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Game 54: Devils Host Canes, Eye Critical Points

Written by Darren S on .

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The Carolina Hurricanes visit the New Jersey Devils tonight at The Prudential Center. Carolina is 5-5-0 in their last 10 while the Devils are 7-1-2 in their last 10. For an official preview of the game, head over to NHL.com

TV - MSG(HD) - Radio - 660 AM WFAN

Probable Lines: (based on Sunday's Game)

Illya Kovalchuk, Travis Zajac, Nick Palmieri
Dainius Zubrus, Patrik Elias, Brian Rolston
Tim Sestito, Rod Pelley, David Clarkson
Vladimir Zharkov, Jason Arnott, Mattias Tedenby

Colin White, Anton Volchenkov
Mark Fayne, Henrik Tallinder
Andy Greene, Anssi Salmela

Johan Hedberg
Mike McKenna

That's right, the Devils have recalled Mike McKenna from Albany to back up Hedberg tonight. There is very little information about Marty's injury at the moment or how long we should expect McKenna to be here.

Game Notes

- The Carolina Hurricanes are 5-5-0 in their last ten have lost 4 of the last 5 on the road. They are coming off a 4-3 victory over the Thrashers.

- Yes, it is true the Devils sit 1 point of out last place in the conference, they only trail the 8th place Hurricanes by 16 points. The Devils aren't in any playoff picture yet but getting 2 points tonight sure wouldn't hurt.

- Eric Staal leads the 'Canes in Goals and points, and is far above any of the Devils leaders in those categories.

- The 'Canes have a -5 in goal differential this season while the Devils have an eye opening -41.

- These two teams have only met once this season, with Carolina winning 6-3 on Jan. 1 but will get real familiar over the next 12 days as the will meet 3 times and finish out the season series. If the Devils want to push towards getting into the playoffs, these points are crucial.

Make sure to stick with us on twitter during the game as we like to chat with our fans.

 


 

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Game 52 Preview: Devils Host Panthers

Written by Darren S on .

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We've been waiting a long time for the Devils to look like a team that is comfortable with each other. After going 8-1-1 in the last 10, dare I say they finally look comfortable? Guys like Zubrus, Kovalchuk, Rolston and Elias are really stepping up to help this team as of late.

Tonight's Game: The New Jersey Devils (18-30-3) vs. the Florida Panthers (22-23-6). These two teams have met twice already this year with the home team winning both games.

The Devils Last Game: In case you missed it, the Devils knocked off the rival New York Rangers at MSG last night. NJ took an 3-0 lead before allowing the Rangers to come back and make a game of it. The Devils got a lucky bounce in the final second of the game to hang on for a 3-2 victory.

Tonight's Game: Keep it going. Keep throwing pucks at the net and keep allowing the playmakers to make plays. It's that simple. The formula has worked for them in recent weeks so there is no reason to stray from that game plan.

Keep our penalty box empty. NJ had the Rangers against the ropes but then started taking penalty after penalty last night, which allowed the Rangers to make a game of it in the third. Putting pucks over the glass and taking retaliation penalties is just unacceptable. So tonight, lets stay out of the box.

Florida is a beatable team because they seem to be stuggling a little bit. They are 3-3-4 in their last 10 and coming off a 3-2 loss to the Canadiens on Wednesday night. Hopefully NJ doesn't focus too much on the task they accomplished last night and gives plenty of attention to the task at hand tonight.

Injuries: Zach Parise (knee), Matt Taormina (ankle), Matthew Corrente (shoulder),  Bryce Salvador (concussion)

Make sure to stick with us on twitter during the game as we like to chat with our fans.

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Game 50 Preview: Senators Visit NJ

Written by Darren S on .


      devilsvssenators

The All-star break is over and most people look at that as being the halfway point of the season even though there are more games played before the break than after. The Devils currently sit in last place in the Eastern Conference, trailing the New York Islanders by 2 points. The Devils have made the playoffs for 13 straight years and trying to extend that streak to 14 straight begins tonight. Of course making it to the playoffs is probably a long shot. To put it in perspective, since the 1993-94 season, the 2008-09 St. Louis Blues are the only team to reach the playoffs from last place in a conference at the All-Star break, and they only had to overcome a nine-point gap. The Devils sit 22 points behind 8th place Atlanta.

Season series: This is the second of four meetings this season. The Senators scored a 3-2 victory in Ottawa on Dec. 10 as Milan Michalek and Jarkko Ruutu scored 2:16 apart midway through the second period and All-Star defenseman Erik Karlsson had a goal and an assist. Devils All-Star forward Patrik Elias and Dainius Zubrus scored for New Jersey.

Devils To Watch: Devils left wing Brian Rolston takes a five-game point-scoring streak into Tuesday's game. He has 3 goals and 4 assists over that span, and has notched 3 goals and 11 points in his last eight games. Martin Brodeur was 5-0-1 in his last six starts before losing in Detroit just prior to the All-Star break. lya Kovalchuk has averaged 23:28 of ice time under Lemaire and has 6 goals in 16 games under the new/old coach; he averaged 21:28 of ice time with 8 goals in 33 games under MacLean.

Injury Report: The Devils are without Matthew Corrente (shoulder), Matt Taormina (ankle), Zach Parise (knee surgery) and Bryce Salvador (concussion). Defenseman Colin White, who missed the last two games with an upper-body injury, remains questionable. … The Senators could get center Jason Spezza (shoulder) and goalie Pascal Leclaire back against the Devils. Left wing Jarkko Ruutu (lower body) is out.

If the Devils could manage making up 22 points to close the gap and sneak into the playoffs, that would be an amazing 33 games from February to April. That is a monumental task so I am not too hopeful but I do hope to see a team like we've been seeing. Even though they lost to Detroit, the effort was there and they were in it. That is all I want from them. Many games during the first have of the season were disappointing because the effort just wasn't there. Whatever the next few months brings, it all starts tonight!!

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Game 49 Preview: Devils Take Streak To Detroit

Written by Darren S on .

                     devilsvswings

Season Series: This is the second and final meeting of the 2010-11 season between these teams. Tomas Holmstrom and Danny Cleary scored before the Dec. 11 game in New Jersey was two minutes old and Detroit cruised to a 4-1 victory.

Big Story: Holmstrom and Cleary will both miss the rematch with injuries, as will Chris Osgood, the winning goalie in the first game. The Red Wings have also been without star forward Pavel Datsyuk, and their depleted corps at forward could be pointed to as one reason why, although they continue to lead the Central Division, they have one fewer win in the past 10 games than the last-place Devils.

Who's Hot: Rolston (2-4-6) and Elias (3-2-5) have four-game points streaks for the Devils. Martin Brodeur is 5-0-1 in his last six starts, allowing two goals or fewer four times.

Injury Report: New Jersey hopes to have forwards Nick Palmieri (upper body) and Vladimir Zharkov (flu-like symptoms) back after they missed two weekend games. Defenseman Colin White is expected to miss a second straight game with a lower-body injury. Fellow blueliner Matthew Corrente is out with a sprained left shoulder. Forward Zach Parise (knee) and defensemen Matt Taormina (ankle) and Bryce Salvador (concussion) are on injured reserve.

Detroit forward Valtteri Filppula is day-to-day with flu-like symptoms. Holmstrom remains out with a broken hand. Osgood (sports hernia), Cleary (ankle) and Datsyuk (hand/wrist) are all on injured reserve, as are forward Mike Modano (wrist) and defenseman Brad Stuart (jaw).

Interesting Stats: The Devils have jumped out to 2-0 leads after the first period in each game during their current run of four consecutive victories. Cory Emmerton became the fourth player on the Red Wings to score his first NHL goal this season, following Tomas Tatar, Jakub Kindl and Jan Mursak.

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Game 33 Preview: Devils, Caps, Which Team Shows Up?

Written by Darren S on .

devilsvscaps

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (9-21-2) at the Washington Capitals (19-12-4)

Season Series: Third of four meetings this season. Each team has won on home ice in a rout. Alex Ovechkin scored twice, once on a penalty shot, in Washington's 7-2 victory on Oct. 9, while Johan Hedberg stopped all 30 shots he faced for his 15th career shutout and Jason Arnott had a pair of goals in a 5-0 triumph by New Jersey on Nov. 22.

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Game 31 Preview: Red Hot Predators Skate Into Town

Written by Darren S on .

    devilsvspreds

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (9-19-2) vs. the Nashville Predators (16-8-6)

Season Series: This is the first and only meeting of the season between the teams. The clubs split two games in 2009-10. The Devils earned a 5-2 victory in New Jersey on Feb. 12 when Ilya Kovalchuk scored his first goal as a Devil to snap a 2-2 tie at 8:24 of the third period; the Predators came away with a 3-2 shootout decision in Nashville on Nov. 19.

The Devils Last Game: The Devils put together what I thought was an entire team effort for a full 60 minutes and skated away with a 3-0 shutout of the Phoenix Coyotes. It was certainly one of the best efforts this season.

The Predators last Game: The Predators won their fourth straight and seventh in their last eight (7-0-1) on Wednesday following a 3-2 victory over San Jose in Nashville.

Tonight's Game: It's all about building something for the NJ Devils. They had an outstanding game the other night where Ilya Kovalchuk scored twice Wednesday to record his first multiple-goal contest in 61 games as a Devil, including playoffs.  It's time for the Devils to start putting together some wins and getting consistent production for their top guys.  Devils center Travis Zajac is finally beginning to heat up with 5 assists and 6 points over the last five games, another player we'd love to build some momentum off of.

The Predators are hot but beatable if the Devils just believe in themselves. One of the key's to Wednesday nights victory was the Devils ability to successfully forecheck. This is something they havne't done a lot of this season. It forechecking gets W's on the board then they better be ready to forecheck tonight.

After the game that Kovalchuk had the other night, I would expect to see a lot of Shea Weber and Ryan Sutter on Kovalchuk all night long. This mean the other lines are really going to have to contribute tonight.

As far as defense goes, Kostitsyn is riding a career-high seven game points streak (3 goals, 6 assists), marking the longest by a Predators' player this season so NJ will have to certainly pay attention to him tonight.

Injury report: The Devils are without defensemen Mark Fraser (broken hand), Bryce Salvador(concussion) and Matt Taormina (high ankle sprain) and forwards Zach Parise (knee surgery) andJacob Josefson (thumb). … Rinne (knee) and forwards David Legwand (lower body) and Matthew Lombardi (concussion) are still out for Nashville. Hornqvist was a late scratch against San Jose on Wednesday with an undisclosed upper-body injury and is day-to-day.

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Game 30 Preview: Devils Host 'Yotes

Written by Darren S on .

    devilsvsCoyotes

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (8-19-2) vs. the Phoenix Coyotes (14-8-6)

Season Series: This is the only meeting of the 2010-11 season between these teams. Phoenix defeated the Devils, 4-3, at Jobing.com Arena on Jan. 14, 2010. Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov had 31 saves to notch the first victory of his career against the Devils.

The Last Devils Game:  The Detroit Red Wings came in and scored two quick goals which seem to take NJ right out of the game. NJ would eventually find twine but it wouldn't really have any effect on the end result. That end result, another miserable loss, this time by a 4-1 score.

The Last Coyotes Game:  The Phoenix Coyotes took on the Dallas Stars and proceeded and put on a very impressive performance. They skated away with a 5-3 win.

Tonight Game: Pheonix isn't the team that people remember from years ago. While they find themselves in the basement of their division, the Pacific Division is a tough and a 14-8 record isn't anything to be ashamed of.

NJ, well we shall see what type of team shows up. Rolston was placed on waivers yesterday, cleared this afternoon BUT is scheduled to be in the lineup tonight. What waiving Rolston accomplished, I am not too sure of. We already knew nobody was going to take him and with his age, sending him to Albany doesn't free up any cap space. To me, it was a very strange move. Maybe it lights a fire under an ass, who knows.


Hopefully NJ finds a way to win tonight and get their first win of December. . During this five-game winless stretch, New Jersey has scored eight goals and they've scored just 10 goals in eight games since a 5-0 defeat of the Washington Capitals on Nov. 22. Who will step up and starting scoring some goals??

Martin Brodeur is 4-12-1 this season. He has just one victory since Oct. 29, and he's 1-6-0 in his last seven starts. The Coyotes are 7-8-0 against Brodeur, who has produced two shutouts against them in his career. It would be nice to see number three tonight!!

Injury report:  New Jersey forwards Zach Parise (knee) and Jacob Josefson (hand), and defensemen Bryce Salvador (concussion), Mark Fraser (hand) and Matt Taormina (ankle) are on injured reserve. … There are no injuries to report for Phoenix.

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Game 28 Preview: Devils Head To Ottawa

Written by Darren S on .

     devilsvssenators

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (8-17-2) at the Ottawa Senators (12-15-2)

Season Series: It's the first of four meetings this season. New Jersey took the first three meetings on the 2009-10 schedule before Ottawa goalie Brian Elliott stopped all 24 shots in a 3-0 win on Jan. 26, the most recent matchup

The Last Devils Game: The Devils rolled into Pittsburgh riding a 2 game losing streak. Lets face it, the Devils haven't been playing well at all and the Penguins, well they've been the best team in the league recently, so losing 2-1 wasn't so bad right? Oh, yea, the Devils really need any point they can get right now so yea, any kind of loss is soul sucking.

The Last Senators Game: The Sens hosted the Rangers and played a see-saw hockey game where everytime they scored the Rangers would find a way to tie it up. Eventually after the Rangers did it 3 times in a 3-3 game, the Rangers struck twice more for a 5-3 win.

Tonight's Game: What can you say? We know the fans are miserable right now and Lou isn't happy either but didn't make any huge changes between the Pittsburgh game and tonights game. Unless you want to say that Stephen Gionta and Olivier Magnan is a huge shakeup, which it isn't.

So tonight is a matchup of two teams that are just plain struggling. Look at Ottawa, they are paying Alex Kovalev $5 million this season to sit on the 4th line because his game has become total crap. BUT, the Sens are 12-15-2 and I think any Devils fans would jump to be that close to a .500 hockey club. To me the Sens are a few tweaks away from being competitive, the Devils on the other hand, well you've watched them this season.

Volchenkov returns to his old stomping ground tonight for the first time since bolting this summer and he told the media yesterday that yes, he is a little nervous. That makes me nervous because he doesn't need any distractions as the defense is playing poor enough as it is.

Marty Brodeur makes his return in net tonight and lets hope that brings some kind of uplift to the entire team. I'll be one to admit that I didn't think Marty looked all that hot before his injury so I can't really say I am expecting much from his return tonight. The saving grace for Marty is that Ottawa isn't too far ahead of the Devils in the goals per game department.

Hopefully New Jersey can find a way to score a few tonight, find a way to win and find some momentum because tonight they are playing what some say is one of the worst teams in the league right now (although they are better than NJ) but they turn around and come home to host one of the best teams in the league, the Detroit Red Wings, tomorrow night.

Injury report: New Jersey forwards Zach Parise (knee) and Jacob Josefson (hand) and defensemen Bryce Salvador (concussion), Anssi Salmela (knee), Mark Fraser (hand) and Matt Taormina (ankle) are on injured reserve. … The Senators are healthy.




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Game 27 Preview: Devils Head To Pittsburgh

Written by Darren S on .

      devilsvspens
The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (8-16-2) at the Pittsburgh Penguins (18-8-2)

Season Series: Second of six meetings between these Atlantic Division rivals. Brent Johnson made 30 saves and Paul Martin had an empty-net goal and an assist against his old team in a 3-1 Pittsburgh win in New Jersey on Oct. 11.

The Devils Last Game: It wasn't nearly as bad as the game prior to Saturday when Montreal embarrassed the Devils at the Rock but in the end, it was the same result. The Devils weren't able to get any kind of momentum or consistent pressure on the Flyers and ended up losing 5-3.

The Penguins Last Game: The outcome was never in doubt Saturday night in Columbus, as Pittsburgh rolled to a 4-0 lead after one period on the strength of three power-play goals, two by Martin (his first goals since that empty-netter in New Jersey). Sidney Crosby also scored twice, extending his points streak to 15 games, and the Penguins left Nationwide Arena with a 7-2 victory.

Tonight's Matchup: As a fan, you have to be worried about this game. The Peguins are playing GREAT hockey at the moment and Crosby looks as good as anyone in the NHL right now. Marc-Andre Fleury looks to have found his focus as he is 10-0-1 in his last 11 starts, allowing two goals or fewer nine times.

In short, this game could get rediculous.

What can the Devils do? Saturday showed us that even when Kovalchuk and Zajac do find the net, the problems of this team run much deeper than those two not scoring. The Devils defense doesn't seem to understand the concept of positioning so I am not very hopeful for a good outcome tonight. The period to watch will be the second period as this period has killed the Devils so far this season.

Maclean was doing all kinds of line switching in practice yesterday so I am not even going to take a stab at the lines today. The one thing we do know is that Kovalchuk better show up with energy tonight as he will get double-shifted on the fourth line all night and the Devils are dressing 7 d guys.

IF the Devils come out flat tonight and get run out of the building, having the next 3 days off might not be a good thing if your last name is MacLean.

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GameDay 26: Devils Looking To Rebound Against Flyers

Written by Darren S on .


             devilsvsflyers


The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (8-15-2) visit The Philadelphia Flyers (15-7-4). This is the second meeting of the season.

Season Series: The Devils won the first meeting between these two teams just last Saturday. The Devils scored early in the game only to watch Philadelphia tie it late and force OT and then a shootout. Arnott and Zajac found the net during the shootout to give NJ the 2-1 win. These two teams will meet 4 more times after today.

The Last Devils Game: It was a complete embarrassment on home ice by both the team and the fans in attendance. The Devils lost to the Canadiens by a score of 5-1 but Montreal scored twice in just 90 seconds to begin the game, which took the fans right out the game. The Devils never really recovered and looked out of sync the entire game.

The Last Flyers Game: Tim Thomas had a huge game for the Bruins as he faced 41 shots by the Flyers. The Bruins found the back of the net three times and shutout the Flyers for a 3-0 win. no comments

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