The New Jersey Devils (3-1-0) host the San Jose Sharks (1-3-0) tonight at the Prudential Center

TV: MSG+; Radio: 660 AM WFAN

Know Your Enemy: CouchTarts

What We Think of San Jose:  They play hockey in California?? You know that I’m kidding but the Sharks so far this season haven’t been playing good hockey. However, they are certainly one of the strongest teams in the league and I believe that Shark fans have seen their team get off to a slow start once or twice before. When you trade guys like Setoguchi and Heatley away, you have to expect that it will take some time for the team to find their new identity. Once the Sharks find it, watch out because they will be tough to be. Let’s hope they don’t find that identity tonight.

Tonight’s Game:  The big question facing the first period of tonight’s game is what kind of team NJ will be. Will they be a team with jump or will the look like a team that has been off for close to a week? Give credit to DeBoer for making them skate hard in practice this week but they’ve still been away from game situations for almost a week. I don’t like the long layoffs, never have. The Devils have been working on their power play during practice which definitely needs work. To beat teams like SJ, you HAVE to capitalize on the chances they give you, which aren’t many.
 
The Sharks have outshot their past three opponents 110-65 so the Devils defense and Johan Hedberg have to be ready because you know that they are about to see a lot of pucks flying at them. Martin Havlat is expected to be in the lineup for the first time this season and Joe Thorton is playing in his 1,000 NHL game.

The Sharks have had a couple days to reflect on the last 3 games that they’ve lost. They’ve made some mistakes and weren’t able to capitalize on mistakes made in their favor. The Devils can’t take this team lightly and have to expect that they will come out, amped up and ready to get their season on track.

Colin White is now a member of the Sharks so I am sure he’s going to be ready to prove NJ was wrong to send him on his way. He’s averaging 13:56 of ice time per game so we’ll get plenty of action from him.

There are a lot of reasons to heavily favor San Jose tonight but this is a good test for NJ. One could argue that San Jose appears to be more on the level with Philadelphia than Carolina, Nashville and LA.

Projected Lines:

Zach Parise - Patrik Elias - Dainius Zubrus
Ilya Kovalchuk - Jacob Josefson - Nick Palmieri
Mattias Tedenby - Petr Sykora - David Clarkson
Eric Boulton - Rod Pelley - Brad Mills
 
Andy Greene - Adam Larsson
Bryce Salvador - Anton Volchenkov
Henrik Tallinder - Mark Fayne

Johan Hedberg

Tonight is “Hockey Fights Cancer” night at the Prudential Center (which is the reason for the odd text colors on our entry!!) so please get out there and support cause and support the Devils!! 



TV: MSG Plus 2 Radio: WFAN 660 AM

Please note: This game has an 8:00 pm start time for those of you in the Eastern Time Zone

Last 10 Games: New Jersey 2-1-0 / Nashville 2-1-0

Know Your Enemy: Fang Faction

What we think of the Predators: The Preds enter tonight’s game following a 5-2 loss to Phoenix in their home opener Thursday night. Prior to that game, the Preds won their first 2 games of the season on the road. Totally unlike the Devils, the Preds had their best season in team history last season during which they won their first playoff series ever. There’s considerable excitement and confidence among the fans in Nashville as they truly believe that their team, backed by 2010-2011 Vezina Trophy finalist Pekka Rinne, is a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. Rinne, however, hasn’t fared too well against the Devils in the past with a 1-2-0 career record against them. The Predators won last season’s meeting with the Devils 3-1, but Rinne sat out that game. Backup goalie, Anders Lindback, got the win, and Martin Erat scored two Power Play goals.

Tonight’s Game: The Devils are in the midst of a 2 game win streak which may not seem like much but, compared to a year ago, it’s quite the improvement. Tonight is the Devils’ first road game of the season, and we’ll see if they can continue their winning ways. They should certainly be entering tonight’s game with a bit of confidence after their big shootout win against the Kings on Thursday night. Interestingly enough, I’ve read/heard both Zach Parise and Johan Hedberg mention in interviews that when they stick to their system, everything works out. It’s relieving to see that the players seem to be buying into Peter DeBoer’s system. You just never know when a new face is behind the bench.

The system has certainly been good to Hedberg who has a 1.14 GAA and .952 Save % in his two appearances. Hedberg came into the game in relief of Martin Brodeur at the start of the 2nd period of the last game and gave a perfect performance through 2 periods, OT and the shootout. He may get the start tonight with Marty being listed as day-to-day with a right shoulder injury. Hedberg isn’t the only Devil who has been playing well. Ilya Kovalchuk had the game winning goal in game 2 against the Carolina Hurricanes, and he also scored a shootout goal in Thursday night’s game. The entire line of Parise, Patrik Elias and Petr Sykora has been on fire rushing the opposing teams’ net and creating chances.

It would be nice if the Devils could put the puck in the net a little more often and easily. They really have been working so hard shift after shift that one would think they deserve to score many more goals than they have. But such seems to be Devils hockey…and they’ve managed to eek out wins regardless. Speaking of not scoring, the Power Play remains ineffective in that regard for the most part. The Devils have been perfect so far on the PK, though. (Knock on wood). So, if they could find the back of the net a few more times tonight, I think they have a decent shot of taking this one. Erat, the Predator who scored twice against the Devils in their last meeting, is injured as is forward Mike Fisher.

Let’s Go DEVILS!

TV: MSG PLUS (HD)  RADIO: WFAN 660 AM
 
Last 10 Games: Los Angeles 1-1-0  / New Jersey 1-1-0
 
Know Your Enemy:  The Royal Half

Our EA Sports NHL 12 Simulation Results: The LA Kings came into NJ and were able to skate away with a 3-1 victory behind 2 goals from Simon Gagne. Not at all unrealistic as we watched Gagne single handedly beat NJ many times while he was with the Flyers.
 
What we think of the Kings: Just take a quick look at the LA Kings roster and you realize that they have a lot of talent throughout the lineup. Like I mentioned in our simulation results, Simon Gagne always seems to play well against NJ but if he doesn’t, we have to worry about Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown,  Mike Richards and Dustin Penner just to name a few. Penner will be making his season debut tonight so I would imagine a little extra energy from him. Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson do a great job patrolling the blue line and even if you can get by them, Jonathan Quick doesn’t give up a lot of goals. The Kings have made great improvements over the last few years and certainly seemed poised to make a deep playoff run. This isn’t a team we can take for granted tonight.
 
Tonight's Game: One of the things that the Devils did well at in their win against the Hurricanes on Monday was not allowing the Hurricanes to take control of the game once they managed to tie the score. The Hurricanes managed to find the equalizer twice but were never able to take the lead. This is something the Devils didn’t do well with last season and against a very potent offense like the Kings, an important aspect of the game to try and manage. At times, I thought the Devils moved the puck efficiently but there is always room for improvement. The big part of the win Monday night was that the some of the Devils proficient scorers found their way into the box score so we certainly hope that Parise and Kovalchuk can repeat that performance tonight.

Team discipline has been a huge issue for me over the first two games and I want to see a big improvement on it tonight. While the Devils have been perfect on the Penalty Kill so far, giving up 13 power play opportunities is way too many. The lack of discipline has been surprising considering the Devils were the least penalized team last season and DeBoer’s Panthers were the 2nd least penalized team. The Kings are 2 for 7 so far this season in power play opportunities this season.

The Power Play continues to be a source of frustration for NJ but then again that seems to follow them from year to year. I’m not sure I’ve ever been happy with the results the Devils put up while up a man.

If the Devils can get passed the top two lines that the Kings will be throwing at them and find a way to cut down on the penalties, I think the Devils stand a good chance at getting a win or at the very least a point. I would imagine that the Kings will be suffering from a little fatigue having started the season in Europe and hopefully NJ can use that to their advantage. After all, the Devils have yet to hit the road this season and should be well rested since they last played Monday afternoon.

According to our Fan Confidence Index, it looks like the fans have a lot of confidence in the Devils so far this season as they currently sit with a CFC score of 94.

Follow us on twitter during the game and remember to rock the stadium tonight. Let’s Go Devils!!

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (0-1-0) vs. the Carolina Hurricanes(0-1-1)

Know Your Enemy: Shutdown Line

What Shutdown Line is saying about the Hurricanes:

Unfortunately, some of the mistakes that occurred last night (Friday night) happened again and Carolina ended up losing this game in overtime 4-3. Overall, it wasn't that bad of a performance by Carolina but there's still a lot of work to be done over the next few days.

Our EA Sports NHL 12 Simulation Results: The Devils won 5-2 with goals from Sykora, Elias, Kovalchuk and two goals by Zach Parise, including an empty net goal. The Hurricanes got goals by Brandon Sutter and Eric Staal.

Today’s Game: The Devils have to win this one right? Of course they don’t but getting off to an 0-2 start isn’t going to be pleasant for anyone. While winning isn’t mandatory, scoring is. There is simply no excuse for this team to walk away with a big fat zero on the scoreboard. It was painfully obvious the other night that the Devils lack confidence in themselves and their offensive abilities. I’m hoping that the Devils can move the puck efficiently today against the Hurricanes because they struggled in that area the other night, which caused the Devils to have problems generating shots.

Team discipline has to be better this afternoon. At one point in the game against Philly, the Devils were just playing horrible, undisciplined hockey capped off by David Clarkson getting beaten down on the ice. Fix that now!!

Hedberg gets the start today and that’s not to say that Marty had a bad game the other night. Without Marty, the score would have easily been a lot worse. There will be some shuffling to the lines in order to create some confidence with the puck. I certainly hope that Mark Fayne has a better game today but Tallinder has to help him out a little bit as well. If it were my choice, I hope the same for David Clarkson because his game was nothing but ugly the other night. Kovalchuk needs to show us why we paid him so much money and play smarter hockey and stop turning the puck over so much. I’d almost prefer for Kovalchuk to be more selfish out there and opt to shoot first, pass second.  I’d personally like to see Cam Janssen in because the Devils could probably benefit from throwing the body around.

There is a lot of work to be done by the Devils and Carolina is going to come in here a little hungry this afternoon. Thankfully, Peter DeBoer came from the Southeast Division and knows Carolina pretty well, so hopefully that will give the Devils a bit of an edge.

This is it!! We finally get to drop the puck on the Devils 2011/2012 season. It has been a LONG time since we’ve seen the Devils play a meaningful hockey game and we are very excited to get this going again!!

Know Your Enemy:  Flyers Goal Scored By

What we think of the Flyers: After getting swept out of the 2011 Playoffs, the Flyers made quite a few big changes this summer. Notable leaders Mike Richards and Jeff Carter were traded away for youth and the Flyers signed big time free agents Jaromir Jagr and Ilya Bryzgalov. The Flyers certainly seem to have a win now attitude and did well in their first game of the season, spoiling the Boston Bruins home opener / banner raising party.

The Devils have also made some changes during the summer although nothing like what the Flyers did. Some of the biggest additions to this team were additions by subtraction as the Devils parted ways with Brian Rolston and Colin White. The Devils will finally get a healthy Zach Parise in the lineup and I don’t believe there is any bigger story surrounding the Devils than that one.

Opening Night Stats: Over the last few years, opening night hasn't been our friend. In fact, 2008 was the last time the Devils started the season 1-0. The last time the Devils opened the season at home against the Philadelphia Flyers was back in 2009 and lost by a score of 5-2. Last year the Devils lost to the Dallas Stars 4-3 in OT after starting the game so well but all that is old news. This is 2011/2012 and we are ready for a great Devils season.

What/Who We Will Be Watching: Adam Larsson has made his way into the opening night roster. I liked what I saw from him in the preseason and I am certainly interested to see how he carries himself in a regular season game. He is a rookie but he has great potential. Zach’s back and ready to show the world he deserves a big contract this summer and that the knee injury suffered last season is ancient history. Last year the Arnott and Elias reunion didn’t play out like we had hoped but maybe this year the Elias and Sykora reunion will.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, the Devils must get off to a better start this season and beating the Flyers on opening night would be a great way to do that. A year ago, it was painfully obvious that John MacLean didn’t have the support of the players but going into this season, I don’t feel that rings true with Peter DeBoer.

It is also worth noting that the Devils will be wearing a special patch on their sweaters in memory of former Devils Karel Rachunek and Alexander Vasyunov, who were among those who lost their lives in last month’s tragic plane crash involving Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. The patches will be worn during tonights game agasint Philadelphia, as well as the first road game of the season on Oct. 15 in Nashville. The 1¼” x 3¼” black patch features “KR • AV” in white stitching and will be worn on the upper right chest. 

TV : MSG PLUS (HD)  RADIO:  WFAN 660 AM

Lat 10 Games: New Jersey 4-5-1 - New York 6-3-1

Know Your Enemy: NY Rangers Blog

What NY Rangers Blog is saying sbout the Rangers:

On the "We Will Win" quote from Brian Boyle -

Love the confidence by Boyle. Let's hope Lemaire doesn't see this quote and use it as bulletin board material. Don't need the Devils anymore motivated than they already will be to knock off the Rangers.

What We Think of the Rangers:

They're a rival and we hate them, what more can we say because that's all most people think of anyway when a Devils fan critizes the NY Rangers. All season I've been telling people that I didn't think the Rangers were as good a team as the media and fans were making them out to be but I always got the brushoff because the Devils were having a terrible season and it was just coming out because of jealousy. Truth is, Lundqvist IS that team but the dude can't do it all himself, although he's tried this season. When your goalie posts 11 shutouts in one season and on the final game of the season you're facing a must win to secure the 8th and final spot, something is seriously wrong. It's not like the Atlantic is a super hard division because this season its proven not to be one. Rangers will miss Callahan this afternoon, the guy is a tremdous player.

Today's Game: This is our playoffs basically. The Devils have a chance to send the Rangers home for the summer. So this game plan is simple... JUST WIN!! It won't put us in the playoffs or give us a shot at the cup but for a brief moment, it will make all the Devils fans smile knowing we were the final nail in their coffin.

This is probably my favorite Rangers moment all season...

TV: MSG PLUS (HD)  RADIO: WFAN 660 AM

Last 10 Games: Flyers 4-2-4; Devils 5-4-1 ??

Know Your Enemy:  Flyers Goal Scored By

What Flyers Goal Scored By is saying about the Flyers:

Last night was bad luck.  The Flyers came out strong and were snakebitten the whole night. Thankfully the Flyers won't have to stew over their defeat for long, as they head up to Newark one last time this season.

What we think of the Flyers:

If you visit our enemy site of the day and read back a few posts, you will see that they are talking about the 2000 Flyers team vs this 2011 Flyers team. Of course the 2000 Flyers will never leave the memory of Devils fans (lol 3-1!!) but I personally think the 2011 Flyers are a little more scarier than that 2000 team. Both are talented but I think the defense that the Flyers have now puts this team over the top. You also have to take in to account that the 1999 Flyers were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs.  Last year, the Flyers lost the cup in 6 games and were an OT goal away from forcing a Game 7. That makes this team HUNGRY and far more dangerous. Only question I have about the Flyers is in between the pipes. Do they have the guy that can lead them to the promise land because you can have the most talented team in the world but if your goalie doesn't perform, you're not going anwywhere.

Season Series: Philly leads the season series 3-2. This is the final meeting between these two teams until next season.

Last Meeting: January 22, 2011 - Devils won 3-1

Tonight's Game: Keep on going with the attitude of finishing the year on a positive note. They came out with that attitude the other night and beat the Islanders even though they gave up a 2-0 lead in that game. Speaking of the Islanders game the other night, the Devils offense completely left the building once they got that 2-0 lead. In a game against a more powerful offense such as the Flyers, the Devils can't afford to react the same way. The Flyers are too deep and if you give them an opening, they will take it and they don't rely on just one line to do it.

The Devils will get their chances on the Powerplay and the Flyers are a team where succeeding on the PP is critical. Some teams you can get away with going 0-for on the man advantage all game but again, with a deep and talented team like Philly, you need take advantage of every oppurtunity given to you.

There are a couple of things I would like to see the Devils accomplish this season and they only have a few games left to do it. I would like to see Kovalchuk end up with at least 30 goals this season (currently leads the team with 28), Elias with 20 goals (currently has 16) and Zajac with 15 (currently at 13). Also, I'd like to see Elias crack 40 assists.

Hedberg gets the start tonight and believe it or not, that means Marty doesn't start any games against the Flyers this season. According to Elias Sports Bureau, Brodeur has started at least 4 games vs. Flyers every season from 1995-96 through 2009-10. Parise is still targeting tomorrow nights game for his return to the lineup, meaning you won't be seeing #9 tonight.

Playoff Race: We should write our obituary for the Devils 2010/2011 Playoff hopes.

TV: MSG PLUS (HD)  RADIO: WFAN 660 AM
 
Last 10 Games: New York 4-3-3; New Jersey 4-5-1
 
Know Your Enemy:  Islanders Hockey Blog
 
What we think of the Islanders:
 
What can we say about the Islanders? We're in the same spot as they are this season, on the outside looking in, its just that they are used to being in the position. The Islanders are a weird team for me because every year I wait for them to surprise us and put together a decent season, yet that never seems to come. They have some young talent and have had some injuries this season to that talent which hasn't helped them. What would a healthy year bring the team?  They've had an awful year between the pipes and looks like they are taking steps in the right direction giving Montoya another year in his contract. 
 
Season Series: New Jersey leads the season series 3-2. This is the final time these two teams will meet this season.
 
Last Meeting: March 12, 2011 - Devils won 3-2 in OT
 
Tonight's Game: Was initially thought that #9 Zach Parise might be making his return from knee surgery. A lot of people have questioned why Lou is "pushing" Parise to return this season given the Devils hopes at the playoffs are pretty much gone. The answer for me is that the Devils need to see how Zach is doing after his surgery. It's time to throw big money at him but this injury and surgery isn't the most routine. For example, Pavel Bure had the same injury (different knee yes), same surgery Parise had but wasn't ever really able to return to the ice in the form that everyone knew him. If you are NJ, you want Parise out there just so you can gauge his recovery and figure out how much to throw at him this summer. Anyway, Parise said he needs another practice or two before getting out there so the hopes of seeing him tonight are none and none as Parise has announced his target return is now Saturday vs Montreal.

As for tonight's game, go out, play hard and finish these last 7 games on a high note. The Devils had an amazing run after the break but have fallen to earth a bit lately, goin 4-5-1 in their last 10. Finish strong and if possible, play spoiler to the Rangers hopes in a few weeks.
 
Playoff Race: Here is all you need to know. Devils currently in 12th with 73 points, Buffalo in 8th with 85 points. NJ has the possibility of finishing the season with 87 points. You can see how improbable a post season birth is at this point.

TV: MSG PLUS (HD)  RADIO: WFAN 660 AM

Last 10 Games: New Jersey 7-3-0; Boston 4-3-3

Know Your Enemy:  Days of Yorr

What Days of Yorr is saying about the Bruins:

Bruins have looked like ass recently. Claude says the team seems "too comfortable" which makes us scratch our heads. How can a team feel comfortable when playing like shit and when the Habs are a point behind them? Absolutely mindblowing.

What we think of the Bruins:

If you were to ask me a few weeks back, I would have picked Boston as one of my front runners for the Cup. With the addition of Kaberle to their blue-line, I thought Boston was a team destined to many great things. After watching them Saturday night against the Leafs, I don't believe that anymore. The Bruins seem lost, nothing is really clicking expect maybe the Lucic/Krejci/Horton line but that's not enough. Their powerplay has turn to complete crap as has Kaberle's game. Tim Thomas didn't look comfortable Saturday night and apparently it wasn't right for Rask to get upset at his own player screening him. There just isn't a lot of positive things to say about Boston at this point. The whole team kind of reminds me of the Claude Julien Devils which ended with Julien being shown the door with 6 games to play in the season. With that said, Boston needs to change and somehow I believe that starts tonight.

Season Series: Boston leads the season series 2-0. Bruins have pushed the Devils around this season, outscoring them 7-1 so far.

Last Meeting: November 15, 2010 - Bruins won 3-0

Tonight's Game: The rest of the Devils games are so critical. After leaving 4 points on the table last week, the Devils need to basically win all their games from this point on. Boston, looking to redeem a terrible performance in Toronto on Saturday is going to make it tough for NJ.

While the Bruins haven't been doing that well as of late, they are an incredibly deep offensive team. I've already mentioned the Lucic/Krejci/Horton line but the other lines that the Bruins roll aren't easy to defend so the NJ blueliners are going to have to be on top of their game tonight. As a team, Boston puts up 33.1 shots per game, the fourth most in the league.

It's been a while since we've seen the Bruins so here are a few quick notes about the team.

• Tim Thomas has returned to the Vezina kind of goalie he was. He's had a lot of work this season and lately he's been struggling but I still consider him to be playing out of this world hockey.
• The team acquired forwards Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley as well as defenseman Tomas Kaberle. The Bruins front office means business and has given the coaching staff the tools neccessary to bring home the cup.
• The Bruins won a whole bunch of games this season but are battling for the Northeast Division title with their hated rivals, the Montreal Canadiens.
• Oh yea, did we mention Zdeno Chara literaly broke a guy in half?

I don't have a good feeling about this game. For one it is in Boston and they need to get ready for a big game on Thursday against Montreal. Head coach Claude Julien skated them hard in practice yesterday I wouldn't count on Boston taking this contest too easy.

Playoff Race: Devils currently sitting in 11th with 72 points. Toronto sits in 10th with 74 points, Carolina sits in 9th with 76 points and Buffalo in 8th with 79 points. All four teams are in action tonight so there could be a lot of movement in the playoff picture or a complete stand-still. However you look at it, the Devils must win tonight.

TV: NHLN-US (HD), MSG PLUS (HD)  RADIO: WFAN 660 AM

Last 10 Games: Washington 9-1-0; New Jersey 7-3-0

Know Your Enemy:  Rock the Red

What Rock The Red is saying about the Capitals:

Despite the injuries that have taken key players out of the lineup, the Capitals played an excellent game against the Wings and were a crossbar away from taking the game to overtime.  Look for the Capitals to rebound with a strong showing tonight as they look to start a new streak.

What we think of the Capitals:

Say what you will about NJ being on fire as of late (2 losses in 2 weeks to the last place Senators will get you an argument from me about how good NJ actually is..) but the Capitals are putting it together at the right time. I'll be honest, when I play EA's NHL 11, there are two teams I use where I am untouchable and one of those would be the Washington Capitals. I'm not surprised to see them coming together late in the season. They took a 9 game winning streak into Detroit and saw it come to end. You're going to have a hard time selling me on the thought that the Detroit game starts a losing streak for Washingtong.

Season Series: Washington leads the season series 2-1. Tonight is the final time they will see each other in the regular season (notice I said regular season because I remain hopefully of climbing into the playoffs!!)

Last Meeting: December 21, 2010 - Caps won 5-1

Tonight's Game: Get out those Christmas Tree jerseys because tonight is ugly uniform night retro night. I'm sorry, I know that will get a reaction from readers but for me those jerseys are kind of hideous, it was the reason we did away with them in the first place. I just hope whatever magic those jerseys had against Pittsburgh last year is still in there somewhere.

Find a way to move on from last night. It's not that the Devils played a bad game because they really didn't. They outshot Ottawa and pretty much outplayed them. One lucky goal was the difference in that game but Ottawa is a team you HAVE to beat when battling to get in the playoffs. The Devils haven't played a team of the Caps calibre in a while so if the Devils don't raise their game to the Capitals level, call it early. The last time Washington was in the building, they didn't really respect their opponent and were beaten badly. Don't expect that tonight. This is a must win in my opinion.

Tonight was supposed to mark the first time Arnott returned to NJ since being traded but he'll be sitting out of the lineup for the 3rd straight game. Hopefully, Steckel wants to make his former team pay!!

Playoff Race: Devils currently sitting in 12th with 70 points. Toronto sits in 11th with 72 points and Atlanta sits in 10th with 72.  A win tonight moves NJ up in the standings but Atlanta has a critical matchup with Buffalo tomorrow night and Toronto plays host to Boston tomorrow night. 9th place Carolina plays host to the Islanders tonight but are out of the reach of NJ for tonight.