We’ve had a few days now to sit back and process how the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs ended for our New Jersey Devils. That’s not to say the past few days have been easy because they haven’t been. Yesterday would have been Game 7 had the Devils found a way to win on Monday night and yesterday also happened to be Peter DeBoer’s birthday. So, knowing now that we could have had the opportunity to deliver a cup to DeBoer on his birthday was a little hard to swallow yesterday. None the less, we shouldn’t let the fact the NJ came up a little short in their run for the cup take away from all the achievements we saw them make this Spring. Afterall, the team went from missing the playoffs to ending up 2 games short of a cup. Nothing to be ashamed of there.

Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals

If you had told DeBoer  last summer when he took the Devils job that the first team he would face in the playoffs would be the team he just left, I don’t know if he would have believed you. The Devils entered this series as the NHL’s hottest team having won the final 6 games in the regular season. The Panthers were struggling to get wins entering the playoffs but deserved respect because of the veterans there with massive playoff experience. As Devils fans, the one thing I think we can take away from that series is that having the number 1 penalty kill during the regular season means absolutely nothing when it comes to the playoffs. It failed us over and over and we were lucky to survive. Panther’s defenseman Jason Garrison had a canon of a shot and was deadly on the power play but he ended up missing a few games which ended up being a huge advantage for us. Marty didn’t have a strong opening to this series but once we blew a 3 goal first period lead and lost 4-3 at home in Game 3 and then lost 3-0 in Game 5, a different Marty showed up. He’s the main reason Henrique had the chance to bury the Panthers in double OT in Game 7. It was a great win and a great confidence builder as the Devils finally got out of the first round.

 

Eastern Conference Semi-Finals

The last time we made the playoffs was the 2009/2010 season when we ran head on into the Philadelphia Flyers, the eventual Eastern Conference Champion. In that year, they out played us, out muscled us and sent us home in 5 games. It was a horrible way to end Kovalchuk’s first playoff run with us. Many at the time questioned if the failures in the playoffs would keep us from resigning Kovalchuk, which of course it didn’t. This time, we were running into a Flyers team that just knocked out the team that 99% of the hockey universe predicted to win the cup. The Flyers were a physical team that made Pittsburgh lose their composure time and time again. After an OT loss in Game 1, the Devils found their game, found their patience and sent the Flyers the Flyers home in 5. There were a few reasons that the Devils were able to move on in this series but the main reason was the ability to frustrate the Flyers by not engaging in all the after the whistle nonsense that the Flyers like to try and pull you into. Many will talk about the Claude Giroux hit/suspension that kept the NHL’s leading scorer out of an elimination game. The thing to remember about this series is that DeBoer had all the right answers. The final goal of the series would come on a bizarre mistake made by goaltender Ilya Bryzaglov.

 

Eastern Conference Finals

1994 was front and center when the New Jersey Devils faced off against the New York Rangers. It was the last time we faced the Rangers in such an important series, the last time the Rangers had a successful season and there was no way New York was going to let us forget 1994. Afterall, it’s really all they have!!  It was a tough series, a complete battle every night. The Rangers won Game 1 because of their ability to block shots and after the game DeBoer was asked about that. He responded by saying that shot blocking can’t be the story of the series and the Devils did an excellent job solving that puzzle and finding a way to get pucks to the net. The Devils won 2 of 3 games in the Madison Square Garden and finished off the Rangers in 6 at home in OT. Once again, Adam Henrique would step up in OT and put home the winning goal. Doc Emerick’s call on Henrique’s goal will go down as legendary. As Henrique put the puck in the net, Doc exclaimed “IT’S OVER!!!” which some can take as him meaning the series was over but I think most Devils fans took it to mean that the constant reminder of the Stephan Matteau goal, the constant reminder of the “Guarantee” was over. Those demons are buried forever and should a Rangers fan bring that up at this point, we will be able to just move on.  The Devils won this series behind a very strong Marty Brodeur who stole Game 5 in Madison Square Garden in order to give NJ the chance.

 

Stanley Cup Finals

No one expected NJ to get this far in the playoffs, other than the organization itself of course. No one really expected LA to get here either but they steam rolled the top 3 teams in the West to get here. It became clear early on in Game 1 that these two teams were very even and that this series was going to come down to the men between the pipes. The Kings won Game 1 in OT on a Kopitar goal and then Game 2 in OT on a Jeff Carter goal. They would continue their winning ways in Game 3 that put NJ in a 3-0 hole. Give NJ credit, the scratched and clawed their way back to 3-2 before losing in LA in Game 6. Lots has been made about Bernier’s hit in Game 6 that led to a 5 minute major and 3 PP goals by the Kings as the point in which NJ lost the series. I’ll argue while that was bad, losing both games at home to start was the bigger issue. Other issues that led to the Devils coming up short was the inability to solve Jonathon Quick, another horrible showing by the PK unit and an ailing Ilya Kovalchuk didn’t provide one once of offense.

Like I’ve said, I am bummed about not winning the cup but this team did so much along the way that I am still proud to call myself a Devils fan. Then there was this little gem that happened during the final interviews with the Devils as they cleaned out their locker. We don’t know what the future holds for Zach Parise and the Devils but he gave us one last awesome little clip before he heads into free agency..

Thank you Zach, this is just another example of why we love you!!!

I get asked a lot why I write this hockey blog because it does require a lot of time, a lot of thought and isn’t something I get paid to do. I love hockey and I love the Devils, it’s that simple but from time to time someone will email me a piece that they wrote because they just wanted to share it with someone and having this place allows me to turn around and share it with a number of people. Last night I received an email from “Liz” who said I had to read this essay that a friend of hers wrote. It’s an excellent essay, parts of which I can definitely relate to and one that I just had to share. Enjoy!!


May 27th, 1994

Matteau!  Matteau!  Matteau!

The common theory among the general public and most media members is that Stephane Matteau’s only career highlight is somehow a black mark in the history of the New Jersey Devils.  A painful wound that re-opens upon the mere sound of Howie Rose’s exuberance as he utters the infamous name of a formerly nameless player.    For those who are fortunate enough to know better, the opposite is in fact the truth.  The evening of May 27th 1994, was the launching point for what has been a truly spectacular run of excellence spanning 18 incredible years.  At the time of the goal, I was a 16 year old kid watching the game at Timmy’s place, drinking whatever type of booze we could get our hands on and smoking a pack of Marlboro’s I stole from my old man.  The goaltender that night, Marty Brodeur.  When the puck dropped last night, I found myself on the couch in my own home, nearly 35 years old and with my 2 children safely tucked in their beds.  The goaltender of course, Marty Brodeur.  Although the outcome of this series with the Kings was disappointing, it would be terribly shortsighted to not reflect on the stunning achievements of this organ-I-zation.

I write this as a lifelong fan of the single most underappreciated team in American Professional sports, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.  Opposing fans and sportswriters begin every Devils post-mortem talking about both the financial and personnel problems that await.  This morning was no different.  If you believe what you read, the Devils will be bankrupt, Parise will have split and there won’t be enough money to re-sign the face of the franchise to put back between the pipes for a proper farewell tour.  The problem with these stories is that we’ve heard them all before.  The Devils have been in financial trouble according to our local scribes since the day they set up shop at Exit16W.  As for players defections, it was curtains when Niedermayer left, same for Holik, Gomez, Rafalski and even Paul Martin and yet somehow, miraculously , here we are again, one of the last 2 teams still playing into mid-June.  Should Parise jump ship for supposed greener pastures, rest assured we’ll read more stories about the franchise’s imminent demise, but I’ll let you in on a little secret…we’ll be ok.

Since that fateful day 18 years ago, the Devils have won 3 Stanley Cups, appeared in 5 finals, and won the Atlantic Division 9 times.  These numbers are staggering.  It is within these numbers that I can rest easy after reading another article about how futile the team is about to become.  Words like “irrelevant” and “afterthought” are used most often when the media looks to poke holes in the only place it really can, which is apparently the total number of folks who support the team.  I suppose if my job was to cover the other team from the Big City I’d resort to those tactics as well.  If on-ice accomplishments were the measuring stick, it’s quite simply too lopsided to seriously warrant a discussion   The low-blows have become less effective as year after year we watch this Devils club re-invent themselves and find new ways to win.   There are no sticks or stones that can be thrown to erase a nearly 2 decade run of greatness.  The sample size is too large, I expect to win every night.   And why shouldn’t I? This is not a story of a little engine that could, no sir.  This has been a team fueled by Hall of Famers in their prime, from The Captain Scotty Stevens to Niedermayer, Marty to Elias, and now Parise and Kovalchuk, this Devil team is properly armed every year to make a deep run.  It’s not my issue that more people aren’t paying attention, last I checked they don’t put attendance on the cup.

During the first round of this season’s run against Florida, I found myself outside between periods catching a smoke as I like to do from time to time. I took a peek over and standing next to me were 2 kids, both looked to be about 16, both smoking cigarettes, felt like I was looking into a mirror.  I nodded and asked them what they thought of the game “we look good, Marty’s playing awesome” , just then a  “Rangers suck” chant broke out, the kids joined in then turned to me “that team is so overrated, every year”.  Some things never change.  “Get used to it kid ”I said, I high-fived one of them and strolled back in to watch the Devils man up and take down a must-win game 4, Marty was sharp, of course he was.  I smiled thinking about those 2 degenerates, hoping that their next 18 years as Devil fans can bring them the same sense of comfort and euphoria that I just experienced. Deep down, I know it will, Scotty Stevens said it best, “The Devils always find a way to win, that will continue”, who am I to argue with the Captain. 

Last night was painful, there is no denying that. A lot is being made about the Bernier hit and I will admit that I was frustrated about it last night. The refs clearly missed a hit on Gionta, which led to Bernier taking his frustrations out on Scuderi. Was it a dumb hit? Yes.  Should it have been a major penalty? It was a hit from behind that resulted in blood so technically, yes. Regardless, he shouldn’t have even put himself in the situation of allowing the ref to call that.

To say NJ didn’t play a great game would be an understatement. They didn’t respond well to the major penalty and before we knew it, we were 3-0 in the hole, which didn’t have to be the end of the world. There was plenty of hockey left to play and the goal should have been to chip away at the Kings lead, little by little but how did NJ respond the rest of the first period? No shots on net with the exception of Patrik Elias who rang a rebound off the pipe (although technically it doesn’t count as a shot on goal).

They immediately come out in the second and give up another goal to go down 4-0. Game, set and match!! We then got the pleasure of watching the wheels come completely off as our frustrations got the best of us, something that is never comfortable to watch.

Congrats to the LA Kings, they played a heck of a postseason and are a young team that will certainly make some noise in the future.  As for NJ, we will have to wait and see what the off-season does to this team but one thing is for certain, Lou won’t disappoint and this team will continue to battle in the future. I love what DeBoer did this season and hopefully year 2 will be just as exciting. Since the year 2000, the Devils have been to more cup finals than any other team in the league. While they’ve won two and lost two, this franchise doesn’t get enough credit for the hard work they do.

----------

A Special thank you to Devin, Scott and Raj who helped make this blog so much better this season. I’ve been doing this since the beginning of the 2009/2010 NHL season and they were certainly a huge help this season. I’m excited to see what next season brings as we will come up with new and exciting ways to bring you Devils coverage next season. Thank you to the readers for visiting and allowing us to continue to be passionate about the Devils.

--------

I love the effort that the CBC puts into covering the Stanley Cup Finals year after year. Before each game, there is an opening montage with footage from the previous game (or in the case of Game 1, what each team did to get there).  If you missed any of them, they are posted below, along with the CBC montage to open and close out the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, which let’s be honest, the last minute of the closing video is hard to watch at the moment!!

Opening To The Stanly Cup Playoffs

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Game 4

Game 5

Game 6

End of the Playoffs Montage

Hello everyone and welcome to the next and FINAL addition Masala Monday. While the main goal of this segment wasn’t necessarily accomplished, I hope you guys have at least enjoyed reading it. The last time I talked to you guys, our New Jersey Devils were about to begin their Stanley Cup Final matchup with the Los Angeles Kings. It’s been days since then and currently the Kings lead the series 3-2, but they were leading 3-0. Let’s take a look at a few key players that helped the Devils make this a series worth watching.

Spicy

The Devils 4^th line – Yup they are at it again! While this line hasn’t been responsible for the majority of the scoring, it can prove clutch. I’m sure by now, LA is well aware of the threat that Stephen Gionta, Ryan Carter, and Steve Bernier pose on the Kings. In game 2, Carter scored the 3^rd period equalizer at a pivotal moment even though New Jersey ended up losing to Los Angeles in overtime due to Jeff Carter’s winner.

Adam Henrique – The maturity he shows on the ice for a rookie is incredible! He has shown the critics that he is a reliable go-to player in desperate times. Need proof? Here you go;  2OT Game 7 vs. Florida, OT Game 6 vs. New York, and now the game winning goal with 4:31 to go in an elimination Game 4 in Los Angeles. Seems like he does it all and if the Devils come back to make history, Devils fans ought to thank him…a lot!

Henrik Tallinder – As Coach Pete DeBoer mentioned in a press conference, Tallinder truly does have the “freshest legs” on the ice. Simply put, when a guy misses 50 games, he will come back strong and play effectively. Tallinder has done nothing but that and while he hasn’t produced any numbers, his defensive presence has shut down their stars such as Kopitar, Richards, Brown, etc.

Zach Parise – This is a bit controversial. Parise was quiet for the entire series until he found the back of the net in Game 5. So, why put him here? My reasoning is that he knows his role on this team and if the captain can get it going, so can his team. The goal he scored on the power play gave him his first point of the series and allowed the Devils to finally capitalize on their power play, which has been nothing but misfortunate. Perhaps Parise can carry this momentum with more goals to help New Jersey win the Cup.

Marty Brodeur – Marty hasn’t been terrible at all in the Finals! His first two losses came in overtime. You could make the argument that he was awful in Game 3, where LA won 4-0. True but, the entire team was awful on that game. In fact, I don’t think anyone but the 4^th line and Marty showed up because the score most likely would have ended like Game 3 of last year’s Stanley Cup Finals (8-1 Bruins over Canucks).

Stale

Marek Zidlicky – Bum really has been on the decline. Yes, I have seen some nice defensive plays that saved a breakaway chance. On the other hand, some plays that Bum makes truly frustrates the living parasite out of me…if there ever was one. To this day I still don’t know why Kovalchuk and Bum don’t trade spots on the power play. Maybe if Kovy guards the middle point, his rocket would be more effective than to shoot a one timer from an angle.

Mark Fayne – Nothing has been going right for Fayne in this series. You barely hear his name! Whenever you have though, I’m sure it’s gone somewhere along the lines of “How did Fayne miss the open net?!” or “Fayne takes an ill-advised penalty when the Devils had a rhythm going”. Sadly, this is the truth and I would suggest putting Adam Larsson in. It can’t hurt can’t it? NJ is already down in the series so it’s pretty much “do anything” to get back even.

As a team I would say the Devils are spicy! If they were mild or stale, they would be golfing right now. I’m impressed with their comeback when at one point I was a realist and told myself “this is impossible”… my apologies of course as now I’m a firm believer. Whoever isn’t ought to wake up because this is it! If you don’t believe so, do share your views. You all can send me your views/criticisms via commenting or via tweeting.

A short note from me: This is tentative but supposing New Jersey’s dream season comes to an unfortunate end tonight, then this will probably be my last piece for the season. I will have the Game 7 recap for you all if there is one. However, should there be none, then I am honored to have an opportunity to write for all of our readers on Running with the Devils! I thank you all for your support, even though I hopped on board a bit late into the season! I’ll definitely be looking forward to next season as well (again this is only IF the Devils can’t force a Game 7 but I’m sure they will)!

For all the latest Devils news, follow us on twitter: @RWTDblog, @Rvaidya33, @RealScottRobb, and @DEVIN88MATTERA and you can like us on our Facebook page! So long for now – I’m Raj Vaidya, and hopefully this spice wasn’t too hot to handle!

Game 6 and I can promise you that I am EXTREMELY nervous about this game. When the Devils went down 3-0 to the Kings, I pretty much got to the point where I was becoming OK with losing but now that the Devils have staved off elimination twice, I am now at the point where I am not ok with losing this series. We’ve been able to win 2 straight games to make this a series and the Kings HAVE to be going into this game tonight looking at it as a must win. The last thing the Kings want to do is lose tonight and board a plane for NJ so you have to imagine that the Kings are going to come out flying.

When it comes to facing the most pressure heading into game 6, you can make an argument for both teams and I am not sure which would win the argument. LA can lose tonight but that means a cross country trip and a Game 7 on Wednesday where anything can happen and a little more doubt planted in their heads . NJ can’t lose or it’s over. So which team is facing the most pressure?

NJ did a great job at surviving on Saturday night and did a great job at capitalizing on the opportunities that LA is handing them, which are few. Parise scores on a mishandle by Quick and Salvador puts a puck in the net after patiently waiting for an opening, something he has mastered this postseason. Now they head to LA and will have to survive again. Expect a rocking house, a desperate Kings team and a team that is probably going to kick up the physicality a notch or two.

LA hasn’t faced much adversity in these playoffs this season so it will be interesting to see how they respond tonight. In my opinion, the Kings haven’t played the hardest of teams (maybe Vancouver is the exception) to get to the finals where NJ knocked off Philly and NY who were both very high on the list of contenders.

The goal is simple to understand… Get this series back to NJ but like I said, I am nervous!! We’ve watched enough hockey, we know what we need to do tonight in order to win. I don’t need to spell it out here but the one thing we absolutely must not do is take 20 minutes off to start the game like we did on Saturday. Not showing up to begin the game is just playing with fire.

CBC Hockey Night in Canada Game 5 Opening..

And finally….

I hope the players have their heads screwed on right. The media, who handed LA the cup after a 3-0 start seems to have switched sides and look to be handing the cup to the Devils. It’s not that simple and hopefully we are focused on tonight and tonight only, not what winning tonight would mean.

       

 History wont be made, it's BEING made! A perfect 10-0 road record for the Kings, SNAPPED! Another opportunity to hoist Lord Stanley's Cup, put on hold; why? The Devils live to see another day solely on their resilliency to not give up, to play disciplined, to play a full 60 minutes, to get men in front of the net and take shots, basically, in a nut shell, the Devils are playing the better hockey, and have been the majority of the series (exclude G3). After dropping Game's 1 & 2 at home only to fall in a 3-0 series hole that looked nearly impossible to climb out of, New Jersey rebounded silencing the critics and putting away the broom sticks in Game 4 on the road in LA to force tonights Game 5 at home in The Rock. The Kings re-entered the Prudential Center with a perfect road record, 10-0-0, along with a perfect penalty killing percentage, 15-15 100%, all before their Saturday night date with the Devils in Newark. A mis read puck by Kings netminder would reel Jonathan Quick out far enough from his goal for him to play the puck, dumping it behind the cage where it'd get picked up by the Devils' captain Zach Parise who made an excellent recovery of the puck on the side of the net, squeaking one past a lunging skate of Quick on the powerplay. New Jersey's "power-less" play shortage was haulted and came to an abrupt stop on the Parise goal in the first. The puck creeped its way over the goal line, lighting the lamp and sending the home town crowd into a frenzy! Devils up 1-0 with about 8 minutes or so remaining in the opening twenty minutes. Teams would hed to the locker room shortly after, one of which would look to keep up the pressure, the other, looking to finish their season on a high note in the closing 40 minutes. Devils' goalie Martin Brodeur shut down all 7 shots faced during the first period leading the way to his to a 25 save night, awarding him the the 1st Star of the game award. Brodeur's victory was his 14th of the post-season, leaving him with 113 career playoff wins. The second period would see two more goals scoot their way past each goalie resulting in one goal a piece, still, leaving New Jersey in the drivers seat heading BACK into the locker room before the opening faceoff for the 3rd period. Goals scored by Los Angeles' Justin Williams early on would come just before an answering goal that was credited to Devils blue liner, Bryce Salvador. Salvador's wrist shot pinballed off of what had initially appeared to be Clarkson's stick but was later identified as Slava Voynov's right shoulder, who was the culprit in the re-directed puck. Now, just because the scoring stopped for the night, that doesnt mean that the scoring OPPORTUNITIES didnt... Los Angeles was swarming in the 3rd. As well as your Devils. Back and forth the puck went ringing off of posts, men in front, finding the pads, the glove, the waffle, stick, hell, even Quicky's helmet on an off balance wrister released from the heel of Ryan Carter's twig. As time wound down, so did LA's fuse. Off the draw to Quick's right in the closing minutes of the game, a scrum in front of the net would occur, resulting in Devils' rookie Adam Henrique being whiped down to the ice, crashing down into the crease of Quick, setting off, the Kings. How? I do not know. Quick, as well as others began throwing jabs and punches into the pile of Kings and Devils players, ultimately resulting in off setting minor penalties for New Jersey's 3rd line forward Alexi Ponikarovsky and Kings' grinder Dustin Penner who would spend the remaining 96 seconds of the game in the sin bin. The night would come to a close shortly after a solid defensive shut down in the corner and then the side boards crediting the Devils with their second consecutive win in the Stanley Cup Finals, bringing the series to a one game defecit, 3-2 heading back to Hollywood Monday evening.


 For all the latest news on Jersey's Team and their potential historic Stanley Cup Finals run, check us and our writers out on our Facebook page & be sure to follow us on twitter: @RWTDblog, @DEVIN88MATTERA @Rvaidya33, @RealScottRobb and find us on Instagram: @RWTDblog!

 I would like to thank Darren S. and ALL of you who read my articles on Running With The Devils and I'd like to thank EVERYONE for all their support throughout the season. This is my last game-recap I will write this season and I just want to thank everyone for reading, following, liking, re-tweeting, and sharing my articles all season long! I look forward to writing more this off season and I wish nothing but the best to all you Devils fans out there! Signing off, for now, I'm Devin Mattera, remember, "Stay Classy Devils Fans!". LETS GO DEVILS!

Going into game 4, the Devils faced a monumental task, or more accurately, a number of tasks. They had to solve Jonathon Quick, find a way to stop the Kings momentum and extend the series to game 5. There was no tomorrow. It was lose or go home. Thankfully Adam Henrique came through in yet another huge moment for the Devils and here we are, preparing for Game 5.

 

The tasks aren’t any smaller and in fact, they might be larger heading into game 5. The series shifts back to NJ and now the Devils are faced with having to beat a 10-0 road team in order to survive another day. The Devils played well enough to win in game 4 but I thought the Kings had a lot of missed opportunities. One could question if those missed opportunities were a result of thinking not about the game but rather what would happen if the won the game. I can’t imagine the Kings are going to play another game where they let opportunities get away. The Kings have been in this situation before  as they are 3-3 in games where they can close out the series. The fact the neither the Vancouver Canucks (owners of the best record in hockey), the St. Louis Blues nor the Phoenix Coyotes could extend their series with the Kings to six games is a little intimidating.

What did NJ do well in Game 4 that will need to be duplicated in Game 5?

• Peter Deboer has made lineup changes throughout these playoffs and every time he does this, it seems that everyone treats him like he’s crazy. Well you know what, it worked yet again. I’m not saying change the lineups for Game 5 but certainly don’t go backwards.
• The Devils seem to succeed when Bryce Salvador finds the score sheet. He’s probably the most important d-man this team has.
• They shot the puck, from everywhere.
• The Devils didn’t allow frustration to get in the way. It’s no secret that Quick has been lights out most of the series and to enter period 3 of an elimination game with nothing in goal department could have really hurt this team but they battled, even through a horrible call on the ice that led to a game tying LA goal.
• Marty, he was big, no make that huge. He will need to be the rest of the way.

So how does NJ win Game 5?

• Stick to the game plan, which hasn’t changed since Game 1. Honestly, this series has been much closer than a 3-1 series lead would indicate. I would argue the third period of Game 3 is the one exception in this series.
• Continue to get the puck in the zone and rip it on net. Just like my  golf game, they need to grip it and rip it. The more pucks on net, the more likely one is going in. They do need to do a better job at minimizing those lengthy stretches where they get 0 shots on net.
• Get Quick moving. They Devils had a number of chances once they got Quick going side to side. He’s not the type of goalie you are going to beat if you let him stand in one spot.
• Shoot high. You haven’t been doing it although everyone and their mother is telling you to shoot high. Finally Henrique shoots high and look what happens…GOAL!!!
• The crowd HAS to be energized. Go back to Game 4 vs Philly and that crowd was the loudest I’ve even seen in my life. It brought an extra step to our team. We need that desperately in Game 5.

The Devils can do this if they just continue to attack this as one game at a time. If NJ can win Game 5, that certainly starts to plant a few seeds of doubt into the Kings players and fans. Just get to Game 6, that’s the only goal right now. The Devils fired off 6 in a row to end the season, there is no reason that NJ can’t win 4 in a row.

CBC Hockey Night in Canada opening video for Game 4.

I knew they were going to use this song. Any guesses what some might show up for the opening to Game 5? Does Bruce or Bon Jovi have a peppy song about believing?? Oh wait, Bruce has a song called No Surrender.

What a nail biter this was! Up and down hockey that finally saw the Devils come out on top! Every Devils player showed the grit needed to win a Stanley Cup Final game and the hockey gods treated New Jersey with a chance to play once more in front of their fans!



Both teams started this period with opposite goals. For New Jersey, it was to ensure they would avoid an embarrassment by getting swept whereas for Los Angeles, they would be seeking history in an attempt to win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history on home ice. With that being said, neither team sat back and it was good to see more of this from the Devils side since forechecking was a key aspect missing from that Game 3 debacle. NJ generated some strong chances but we all know how Jonathan Quick is a brick wall. LA’s chances however, really took my breath away. A chance by Kings’ forward Justin Williams hit the pipe and trickled across the goal crease and then before the period expired, a shot by Anze Kopitar had Marty Brodeur beat but thankfully the pipe saved the Devils again! Other than a scoreless tie, there were many penalties.  For New Jersey, it was Zach Parise for tripping and Bryce Salvador for interference and for Los Angeles, it was Jarret Stoll for hooking and Dustin Brown for tripping. To be honest, while I wasn’t thrilled with the score, holding the Kings shotless for nearly 15 minutes is pretty darn impressive!



Since Salvador took an interference penalty late in the first, LA would start out with a power play which the Devils killed off effectively. After that though, it was simply a carry-on of the first period with both teams generating a couple of chances. However, there was essentially a role reversal in that now, the Devils were held shotless by the Kings for 14 minutes. The Kings’ best chance came when Simon Gagne went on a semi breakaway but could not find the back of the net. It seemed to be all LA at this point and even in the last minute, New Jersey looked extremely shaky. The only penalty in the period went to Salvador, again, for interference (he might want to chill with those). After the end of the second period, though the game was still scoreless, the Devils still couldn’t solve Quick and had gone 130 minutes without a goal.

The way LA was attacking made me think that “Ok… maybe I should start prewriting my Devils eulogy”. I will be honest I did right after the 15:43 point, where Trevor Lewis of LA took a great feed from Gagne. His chance just skipped wide past Marty but I could sense that the Kings were generating chances rapidly and inevitably one would trickle pass the goal crease. However, this is simply what I thought. I sure am glad I was wrong! At the 11:04 point, Patrik Elias found a fortuitous rebound and backhanded it behind Quick, who was just a tad bit slow to prevent that goal from going in! Elias’ 5^th of the playoffs was assisted by Salvador and Dainius Zubrus. With all the hard work the Devils put in to this game to grab the lead, mediocre officiating once again, spoiled the Devils’ moment. David Clarkson was called for boarding when all he did was imply a simple push (if you ask me) on Brown. Nonetheless, the Kings went on the power play and a rocket from Drew Doughty beat Marty exactly a minute after the Elias goal and tied this game at 1. Doughty’s 4^th of the playoffs was assisted by Mike Richards and Kopitar. You would think that the Devils were deflated but that is completely false! In fact they were even more resilient after the Doughty goal. With 4:31 to go, Henrique became a hero again as he moved in on Quick’s right and shot the puck top shelf! Though he didn’t show any reaction, Henrique’s 4^th of the playoffs, assisted by David Clarkson and Alex Ponikarovsky, put the Devils ahead 2-1! Finally, the prayers of Devils fans were answered as NJ finally figured out how to shoot the puck high on Quick. With 2:50 to go, Willie Mitchell of LA took a high sticking penalty and though the Devils didn’t score on the power play, they had an abundance of chances that could have easily put them up 3-1. But, who needs a power play when you can just use the empty net? That’s what Ilya Kovalchuk did, scoring empty netter, his 8^th of the playoffs, assisted by Andy Greene and Salvador, putting this game to bed! The Devils held on and win this game 3-1! Mark your calendars for Game 5 everyone!

3-1  

Three Stars:

1. Henrique
2. Doughty
3. Brodeur

Next Game: Kings @ Devils Saturday, June 9^th, 2012 8 P.M. from Prudential Center on NBC

Key Notes: Looks like the Devils were going to have to make some changes. It looked like they helped. Peter Harrold and Jacob Josefson were replaced by Henrik Tallinder and Petr Sykora. Hopefully this tandem can keep it up! It also seems like the NHL is advocating its support for large market teams such as the Los Angeles Kings. That call on David Clarkson in the 3^rd period was clear indication of that. Perhaps an investigation is necessary?

For all the latest Devils news, follow us on twitter: @RWTDblog, @Rvaidya33, @RealScottRobb, and @DEVIN88MATTERA and you can like us on our Facebook page! The final edition of Masala Monday will be on Monday, June 11^th.

Here we are, Game 4 and looking at elimination. What can you say? It’s been hard to watch this team struggle against a bigger, stronger and faster team that hasn’t allowed the Devils to get their game going. Florida, Philly and New York didn’t have an answer to our constant fore-checking but the Kings have some really big guys who respond positively to a strong fore-check.

I don’t want it to seem like I am writing the Devils eulogy because I honestly believe there is still fight left in this team. We can’t go into tonight focused on the fact that we need 4 straight wins in order to win this series. Instead, we need to focus on winning each period. Win period one, then period two, then period three and you win the game. Lather, rinse, repeat. We can’t get too far ahead of ourselves. Winning 4 straight is a huge task but if you take it a game at a time, it gets easier. Tonight’s goal, just get a win and then game 5 would be get another win, create doubt in their minds, win game 6 and anything can happen in a game 7 but it all has to start tonight.

The Devils haven’t been able to score but they haven’t exactly made it difficult for Quick. They haven’t gotten traffic in front of him and continue to shoot low or to the midsection. On top of that, we’ve continue to pass up shots in order to look for that perfect set up. Wayne Gretzky once said “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”  Don’t get cute NJ, just put the puck on net. I can live with Quick making 40+ saves in a night and getting the win, at least you made him work for it. Having only 2 goals so far in this series doesn’t win you much but again, it goes back to shooting the puck.

The Devils were handed 6 power plays the other night (most of them as a way to make up for a bad first goal that was allowed) and failed on each of them. Surprise, surprise, NJ didn’t shoot that much. You have to take advantage of the opportunities handed to you.

LA has gotten out to the lead in all 3 games so far. I’d give anything to see what NJ could do if they got a lead. Would the Kings change their style? Would the Devils skate with more confidence?

I was hard on Clarkson in the beginning of the year but then he won me over. Sorry David, you are back on my list, well kind of, because I’m getting tired of watching you miss opportunities.

Rumor is that Sykora is back in tonight. Good!! Never really made sense to me why a 20+ goal scorer got scratched. On top of that, why keep a 20+ goal scorer scratched in a series where goal scoring is a serious problem?

Like I said, not ready to bury this team yet. Take it shift by shift and period by period but each guy on the bench has to know their role and trust that the guy sitting next to him knows his role and will play his role.

Game 3 CBC Video

They really do a great job with these. Makes me want to dust off my editing skills!!

And finally…

I have to ask…..