I can honestly say I was a little worried going into this game. Actually, scratch that, I was a lot worried. My biggest fear was watching this team lose in regulation and starting the season 0-2-0. We keep talking about last season’s horrible start but that was an 0-1-1 start at this juncture. This doesn’t mean that the Devils are off to a better start than last season, that’s going to take time to prove , it just don’t have to worry about after two games.

Let’s focus on some of the good things to start:

The Devils had great jump to start the game and Parise put them on the board early. That’s exactly what the Devils need to do every game because it seemed to give them a little confidence.  Sure, the ‘Canes eventually tied it up, but the confidence was there because NJ bounced right back. I certainly didn’t expect Fayne to put that second goal in the net but great job. They outscored and outshot the Hurricanes in the first period which is something you like to see. I do have tendency to set my expectations a little high but with guys named Parise and Kovalchuk, I expect to see one of those names on a score sheet each and every game. Tonight, we were lucky because we got both of them on there.

Like last season, Hedberg did a solid job in net. He didn’t have much a chance on the first goal as Sutter was camped out in front of him and maybe the second goal was a little soft but all in all a great performance.

I thought the Devils came away with a hard fought win tonight against a team that always gives us issues.

There was bad stuff as well:

I do want to take a moment a touch upon something Deb brought up the other night. WHY THE HELL IS ADAM OATES STILL THE POWER PLAY COACH???  The Devils are now 1 for 12 on the PP and the only reason they got the one tonight is because the Hurricanes had to pull Ward and Parise put it in an empty net. They look a little lost on the man-advantage, not moving the puck efficiently, standing around, etc. but at least they didn’t give up a shorthanded break away.

Yes, Kovalchuk got the eventual game winner but his game certainly wasn’t flawless. One, he broke his stick on a one-timer during a power play and then took his sweet time to get over to the bench for a new stick. This is where Lemaire excelled last season, getting the most out of Ilya Kovalchuk and I certainly hope DeBoer can do the same.. Two, his little stick handling mishap that had Hedberg not been paying attention to, would have resulted in the go-ahead goal for Carolina at the end of the second period. I won’t deny that Kovalchuk is a talent and can break a game open like no one else can but he makes a lot of stick handling mistakes for a guy paid $100 million dollars. I don’t think he’s at a point in his career where that can be fixed, we can only hope to survive them.

David Clarkson – If you read my in game notes, I was all over him but maybe I am being a little unfair to him? Maybe I need to be harder on the coaches to use him correctly. See, Clarkson is a lot like me when I play hockey. My best attribute is to camp out in front of the net, screen the goalie and bang home rebounds. I once had a team captain that wanted me to model my game after Randy McKay and I did just that and became a better hockey player because of that. I think that’s the type of player that Clarkson is and should be but for some reason, no coach has done that with him. He’s out there on the power play, stick him above the crease.

At the end of the day the Devils do have a number of things to work on but a win is a win and I will take it. It’s early in the season and they showed some resiliency when Carolina kept finding a way to tie the game. The Kings come into NJ on Thursday and I think they are a team with a few more offensive weapons than Carolina. Let's hope the Devils are ready.

For those of you that missed the game, enjoy the highlights.

Ick. Where to begin? For those of you who didn’t watch the game…you didn’t miss anything worth watching and the score says it all. Sure, teams lose and teams win, and the Devils aren’t exactly known to dominate their opponents on opening night. But this one really sucks. Not only were the Devils shutout on home ice in the season opener….they were shutout on home ice in the opening game of a season during which they have more to prove than ever. Here’s how it (or, more accurately, nothing) went down…

It became apparent to me about halfway through the 2nd period that, despite all the hope and hype, the Devils were doing the same old song and dance. NO OFFENSE. I mean, really. How could it possibly be that a team that has two of the league’s elite forwards in Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise can’t manage to put the puck into the opponent’s net at least once in 60 minutes? As frustrating as that is, add to that the fact that the Devils had 3 consecutive power plays and still failed to generate any offense. Which leads to my next gripe:

WHY THE HELL IS ADAM OATES STILL THE POWER PLAY COACH??? Because he did such a bang-up job last season??? The Devils’ power play went 0 for 5 or something. I got too frustrated to keep track after that, but it’s the 0 for part that really matters. For crying out loud…a man advantage is supposed to be just that – an advantage. Not an equalization and certainly not a disadvantage. Not only did the PP fail to score it also gave the Flyers at least two short handed chances (during which Martin Brodeur came up big). And I guess that was one positive of the night…although the score doesn’t really reflect it, Brodeur played really well. The second goal he let in was pretty soft, but all in all, he really kept the Devils in the game for the most part. Other positives were Adam Larsson, Adam Henrique and Jacob Josefson. They are the three players, other than Brodeur, who actually stood out tonight, in my opinion. But none of them scored a goal which is what the team actually needs more than anything. So really nothing else they did matters at this point.

Cam Janssen was a healthy scratch which caused me to scratch my head…especially as I watched David Clarkson make his third boneheaded play of the game and try to fight Wayne Simmonds in an altogether embarrassing effort (for which he somehow managed to accrue two extra penalty minutes for Unsportsmanlike Conduct). Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t Janssen brought back to New Jersey to act as the enforcer on the team - thereby removing that honor from Clarkson in the hopes that Clarkson would actually earn his paycheck and score a few goals this season? Why would Janssen be scratched and especially for a game against the Flyers who are known to be dirty, rotten players? I seriously don’t get the logic in that.

To sum it up, the Devils were awful and (I hate to say it) looked eerily like they looked at the beginning of last season. And Peter DeBoer’s “system” looked no less chaotic than John MacLean’s did. And that’s scary.

I’m sure some of you are thinking, “Chill, Debra. It’s only the first game of a very long season.” And to that I say that, while that may be true, I have zero patience this year. Patience is what killed this team last year. If Lou Lamoriello had fired John MacLean at Halloween or even Thanksgiving, the Devils would have most likely been in the playoffs. I seriously hope that Lamoriello doesn’t make the same mistake this year and wait too long for the team’s problems to correct themselves. Because if history has taught us anything, it’s that they won’t correct themselves.

Last season sucked to high heaven, but we all survived. Everything happens for a reason, and if we don’t learn from past mistakes, those same mistakes will continue to haunt us. The Devils can’t simply shrug this atrocious start to their season off. Changes have to be made already. Here’s one: try putting Ilya Kovalchuk on a line with people who have talent and/or finesse. The fact that one of the world’s top five elite players is playing on a line with the likes of Dainius Zubrus as his center and Nick Palmieri is an abomination. And I like Zubrus (jury’s still out on Palmieri)…just not centering Kovy. Kovy would be better served playing with Patrik Elias and Petr Sykora. They all play a more similar style, have more finesse and are quick skaters. Let Zach Parise play alongside Zubrus and Palmieri. They are all more grinders and are comfortable and effective playing the boards (tonight notwithstanding).

And those are my thoughts about the game and the team. If I seem frustrated and down that’s because I am. I’m not sure how any Devils fan who watched that debacle couldn’t be. Even Chico Resch was negative towards the Devils by the end of the game.

(NOT SO) FUN FACT:

Tonight’s game is the first time the Devils have ever been shutout in their season opener. Hopefully, they will only improve from here.

The Devils defeated the New York Rangers 2-1 in OT tonight to win their first preseason game of the 2011-2012 season. Being a preseason game, this may not seem like anything to write about. But it is, and here’s why…

First, prior to tonight’s game, no one had actually witnessed the Devils play another team since Pete DeBoer had been named head coach this past summer. Granted, a 2-1 OT win in the preseason rarely guarantees that a team has an exceptional coach at the helm, but after the John MacLean debacle of last season, such a result pretty much guarantees a better coaching situation here in Jersey. That’s not saying much (nor is it much to aim for) but at least it’s something to build some hope around regarding the ever-elusive position of coaching as far as the Devils are concerned.

Second, the Rangers played their all-star starting goaltender, Henrik Lundqvist, for half of tonight’s game. Meanwhile, not only did Martin Brodeur not dress for tonight’s game, but neither did Johan Hedberg. Yes, you read that correctly. The Devils won tonight’s game with Keith Kincaid and Jeff Frazee in net. Congratulations to them both for an outstanding win!

Third, the Devils’ first goal tonight was scored by none other than tryout Petr Sykora. If you combine tonight’s tally with the hat trick he scored in Monday’s scrimmage you will see that he has been on fire. Add that to the fact that tonight he was playing center (for the first time in 15 years), and I really don’t see how anyone can’t be impressed with him. Is he old by NHL standards? Yes. Is he a retread? Yes. But have the Devils needed goals like people in hell need ice water? YES! And, if somehow/some way those goals are going to come via a veteran retread by the name of Petr Sykora…then so be it. If Mark Recchi’s presence could help the Bruins win the Cup at age 42, then there’s absolutely no reason why Petr Sykora couldn’t help the Devils do the same at the age of 35. I say, “Give that man a contract!”

Did any of you see the game? What were your thoughts? Please share them with us!

FUN FACT:

Since the Devils still haven’t named a captain, three players wore the “A” tonight: Zach Parise, Ilya Kovalchuk and Patrik Elias. If you were Pete DeBoer which of those three would you choose as captain? Patrik Elias has recently gone on record as saying that it should be someone younger than him. This could very likely be Zach Parise’s last year as a Devil. Ilya Kovalchuk has committed the remainder of his hockey life to the Devils, is an all-star player and has experience being a captain. I think the choice is pretty obvious…but, of course (and unfortunately), I’m not in the locker room. Should be interesting to see what transpires, especially since, according to Tom Gulitti, DeBoer plans to name a captain before the start of the regular season.

The season is just about over and the Devils hosted the Leafs in meaningless game.

* Palmeiri fooled everyone. At first thought, I didn't think it went in but everyone else seemed to act like it did, including Toronto, so I went with that. Just proves how much power the guy in charge of the goal horn has. is it a goal... BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR..oh yea i guess so GOAL!!!  After the first review, was easy to see crossbar, post, out...no goal.

* Kovalchuk wrister for his 30th, which is a lot better than what he was on pace for last season. If he's finally comfortable here, has finally won fans over then next year...WATCH OUT!!

* Marty with an awsome save on Bozak late in the 1st.

* Beauty of a goal by Tedenby. If a guy is cocked and ready and you give him that kind of time and give up that kind of passing lane to the assist man, you'll pay. I don't care who's between the pipes, you're not stopping it.

* Tallinder puts one home to make it 3-0. "Let's put the women and children to bed and go lookin' for dinner!"

* Surprisingly Reimer gets pulled... I don't know, I would have kept him in there.

* Kessel from Lupal put Toronto on the board. 3-1

* Bozak shorthanded breakaway.. SCORE. Wow, maybe the Devils did go looking for dinner because they certainly aren't out there playing any longer.

* Elias finishes it and the Devils manage to hang on 4-2

There is potential in the next game. The Devils head to MSG on Saturday to play the Rangers. The Rangers are currently 2 points ahead of 9th place Carolina with 2 games to play for each team. The Devils COULD play spoiler to the Rangers playoff hopes, especially if the Rangers lose to Atlanta tonight.

In other news from the night....

Zach Parise is done for the season. With only two games remaining on the schedule, and no playoffs for the Devils this season, the news of Parise shutting it down for the rest of the season isn't earth shattering. In fact, I feel a little silly trying "Zach Parise is done for the season"

I actually nevet thought it made sense to try and put Parise back in the lineup so late in the season. Parise did stress that his decision (well Lou's decision) to not return to the ice this season did NOT mean he re-injured his knee against the Canadiens. It comes down to having it not make sense to put him in the lineup at this point in time. Make sure he is 100% for next season.

Now, the focus for Parise becomes the off-season. We all know he's a valuable piece to the puzzle in NJ but we also know that our cap space is extremely tight. The Devils could file for team-elected arbitration, the deadline is the later date of June 15 or 48 hours after the final game of the Stanley Cup Finals, which would prevent Parise from fielding offer sheets from other teams on July 1.
By filing, the Devils would lock Parise into a one-year contract but we've seen in the past how well arbitration works out in the long run.

Parise is open to signing a long-term deal, but like the fan, doesn’t know at this point what the future holds.

In my opinion, if you feel that the knee injury isn't a big deal, then Lou has no excuses now. The Devils are out of the playoffs and the draft is not until the last week of June. Get a deal done and get Parise signed.

The Devils are just trying to end the season on a positive note, trying to give Jaques Lemaire a reason to stay. Sure, they didn't fair so well against the Canadiens over the weekend but the game against Philly was top notch. Despite the loss to the Penguins last night, give the Devils a little credit for hanging in there. The 4-2 victory is a little misleading because that 4th goal was a shorthanded, empty net goal.

* If the Devils didn't hand the Penguins 3 power plays in the first period, could things have been different? NJ did make it VERY easy for the refs to pull the whistle out of their pockets to open the game.

* Staal's first goal was a beauty. You kind of had a feeling it was coming as he was close to putting one moments before hand.

* Samela had a nice look at a scoring oppurtunity. Give Fluery credit on the save because Samela put everything he had into that shot.

* Fluery was certainly frustrating the Devils offense early and often. He looks ready for the post-season.

* Bad puck handling led to Pelley throwing the puck out in front of the net, which just happened to find Steckel, who was all by
himself. Can't miss from that distance, he doesn't. 1-1

* The difference between playoff teams and non-playoff teams, they know how to answer and that exactly what the Penguins do, answer right back after the Steckel goal.

* Kunitz makes the Devils look rediculous. I'm sorry, that is a TERRIBLE goal to give up.

* Give NJ credit though, they didn't give up once Kunitz put Pittsbugh up by 2. NJ wasn't ever able to tie the game but they made a game of it.

That's 2 losses in a row and the Devils are New Jersey 3-6-1 in their last 10. I feel like they are limping towards the finish line. Toronto up next, meaningless game as Toronto was eliminated from the playoff race last night.

I've gotten some heat about talking about the Devils as if they are out of the playoffs. That really does surprise me because the Devils can at best end up with 87 points, a total NY and Buffalo already have. Oh well, one more point by both those teams and the Devils are mathematically eliminated and those emails can stop flooding my inbox.

I just want NJ to play hard, finish strong and leave something to build on for next season. I think I got just that in the game against the Islanders.

* Kovalchuk, missed a chance at the 4:00 minute mark of the game but buried one later. How do you allow a guy like Kovalchuk to stand in front of the net like that? It took Palmieri and few seconds to get set in order to make the pass but there was Kovalchuk, just cocked back and waiting.

* That was Kovalchuk's 28th of the season. That's not horrible but combined with his 26 assists, I really thought he'd put up bigger numbers than that. My problem with Ilya is that he's more often been a - in his career than he's been a  +. This will be the 8th time he's finished with a - in the +/- category. It's a must for me that he breaks the 30 goal mark this season. For that kind of money, a MUST.

* Palmieri has been one of the bright spots for me this year. The kid plays hard and makes things happen. I am certainly excited about the future when it comes to this kid.

* Oh Tedenby, that was an awful mistake that led to the Islanders shorthanded goal. Its those little mistakes that you make that make me worry about you. At times, you can be brilliant and other times, you can be such a liability. Its not bad enough you didn't see Nielsen streaking up the ice but you didn't really make an effort to catch him, that's what really bothered me.

* Typical Devils to give up a late goal. Its something they've done for years, it's a problem they never seem to fix.

* Andy greene, where has THAT been all season? Nice way to put home the GWG. Over the pad, just below the blocker, how many ties has DiPietro seen that get by him??

* Two fights early, I thought this game was going to get a little out of hand. It's not like the Islanders don't have those kind of games!!

* Devils fininsh off the Islanders to win the season series 4 games to 2.

* And finally, I have to disagree with Doc, the Devils aren't putting any pressure on anyone. We hockey stops being played for NJ this season when the final whistles rings at the end of the Devils/Bruins game on April 10th.

Devils get ready for the Flyers tomorrow night.

Improbable has turned to nearly impossible. Sure, the Devils are technically and mathematically still alive but having dropped 3 of the last 4 while trying to leapfrog over 3 teams isn't what you want to see from your team. The 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins combined with Buffalo’s victory over Montreal left the Devils nine points behind the eighth-place Sabres.

If the Devils win all nine of their remaining games for 18 points, the Devils would finish with 90 points. The Sabres would need 10 points over that same span for 91. Lets remember we see Boston again in those 9 games. Like I said, mathematically it is possible, but very unlikely.

I said going into last nights matchup in Boston that I didn't have good feelings about that game. Boston has taken it to us a number of times this season and seem to have a lot of depth. I look at Boston like I looked at Philadelphia last season, a team we don't matchup very well against.

The Devils came out and beat the Bruins up and down the ice, yet the first period ended 1-1. To outshoot Boston 16-3 at one point in the first and have Boston tie the game on only their 3rd shot was frustrating. The Devils tried hard  to tie the game in the third but it just couldn't be done. Give credit to Boston, they didn't look like the team I watch in Toronto on Saturday night. If that is how they respond when Julien works them hard, then they should be worked very hard in the coming weeks.

The remainder of the Devils schedule looks like this.

Fri Mar 25, 2011  Devils @ Penguins  
Sat Mar 26, 2011  Devils @ Sabres
Wed Mar 30, 2011  Islanders @ Devils
Fri Apr 1, 2011  Flyers @ Devils
Sat Apr 2, 2011  Canadiens @ Devils
Tue Apr 5, 2011  Devils @ Penguins
Wed Apr 6, 2011  Maple Leafs @ Devils
Sat Apr 9, 2011  Devils @ Rangers    
Sun Apr 10, 2011  Bruins @ Devils

Do you think they can win all 9 games?? Flyers,Canadiens, Bruins, Sabres and Rangers are all very tough games. Saturday's game in Buffalo is a very huge 4 point game and possibly the proverbial nail in the coffin kind of game.

First things first, the Devils must put the loss behind them and get ready for the Penguins.
 

My title of the article was going to be "Devils shit the bed" but I thought that was to drastic. If the Devils do fall short, like Brian Leetch is predicting, I am sure everyone is going to look at the games against Ottawa late in the season where the Devils left 4 points on the table. When you are playing a 15th place team, the night before you play the 2nd place team in your conference, its a must win. Plain and simple. The Devils didn't do that.

Lucky for them that Toronto decided to start Giggy in net for the first time in over a month and he stunk it up so the Devils don't lose much ground, only watch Atlanta jump up above them with 72 points.

Lets get this out of the way. Like last week, when Craig Anderson played better than anyone could have imagines, Curtis McElhinney was fantastic against the Devils. Lately NJ had been capitalizing on the opponents mistakes, like Wheelers the other night and been getting the pucks to bounce there way. Last night, Curtis McElhinney made sure the rebounds didn't bounce their way.

Down 1-0, Chris Neil got an early goal, a flukey goal to put the Sens up 2-0. Take that away and the Devils could have been in this game. Rolston did close the gap in the 3rd with a PP goal through traffic but the Sens would ice the game with an empty net goal.

The Devils, like last week outshot the Sens and probably were the better team on ice, they just didn't get the bounces. The Devils need to regroup though because a tough task is on their way into town.

Down 2-0 in the first, you have to give credit to NJ for not giving up. Zajac tied the game late in the first period and Elias found the equalizer early on in the second. Josefson one-timed a pass from Tedenby at the top of the left circle past a screened Ondrej Pavelec to snap a 2-2 tie. Kovalchuk would add an empty net goal late to seal the victory.

Of courses Zajac's goal was important because it was one of those late goals that seemsto kill any teams momentum no matter how well they played but for me it was the Elias goal that was the story of this game. Atlanta was starting to make mistakes and Blake Wheeler sent a puck wide of Brodeur and didn't see that his team was pinching up. The Devils made a quick transition, and Elias and Rolston played a little give and go before Elias put the puck in the net. Right there, Atlanta knew that if they wanted to win this game, they were going to have to play a lot better. A early 2-0 lead wasn't going to give them the win.

The Devils continue the march towards making the post season. They've gone over the .500 mark for the first time this season, land in 10th place overall with 70 points and trail the Hurricanes by 4 points and the Sabres by 6. It's hard not to believe in this team because they just keep on winning. Center Travis Zajac played in his 388th consecutive game on Tuesday, equaling a franchise mark established by defenseman Ken Daneyko 17 years ago.

Those Senators that beat us the other night come to town on Thursday and the Devils need to find a way to win because the Caps come to town on Friday night for Retro night and that will be a very big and tough game.

This is something we haven't talked about a lot of recently but the Devils lost in regulation last night. This loss came against the 15th place Ottawa Senators, a position that we were once in. In fact, on February 1st, the Devils were the 15 seed in this matchup and walked away with a win, by the same score.

The Devils didn't do a bad job tonight but it seemed to be a frustrating game for them. For one, they outshot the Senators 32-21 and you have to give credit to Craig Anderson because he certainly came to the rink tonight with winning in mind. The Devils powerplay, well that did suck, especially in the 2nd period when Ottawa was having their own little parade to the box, giving the Devils a few 2 man advantages. Sure, one of them was only for a handful of seconds but the second one they had over a minute of 5 on 3 time and took a lot time just getting the puck into the zone. Once set up, the Devils never really got a good look at the net. You could argue Rolston got a good look but if you are  arguing that, why did he hit Anderson square in the chest?

The first Ottawa goal, in my opinion was completely on Tallinder. Ryan Shannon shouldn't have been allowed to beat him to the puck but did and by doing so, created the chance for Erik Condra. Give Condra credit for sticking with it as he had to wack home the rebound to stick it in the net. In this league, you can do a thousand things correctly but we remember the one thing you did wrong and from last nights game, all I can see in regards to Tallinder is Shannon turning on the jets and getting past him.

Rolston had a nice setup feed to Elias who beat Anderson to tie the game at 1. The Senators would strike late on a horrible goal. Spezza had the puck up high and circled around a few times, obvioulsy waiting for teammates to get into the play and found Condra breaking to the net. I don't see how this puck wasn't stopped but give Spezza credit for being very patient on the play.

So the Devils lose but the good news is 8th Buffalo also lost, meaning the Devils remain 8 points out. The bad news, is that Buffalo lost and the Devils couldn't capitalize on the loss and remain 8 points out.

My 3 Stars

1) Erik Condra - Scored both goals.
2) Craig Anderson -  Kept Ottawa in this game and certainly made some brilliant saves.
3) Patrick Elias - For giving NJ a chance.

All in all a frustrating end to a frustrating game but the Devils must put it behind them as they head to Atlanta for a HUGE game on Friday. 2 points means the world for both of these teams. As for last night, I guess Spezza gets the last laugh...