Game 6 Preview: Beat the B's

Written by AJ Manderichio on 16 October 2010.

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The Matchup: The Boston Bruins (1-1-0) face off against the New Jersey Devils (1-3-1) at the Prudential Center. This is the first meeting between the teams this season.

The Last Bruins Game: The Bruins blanked the Coyotes, 3-0, last Sunday at the O2 Arena in Prague. After a scoreless first period, Milan Lucic gave Boston a 1-0 lead at 12:11 in the period. Nathan Horton extended the lead, putting Boston ahead, 2-0, at 19:57 of the period. Tyler Seguin then scored his first NHL goal to increase the lead and put the Bruins ahead, 3-0. Tim Thomas stopped 29 shots for the shutout.

The Last Devils’ Game: The Devils lost to the Avalanche, 3-2, last night at the Prudential Center. Despite outshooting Colorado 17-3 in the first period, the Avs took a 1-0 lead into the locker room thanks to a powerplay goal by Cody McLeod. TJ Galiardi extended the Avalanche lead to 2-0 at 11:48 of the second period. Matt Taormina cut the lead to 2-1 with his first NHL goal at 14:48 of the second period. Chris Stewart put the Avs ahead by two, scoring at 4:31 to put Colorado ahead 3-1. Ilya Kovalchuk cut the lead to one once again, scoring at 8:49 to bring the Devils’ within one. But they couldn’t finish their opportunities, and lost to the Avalanche.

The Last Bruins – Devils Matchup: The Bruins took the last meeting of the season, shutting out the Devils, 1-0, on March 30. Both teams played to a scoreless draw until overtime, when Patrice Bergeron fired home the game-winning goal with 19 seconds left in the extra period. Martin Brodeur stopped 33 shots in the losing effort. Tuukka Rask stopped 21 shots for his fifth shutout of the season.

For a full recap of the team’s historical matchup, click here.

Shaking The Rust (And Lag): The Bruins haven’t played in six days because they opened their season in Prague. That’s a long layoff, and we’ll see if that has any negative effects in tonight’s matchup.

Tonight’s Matchup: The Devils need to finish, plain and simple. They had 43 shots on Craig Anderson last night, and many were quality scoring chances. In three games, the Devils have put 109 shots on net and have only four goals to show for the effort. They need to start getting it done on the offensive end and burying their opportunities.

But last night’s game was also positive. The Devils were aggressive on the forecheck and really imposed their will in the first period. Brodeur didn’t have the best night in net, getting beat high on the three goals. But the team had another good effort last night. The Devils get to take on a team that hasn’t played in six days. Not only should the Devils have more jump in their step, but they should pressure the Bruins into several mistakes.

Game time is 7 p.m., and you can catch all the action on MSG Plus.

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Game 5 Preview: Devils Look To Stop Avalanche

Written by AJ Manderichio on 15 October 2010.

The Matchup - The Colorado Avalanche (2-1-0) face off against the New Jersey Devils (1-2-1) in the first and only meeting of the season.

The Last Avalanche Game - The Avs defeated the Detroit Red Wings, 5-4, in a shootout Wednesday night. Down 3-2 after the second period, the Avs tied the game on a goal by Daniel Winnik at 4:43 of the third period. Patrick Eaves put the Red Wings back ahead, scoring a shorthanded goal at 7:52 of the period. But Colorado would answer back, with David Jones tying the game at four apiece at 11:24 of the third. The teams went to the shootout, and both Peter Budaj and Jimmy Howard kept the puck out of the net. But in the sixth round, Brandon Yip beat Howard, scoring the game-winner in the shootout.

The Last Devils Game - The Devils defeated the Buffalo Sabres, 1-0, in overtime on Wednesday in Buffalo. Both Ryan Miller and Martin Brodeur kept the game scoreless through regulation, with both making big saves. In the overtime period, Jamie Langenbrunner skated the puck to center ice, and fed a pass to rookie defenseman Matt Taormina. The rookie brought the puck deep into the zone, and momentarily lost it. He regained the puck and fed a pass to I lya Kovalchuk, who went down to one knee and blasted a shot over Milller's blocker for the game-winning goal.

The Last Avs - Devils Game - Last season, the team’s only faced each other once, on January 16. The Avalanche struck early, with Chris Stewart giving Colorado a 1-0 lead 3:17 into the first period. T.J. Galiardi scored a late period goal to extend the lead to two. The score remained 2-0 until the third period, when Rob Niedermayer cut the lead in half. But the Avalanche would add a late insurance goal to win the game, 3-1.

The Devils wouldn’t leave the game completely healthy. Early in the second period, Patrik Elias took a vicious hit from Ryan Wilson. Skating down the right side, Wilson met Elias with a shoulder to the chest. The Devils’ left-winger laid on the ice for several minutes, but waved to the crowd as he was taken off the ice.

For a full preview of the historic matchup between the teams, click here.

Finally Full - The Devils will finally have a full roster to play tonight. After the team moved injured Brian Rolston to the LTIR, the Devils recalled Jacob Josefson, Tim Sestito and Matt Corrente from Albany of the AHL. All three are expected to play tonight, with Josefson making his NHL debut.

Tonight's Matchup - Wednesday's game was the best of the young season for the Devils. They played a complete game, were aggressive on the forecheck, and made the smart plays. They only scored one goal, but that's what sometimes happens when a great goalie is in the net.

So, what does the team need to do tonight? Repeat that performance from Wednesday. The Devils need to pressure the Avs and their young forwards and defenseman and force them into mistakes. They need to be strong on the puck and make the right decision. Most importantly, the Devils need to skate hard for 60 minutes. As I said above, the team finally has a full four lines to play. That means every player should be busting it out there because they have the extra legs.

The Devils also need to pressure Craig Anderson. He's a good goalie, but he's no Ryan Miller, and he's given up at least three goals in all of his starts this season. If the Devils can cause pressure early and often, they may be able to jump out to an early lead.

Game time is 7 p.m., and you can catch all the action on MSG Plus. For more info on the Avs, check out Anything But Detroit, Bloguin's Avalanche blog.

Here's tonight's projected lines from the morning skate:

Zach Parise - Travis Zajac - Ilya Kovalchuk

Patrik Elias - Jason Arnott - Jamie Langenbrunner

Dainius Zubrus - Jacob Josefson - David Clarkson

Rod Pelley - Tim Sestito - Adam Mair

Henrik Tallinder - Andy Greene

Colin White - Matt Taormina

Alexander Urbom - Matt Corrente

Martin Brodeur

Johan Hedberg

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Game 4 Preview: Homecoming For Tallinder, Mair As Devils Face Buffalo

Written by AJ Manderichio on 13 October 2010.

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (0-2-1) face off against the Buffalo Sabres (1-2-0) in Buffalo. This is the first meeting between the two teams this season.

The Last Sabres Game: The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Sabres, 4-3, on Monday in Buffalo. The Sabres jumped out to an early lead, with Drew Stafford scoring 14 seconds into the game to put Buffalo ahead, 1-0. Derek Roy extended the lead to 2-0 at 2:43 of the first with his second goal of the season. Buffalo couldn't hold the lead, as the Blackhawks scored four goals over the three periods to take a 4-2 lead. Tim Connolly's even-strength goal at 5:24 of the final period brought the Sabres to within a goal, but Buffalo couldn't complete the comeback. The game also featured this hit on Jason Pominville, which concussed him and earned Niklas Hjalmarsson a two game suspension.

The Last Devils Game: The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Devils, 3-1, Monday afternoon at The Rock. It was the return of former Devil Paul Martin, who was booed every time he touched the puck. Alex Goligoski opened the scoring, giving the Penguins a 1-0 lead with 1:04 left in the first period. Mark Letetsu extended the lead to 2-0 with a powerplay goal at 2:32 of the second period. Patrik Elias tallied the Devils' first goal, pulling the Devils to within one at 8:26 of the third period. But Brent Johnson held steady, making 13 saves in the final frame. To make matters worse, Martin iced the victory with an empty net goal at 19:46 of the period.

The Last Devils - Sabres Game: The Devils won the final game of the season against the Sabres to earn a split of the season series. After a scoreless first period, Thomas Vanek and Travis Zajac scored second period goals to tie the game at one. In the third period, after Buffalo pulled goalie Patrick Lalime, Devils’ captain Jamie Langenbrunner fired home an empty-net, powerplay goal to give the Devils the win. That victory clinched the number two seed in the Eastern Conference for the Devils last season. For a full historical recap of the matchup between these two teams, click here.

Welcome Back! Both Henrik Tallinder and Adam Mair return back to Buffalo for tonight's game. Mair played seven seasons for the Sabres before joining the Devils on a tryout contract. Tallinder, a second-round draft choice of the Sabres in 1997, played nine seasons before signing with the Devils.

Tallinder said the Sabres offered him a contract, but didn't pursue him once he became a free agent. But he feels no ill will toward the organization, and doesn't know what to anticipate tonight.

"They might (boo) sometimes," he said. "I have no idea what they’re going to do. They might cheer. No, they won’t. What ever happens, happens."

Tonight's Matchup: The objective is clear - win a game. It's not time to hit the panic button yet, but the Devils need to come out aggressive and make things happen tonight. Once again, the team will be shorthanded, only dressing 16 skaters for tonight's game. But those are extenuating circumstances beyond the player's control. They need to put the past three games out of their minds and focus in on beating one of the best goalies in the game.

The Devils did some good things in Monday's loss. Even though they allowed 30 shots, the team played better defense. It looked like some of the pairings were building chemistry, and the team seemed more responsible in their own end. They were also victims on some bad penalty calls, but did a great job on the kill. If not for an unfortunate bounce, the Devils wouldn't have allowed Letetsu's powerplay goal.

I'm looking for whether or not the team can give a complete, 60 minute effort tonight. They haven't done that yet, and it's an issue that plagued the team last season. They weren't showing effort during the morning skate, where coach John MacLean stopped practice to rip into the team for being listless and sloppy during drill s. If that's an indication of things to come, then tonight may be a long night.

Game time is 7 p.m., and you can catch all the action on MSG Plus. Join us here on Running With The Devils for a live game blog, beginning at 6:45 p.m.

Here are the expected lines, based off of this morning's skate:

Zach Parise - Travis Zajac - Ilya Kovalchuk

Patrik Elias - Jason Arnott - Jamie Langenbrunner

Dainius Zubrus - Adam Mair - David Clarkson

Rod Pelley

Henrik Tallinder - Andy Greene

Colin White - Matt Taormina

Alexander Urbom - Mark Fraser

Martin Brodeur

Johan Hedberg

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Game 3: Pittsburgh Penguins at Devils, 10/11/10

Written by AJ Manderichio on 11 October 2010.

The Matchup – The Pittsburgh Penguins (0-2-0) face off against the New Jersey Devils (0-1-1) in an afternoon matchup at the Prudential Center. This is the first meeting between the two teams this season.

The Last Penguins Game – The Penguins lost to the Montreal Canadiens, 2-1, Saturday night at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh. The Penguins held a 2-1 lead late in the third period, but Michael Cammalleri‘s second goal tied the game with 3:12 left in the period. Scott Gomez completed the comeback, beating Marc-Andre Fleury with 1:48 left in the period to put the Canadiens ahead, 3-2.

The Last Devils Game – The Devils were blown out by the Capitals, 7-2, at the Verizon Center Saturday. The Devils led, 2-1, after one period on goals from Jason Arnott and Henrik Tallinder. But the wheels would fall off in the second period, as the Capitals tallied four unanswered goal – including three in less than five minutes – to move ahead 5-2. Martin Brodeur was pulled after the second period.

Last Season’s Matchup – The Devils swept all six meetings from the Penguins last season. The Devils won the most recent matchup, 5-2, on March 17. After Chris Kunitz gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead at 4:01 of the first period, the Devils scored four unanswered goals – including Paul Martin’s first goal of the season – to take the lead, 4-1. Ruslan Fedotenko made it a two goal game at 5:23 of the third period, but the Devils held off the Penguins. Rob Niedermayer added an empty-netter for insurance in the win. For an in-depth look at the rivalry, click here.

The Return of Martin – Martin visits the Rock for the first time as a Pittsburgh Penguin. During the offseason, Martin signed with the Penguins after realizing the Devils were focused solely on Ilya Kovalchuk. The defenseman told Rich Chere of the Star-Ledger that he never received an offer from the Devils, deciding to go with Pittsburgh over several other teams. I’d expect him to be booed, especially since he stayed within the division.

Today’s Matchup – I think it’s obvious what the Devils need to do. The team has played awful defense, giving up quality scoring chances left and right. Both the Stars and the Capitals made the Devils pay for their mistakes, and the Penguins are another team that can score in bunches. I know the team wants to get going on offense, but they need to be responsible defensively. If the Devils continue to play sloppy in their own zone, I think we can expect another disappointing result.

This game against Pittsburgh, while early in the season, still means something to both teams. By the end of the season, both of these teams should be near the top of the conference and division. Over the past few years, they’ve battled it out for conference seeding and division crowns. The rivalry is intense, and with both teams without a win, expect a hard-fought game. I wouldn’t expect the Devils to come out flat for this one.

The Devils will be without Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond because of a suspension. Anton Volchenkov and Brian Rolston are also questionable for this game.

Game time is 4 p.m. today, and you can catch the action on MSG Plus and WFAN 660.

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Game 2 Preview: Devils at Washington Capitals, 10/9/10

Written by AJ Manderichio on 09 October 2010.

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The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (0-0-1) face off against the Washington Capitals (0-1-0). This is the first of four meetings between the two teams this season.

The Last Capitals Game: The Atlanta Thrashers defeated the Capitals, 4-2, last night in Atlanta. Ondrej Pavelec, the Thrashers starting goalie, collapsed only 2:25 into the first period, immediately silencing an excited crowd. Pavelec was taken off on a stretcher, and play resumed. Atlanta took the lead, 2-1, at 15:43 of the second period when newcomer Andrew Ladd beat goalie Michal Neuvirth. Evander Kane scored the eventual game-winner on a penalty shot.

The Last Devils Game: The Dallas Stars defeated the Devils, 4-3, in overtime last night. The Devils ZIP Line got the Devils started early, with Travis Zajac and Zach Parise giving New Jersey an early 2-0 lead. But the Stars would respond, tying the game on a Loui Eriksson goal at 3:02 of the second period. Jason Arnott put the Devils ahead in the third period, but the Stars once again tied the game. Eriksson scored the game-winner at 1:36 of the overtime period for the win.

Last Season’s Matchup: For a full recap of last season’s matchup, check this post here. The Devils won three of four meetings last season. The Capitals won the most recent meeting, 4-1, on December 26. Alexander Ovechkin recorded a goal and two assists in that game.

Tonight’s Matchup: The Devils and Caps are both coming into tonight’s game disappointed with their season openers. The Devils had flashes of great play last night, but they cut their nose to spite their face. The team applied pressure offensively, but they didn’t play good defense. The defenders made several mistakes, giving the Stars great chances.

Both of these teams expect to be near the top of their divisions and the conference. It’s only the second game of the season, but both teams will want to bring their “A” game tonight. Look for the Devils to address some of the defensive lapses from last night’s game. New Jersey’s defenders played aggressively and took chances last night, chances that didn’t pay off. That’s the way it goes sometimes. Coach John MacLean won’t hold back, but expect the defense to play better tonight.

But the offense will have to get it done as well. The ZIP Line looked good, accounting for two of the three goals last night. But that was against a subpar Stars defense. The Caps are deeper, and the Devils offense will need to work to generate scoring chances. It was a great start last night, but we’ll see how they can respond to a tough road test on back-to-back games.

There was no morning skate today, so these line combinations are based off of last night’s game.

Zach Parise - Travis Zajac - Ilya Kovalchuk

Patrick Elas - Jason Arnott - Jamie Langenbrunner

Brian Rolston - Dainius Zubrus - David Clarkson

Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond - Rod Pelley

Henrik Tallinder - Andy Greene

Alexander Urbom - Anton Volchenkov

Colin White - Matt Taormina

Mark Fraser

Martin Brodeur

Johan Hedberg

Game time is 7 p.m., and you can catch the action on MSG Plus 2 or 660 WFAN.

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Game 1 Preview: New Jersey Devils vs Dallas Stars

Written by Darren S on 08 October 2010.

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Here we go!! Welcome to the beginning of the 2010/2011 NHL Season. This summer has been one long strange trip, so much so I feel like linking to a certain song.

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils vs the Dallas Stars

Where and When: The puck drops at the Prudential Center at 7pm and you can watch it on MSG+ or listen to it on 660 AM WFAN.

Season Series: This is the first of two meetings this season. Last year these two met twice and the home team won each time. Stephane Robidas scored twice and had a career-high 4 points as the Stars won 5-3 on Nov. 21. Patrik Elias had a pair of goals and Martin Brodeur stopped all 28 shots he faced to lead the Devils to a 4-0 victory on Jan. 5.

Devils Notes: Everyone will undoubtedly be focused on Kovalchuk as this is game 1 of his huge 15 year contract but this game also marks the NHL coaching debut of John MacLean. This will also first NHL game for defensemen Matt Taormina and Alexander Urbom. Free-agent acquisitions Henrik Tallinder and Anton Volchenkov also make their debuts with the team. As a result of salary-cap issues caused by Kovalchuk's signing, the team was only carrying 20 players on its roster as of Thursday.

Stars Notes: They are also a very differently looking team this season. Dallas said goodbye to Mike Modano and Marty Turco over the summer and have turned to Kari Lehtonen as the man in between the pipes. The Stars will rely on veterans like Brad Richards and Mike Ribeiro and young guys like Loui Eriksson, James Neal and Jamie Benn to get them back to the post-season.

In Case You Were Wondering: The Devils are 12-1-5 all-time when playing their season opener on home ice. That 1 loss coming against the Flyers last season.

Unless Adam Mair signs a contract prior to tonights game, I think the lines are pretty easy to guess.

Zach Parise - Travis Zajac - Ilya Kovalchuk
Patrik Elias - Jason Arnott - Jamie Langenbrunner
Brian Rolston - Dainius Zubrus - David Clarkson
Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond - Adam Henrique - Rod Pelley

Henrik Tallinder - Andy Greene
Colin White - Alexander Urbom
Mark Fraser - Anton Volchenkov

Martin Brodeur
Johan Hedberg

I'm excited to get this started again. Last season didn't end the way we wanted it to and this summer was probably the craziest summer in the history of the Devils but tonight starts the journey of putting our playoff woes behind us.

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Preseason Game #5 - New York Islanders at Devils

Written by AJ Manderichio on 01 October 2010.

The Matchup - The New York Islanders (0-2-0) face off against the New Jersey Devils (1-0-3) in the first game of a home-and-home series. This is the first time the teams have faced each other this preseason.

For the entire recap, follow after the jump!

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Preseason Game #4 - Philadelphia Flyers at Devils

Written by AJ Manderichio on 28 September 2010.

The Matchup - The Philadelphia Flyers (3-0-1) face the New Jersey Devils (0-0-3) at the Prudential Center in preseason action. The Flyers lead the preseason series, 1-0-0.

Continue reading the preview after the jump!

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Preseason Game #2 - Devils at New York Rangers

Written by AJ Manderichio on 23 September 2010.

The Matchup - The New Jersey Devils (0-0-1) face off against the New York Rangers (0-0-0) in preseason action at Madison Square Garden.

The Devils Last Game - The Devils dropped their preseason opener, 4-3, to the Philadelphia Flyers in a shootout. Since it's preseason, we're not really considered with the wins. What's important is that the Devils received strong play from rookies Alexander Urbom and Jacob Josefson, as well as the line of Patrik Elias - Jason Arnott - Jamie Langenbrunner. The Devils didn't play a strong third period, and some guys looked sluggish on the ice.

The Rangers Last Game - The Blueshirts have yet to play a preseason game.

Read after the jump for tonight's game expectations and lines!

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My 2010/2011 Schedule Highlights

Written by Darren S on 03 August 2010.

Last summer I put a short list together highlighting games coming up that I was excited for. Most of the games I picked were ones that turned out to be exciting and/or extremely important to the Devils season. So I figured I would do the same list again, picking 1 game per month that I am excited to watch.

October 11th - Pittsburgh @ NJ - Paul Martin returns to NJ very early on in his Penguins career. It will be interesting to see what kind of welcome he gets. I honestly could care less that he signed with another team. The Devils won without him during the season last year, so the value he added to this team in my mind wasn't that much. I highlighted this game because I know a lot of people feel much differently than I do and his return to play against is former team is so early that I am sure those fans that feel betrayed will let him have it. We also owned Pitt last season and it will be interesting to see if we can own them again this season.

Novemver 27th - Flyers @ NJ - This is the first regular season game against the Flyers, the team that embarrassed us in the playoffs last season. Wait, not just the playoffs, the embarrassed us all season long. Philly had guys on their team that just pushed our defence around but with additions like Anton Volchenkov, I am interested to see if Philly can continue to push us around.

December 17th - Predators @ NJ - Decemember wasn't a great month to pick from but Jason Arnott's old team comes to town and I am sure they are going to want to bring it against their former captain. If this game doesn't thrill you because of the East/West matchup that means very little, the Devils also visit Ottawa on the 10th which marks Volchenkov's first return to Ottawa since signing out of town. That might be interesting as well!

January 9th - Lightning @ NJ - New GM Stevie Y has put together a decent team this summer. The Lightning haven't really been a threat in recent years but with St. Louis, Lecavalier, Stankos and new addition and Devil killer, Simon Gagne, the Lightning have become one of the more interesting teams. This will be our first look at them and its late enough where TB should have gotten used to all the changes.

February 18th - Rangers @ NJ - You can't have a Devils schedule highlighted without picking out a Rangers/Devils game. This one is in the dead of winter, which last year at this time gave us quite a showdown between Marty and Lundqvist. These matchups always seem to matter in Atlantic Division standings.

March 18th - Capitals @ NJ - The Capitals were the best regular season team last season and have the ability to repeat that. This late season matchup might mean something in the standings as we get closer to the playoffs.

April 5th - NJ @ Penguins - The last 4 seasons have come down to NJ and Pittsburgh battling it out for the division so with 4 games to go in the Devils schedule, why would we think this game wouldn't mean everything?

So which games are you looking forward to?

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