The Matchup:  Dallas Stars (18-11-1) vs. New Jersey Devils (16-13-1)

8:00 pm at the Rock

TV/Radio:   MSG PLUS (HD)/WFAN 660 AM

Know Your Enemy:  Stars of Big D

What We Think Of The Stars:  This is the 2nd of 2 meetings between these teams this season.  The Stars took the first game 3-1 on October 29th in Dallas.  The Stars are in the midst of a 3 game winning streak thanks to rookie goaltender, Richard Bachman, who has allowed just 3 goals in the last 3 games.  The Stars lead the Pacific division.

Tonight’s Game:  It’s going to be a special night for the Devils organization and its fans as the team retires only the third number in its history.  Just in case you missed it, the Devils are retiring Scott Niedermayer’s number (27) tonight before the puck drops.  Darren wrote a nice article honoring Nieds which you can read here.  The excitement doesn’t end there, though.  Devils fans are in for even more of a treat as Travis Zajac returns to the lineup.  This will be the first game Travis has played all season after having surgery in August to repair a torn Achilles tendon.  Look for DeBoer to break up the Parise-Henrique-Kovy line by putting Parise back with Zajac and Henrique and Kovy on another line.  This should provide the Devils two strong scoring lines.  Let’s just hope that Travis doesn’t take too long to get back into the swing of things and that he and Zach can rekindle the chemistry they always seemed to have with each other.  And, as if that’s not enough, Anton Volchenkov and Henrik Tallinder could both be back in the lineup tonight, too.  If the Devils need a spark to get going tonight, they certainly have plenty to choose from.

FUN FACT:

In Darren’s article referenced above, he shared my feelings about Nied’s number being retired by the team he chose to leave.  Nieds was on “NHL Hour with Commissioner Gary Bettman” on Thursday, and it was nice to hear him acknowledge how generous the Devils are being by retiring his number despite the fact that he left to play elsewhere:  “Going to the rink tomorrow, it’s going to be a little emotional in that sense, because for them to feel that highly of what I did there, even considering that I decided to play somewhere else, makes it to me more special.”  At least Nieds recognizes how magnanimous the Devils are being in honoring him in such a poignant way.

Watch It: MSG+  Listen To It: 660 AM

The Last 10 Games New Jersey is 5-5-0 and Florida is 5-3-2.

Season Series:  This will be the second time these two teams face each other this season. The last time, the Devils blew a 3-0 lead and lost 4-3 in regulation. Took a while for NJ to get over that loss.

Know Your Enemy: One of the few teams we don't cover at Bloguin....

 What We Think of the Panthers: They are for real. I thought it was a fluke the way that they started the season and took control of their division early but typically when you’ve played 30 games,  it paints a picture of what kind of team you are. They aren’t scoring a ton of goals and they aren’t keeping a ton of goals out of the net, they are just finding a way to win.

 What I Am Looking For Tonight: If they get the lead, stop sitting back on it because any time the Devils sit back, bad things happen. Look at last night, they got an early lead, sat back a bit and watched the lead vanish. They regained the lead but again sat back and thanks to time running out, the Lightning couldn’t complete the comeback but they were certainly coming at us full steam ahead.

1. Keep with the confidence while shorthanded. Sure, rushing up the ice while down a man makes me nervous because I picture odd man rushes back the other way but last night it worked.
2. Be careful when it comes to the defensive side of things. With Volchenkov and Greene out of the lineup, the Devils don’t have a lot of room to make mistakes when stuck in their own zone.

Who Is Kurtis Foster: He’s a defenseman that certainly needs to improve his game if I am going to like him. He’s a big dude 6-5 226 but he’s not very physical and doesn’t do a great job when it comes to hitting people. However, 14 of his 22 points last season came on the power play so if he helps improve our PP and doesn’t look worse than Talinder out there, what’s not to like?

Possible Line Combinations:

I have little clue since we made this trade…

Petr Sykora - Patrik Elias - Dainius Zubrus
Zach Parise - Adam Henrique - Ilya Kovalchuk
Eric Boulton - Ryan Carter - David Clarkson
Mattias Tedenby - Tim Sestito - Cam Janssen

Henrik Tallinder - Mark Fayne
Bryce Salvador - Kurtis Foster
Alexander Urbom - Adam Larsson

Martin Brodeur
Johan Hedberg

Watch It: Versus  Listen To It: 660 AM

The Last 10 Games:  New Jersey is 4-6-0 and the Lightning are 3-7-0

Season Series:  NJ leads the season series 1-0 after winning  in Toronto on Nov 19^th.

Know Your Enemy: 

 What We Think of the Lightning:  They are probably having a more disappointing season than we are than we are. The fact is, NJ and Tampa Bay are teams that are used to being in playoff contention at this point of the season and both are in the bottom half of the conference. Both teams are desperate to get 2 points tonight which would be a step in the right direction.

What I Am Looking For Tonight: Notice I changed the title of this category because I just don’t know what to expect from this team anymore but I do know what I am looking from one game to the next.

1. Energy – because the game Saturday afternoon lacked any kind of emotion or energy until late in the game but by then, it was really too late.
2. Discipline – Stay out of the box. Yes we are good at killing off the penalties but we struggle to generate shots on net throughout the game so spending time in the box and killing penalties isn’t going to help us generate shots on net.
3. Be careful of their top scorers. Just because St.Louis might miss the game tonight, don’t do forgetting about Stamkos and Lecavalier.
4. Win…at all cost WIN!!

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

7:00 pm at the Rock

TV/Radio:  MSG Plus 2/ WFAN 660 AM

Know Your Enemy:  The 6th Sens

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

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

FUN FACT:

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


GO DEVILS!!! 

.

Watch It: MSG   Listen To It: 660 AM

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

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

Know Your Enemy: Puckin Eh

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

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

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

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

Players To Watch:

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

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

Projected Lines:

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

Defense:
Greene - Volchenkov
Tallinder - Fayne
Salavandor - Larsson

Goaltender:
Brodeur

Watch It: MSG+   Listen To It: 660 AM

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

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

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

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

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

Players to Watch:

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

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

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

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!!

Watch It: MSG + 2   Listen To It: 660 AM

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!!

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

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.