing on back to back nights is always tough but when you play a physical team like the Bruins in the first game, your second game usually suffers. If the Devils fall behind early, will they have enough energy to dig themselves out?

Everyone has read the whole Ryan Miller saga over the last few days so we know he won’t be playing tonight but honestly, I think Enroth has been playing better hockey anyway. Usually I like when we face a team’s backup goalie but not tonight.
Did I mention that the Devils have struggled (and that’s putting it nicely!!) on the power play recently? A quick look at the stats and we see that Bufalo is 3rd in the league on the PK. That doesn’t give me warm fuzzy feelings about tonight.

Players To Watch:

Nick Palmieri: Yes, Palmieri hasn’t been visible much over the last 5 games but he’s coming off a game that should give him some confidence. He averages about 13 of ice time per game so he’s getting enough time out there. Hopefully he can continue to do things tonight that he did last night. For instance, I thought he played the positional game very well. He was in the right spot last night when Andy Greene found him in front of the net and again was in a good position to finish what Adam Henrique had started.

Thomas Vanek: What can’t you say about this guy? It seems like every time I play the Sabres using any of the EA NHL games, Thomas Vanek ALWAYS kills me and that translates to the real world. He’s deadly with the puck and has been off to a pretty good start this season with 11 goals and 11 assists. With Pominville playing on his line who will need attention, that does nothing but create time and space for a guy like Vanek. DEADLY!! I wouldn’t be surprised to see him on the scoresheet tonight.

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The Last 10 Games: Boston is 6-4-0 while NJ is 5-5-0

Know Your Enemy: Days of Yorr (one of the best blogs in the Bloguin family!!)

What We Think of the Bruins: I wasn’t really paying much attention to the Bruins early on in the season but a few weeks ago I glanced at the standings and to my surprise, the defending cup champs were dead last in the Eastern Conference. Talk about a cup hangover!! But things have changed and Julien shuffled some lines and by doing so, woke up his team.They’ve been surging recently and are playing the kind of hockey I was expecting the Bruins to be playing this season.

What To Expect Tonight: Sounds like Kovy might skate in the pre-game warm up but it sounds like he won’t be playing tonight. There’s a lot of confusion among the reporters who follow the Devils around as to what is going on with him so I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens tonight.

The Bruins are hot right now and the Devils, we’ll they haven’t been playing poorly either. The Devils have shown that they are a team that doesn’t give up when the opposition finds twine first. A year ago, I would be saying that’s all the Bruins need to do to win but DeBoer must be preaching something in the locker room because the Devils have had an ability to battle back and win games this season after getting down early. The Bruins might get on the board first because they are playing outstanding hockey at the moment, especially the Sequin/Marchant/Bergeron line. The one thing the Devils have to minimize tonight is the Bruins ability to find the back of the net quickly after scoring the initial goal. That’s been their thing recently and it really has proven to take their opponents out of the game.

Boston is great at blocking shots so the Devils can’t be picky tonight. If the puck ends up on your stick and you can see the goal, just rip it. Eventually something is going to get through and the more you throw at the net, the more chance of something sticking. Don’t be undisciplined because the Bruins PP unit has been playing above average over their 5 game winning streak.”

Like the other night in Washington, the Devils have a pretty big task waiting for them tonight. The Bruins proved last Spring how difficult winning in Boston can be for the opposition and while the beginning of the season was slow for the Bruins, I think they are starting to remember that.

Players To Watch:

Adam Henrique: While he had a quiet weekend in the home and home series against the Washington Capitals, he's still one of the better Devils over the last 5 games. He has 4 goals and 1 assist in those 5 games including 2 straight games where the GWG came from his stick. Even though he was held scoreless against the Caps, he had 28 shifts on Friday night and 29 shifts on Saturday and averaged close to 20 mins of ice time in the two games. Not bad for a rookie.

Tyler Sequin: He leads the Boston Bruins in Goals (11) and Points (20) and is second on their list when it comes to assists. What does this mean? He's having a pretty good start to the season and the Devils defense will have to do their best to keep this guy quiet. The Bruins have started slow this season but are starting to come alive and I have to believe that the play of Sequin is one of the reasons why.

Probable Line Combinations

Zach Parise - Adam Henrique - Nick Palmieri
Petr Sykora - Patrik Elias - Dainius Zubrus
Mattias Tedenby - Ryan Carter - David Clarkson
Vladimir Zharkov - Brad Mills - Cam Janssen

Andy Greene - Adam Larsson
Henrik Tallinder - Mark Fayne
Bryce Salvador - Anton Volchenkov

Enjoy the Game ... LET'S GO DEVILS!!

Give the Devils credit, they not only went into a tough arena and got the win, but they did so after falling into a 2-0 hole. In fact, they were down by 2, being completely dominated in their own zone and took a penalty but found a way to kill it off. Petr Sykora then got the Devils within 1 by scoring what's becoming his kind of goal, ripping a wrist shot past the goalie. Carter then got his first on a feed from Salvador. That score held up until the shootout where goals by Parise and Clarkson got the Devils the extra point. DeBoer really believes in Clarkson but better than that, has NJ really believing in themselves when they find themselves in a hole. Lou did the right thing hiring this guy! Devils head to Boston to take on the champs Tuesday night.

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (7-6-1) vs Washington Capitals (10-4-0)

TV/Radio: MSG +/660 AM WFAN

Know Your Enemy: Rock the Red

Season Series: This is the second meeting of the season and the second time this weekend we play the Caps. Washington knocked us off at home last night 3-1

What We Think of the Capitals: Not much has changed in our eyes since we discussed them yesterday. They are still an offensive power house and we don't me offensive like Ovie calling his coach a "fat f***" while on the bench.

Tonight’s Game: They didn't play a horrible game last night but once the Caps took the lead, the Devils looked defeated despite the time left to go in the game. Play the full 60 tonight, other than that, the same things I talked about yesterday need to be done. Control the puck, put pressure on their defense and minimize the amount of time the Capitals offense has with the puck.

I'm guessing we will see Hedberg tonight instead of Marty.

It's not going to be an easy game. I said I'd be happy with a split this weekend and I still feel that way, I just really thought we'd win at home and lose on the road. I believe they can find their game and find a way to win in what I consider a tough building to steal a win in.

Enjoy the game. GO DEVILS!!!

This was a recap I received via email but I don't know who sent it. I the owner wants to contact me via email I would appreciate that.




 The Devils may have lost, but they didn't go down with out a fight. The actual score only tells part of the story, for those who did not get a chance to watch the game, be proud of your Devils. They fought hard against one of the true regular season power houses and only really 'gave up' one goal. The other two, in this writers opinion, were dumb luck. T

he Devils held the Caps scoreless to late in the second when the puck bounced off of Ovechkins leg and dropped right in front of him, and he was able to sling it past Brodeur from about two feet. The second goal came short handed. Why? WHY? did we call for a line change when they have the puck on a break away? This set up a one on one, and those rarely end well for the goalie. Two devils on their way to the bench had an opportunity to cut off the puck in the neutral zone, but they went to the bench instead.

 The nail in the coffin was Brodeur way out of the crease and the caps basically had an empty net. I saw no reason for him to be that far out of the pipes. His reaction was phenomenal though, IF he was where he should have been, the puck would have been brick walled. Instead he was about 4 feet from the goal, and its not hard to get past a goalie who isn't there. That's the scoring summary, but that doesn't tell the whole story. We drew first blood with a beautiful top shelf that had to fly through traffic. We were actually shooting the puck, not playing with it. I counted AT LEAST three post ringers, which means we had the goalie beat, it just didn't cross the thin red line. We dominated the offensive zone for most of the game it seemed, we took chances, took shots, took hits, and fought hard. I'm proud of the game we lost. The Devils are looking so much better than last season. Let's see if we can have revenge tonight.

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (7-5-1) vs Washington Capitals (9-4-0)

TV/Radio: MSG +/660 AM WFAN

Know Your Enemy: Rock the Red

Season Series: This is the first meeting of the season between these two teams. Washington easily won the season series last season 3-1 and outscored NJ 15-8 in those 4 games. This is the beginning of a home and home against Washington.

What We Think of the Capitals: Always a dangerous team. Every time you look at the ice you can find a guy capable of making the goalie look bad. I’m amazed that they don’t score 5 goals every night. The Caps goaltending situation leaves a lot to be desired though. Both goalies are decent but every time I watch them, I expect them to be better. The biggest story in the Caps division has to be that the Caps are in 2nd place looking up at the Florida Panthers. Wait, what? That HAS to be a misprint right?

Tonight’s Game: The Devils are looking for their fourth straight win tonight. All eyes will surely be looking at Devils rookie Adam Henrique. If you don’t know, Henrique has two straight game-winning goals and has scored 4 goals in the last three games. His goal scoring will certainly be needed at Kovalchuk has been ruled out of both games against the Capitals.

The Caps are an offensive power house. Just take a look at their stats: they are ranked 2nd in goals per game, 3rd in PP success rate and 12th when it comes to shots per game. The Caps make the most out of their shooting opportunities.

If NJ wants the win, they have to do one thing tonight. Control the puck. If the Devils can control the puck and out shoot the Caps, then they just might stand a chance tonight. That’s what happened against the Flyers last week.

I’ll be interested to see how Marty does tonight. He had a great game the other night against the Hurricanes and hopefully he can build off of that for tonight.

Let’s be honest with ourselves for a minute. The Capitals are among the elite teams in this league and I’d be happy if we can come away from this weekend with a 1-1 record.

Enjoy the game. GO DEVILS!!!

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