newjerseynewsroom.com

BY SAM HITCHCOCK

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

COMMENTARY

After the Devils played at home last Wednesday and Friday before starting their four-game road trip on Saturday, with a win against Pittsburgh, they face off tonight against the Calgary Flames.

After a dreadful performance Wednesday, their play greatly improved over the next two games.

Wednesday’s game was a perfect storm of chaos. Aside from a lone bright spot -- a beautiful feed from Parise to Clarkson where Clarkson utilized his quick release on a laser past Thomas into the top right corner -- the Devils were flat all night as Boston capitalized, embarrassing the Devils 6-1.

Not much can really be learned from that game; the Devils’ lethargy was exposed early and often on the offensive and defensive end. The Bruins beat the Devils to every puck and found themselves connecting on each pass and loose rebound.

The Bruins followed their rout of the Devils by humiliating Calgary 9-0 the following night. The Devils’ abysmal showing Wednesday increased the importance of displaying resiliency and mental toughness Friday, with New Jersey hoping to rebound decisively against the Southeast-Division-leading Panthers. Patrik Elias also happened to be playing in his 1,000th game, and from the drop of the puck, he looked like he had not aged a day.

It was also the homecoming of one of the most popular staples on the Devils 2000 and 2003 Stanley Cup teams: John Madden. Madden was returning to New Jersey after Florida recently picked him up off waivers.

There was also a little added irony to Madden’s homecoming, as the Devils fantastic penalty kill that has been the best in the NHL all season had surrendered powerplay goals in each of their last four games. The irony is that Madden was fantastic for the Devils during his tenure with the Devils on the penalty kill, earning him perennial Selke Trophy consideration.

The Devils struck first. Henrique tallied the Devils first goal after a hard Parise forecheck. Parise won the puck in the corner and dished it to the rookie sensation, who tried to jam a shot past Jacob Markstrom. Markstrom made the initial save, but Henrique displayed his silky soft hands as he calmly caught the rebound and roofed it upstairs on his backhand (more on his hands later).

The Panthers quickly responded to tie the game 1-1. Their first goal highlighted the Devils problem all night-- poor backchecking. Blame for this goal fell squarely on Kovalchuk, as Mikael Samuelsson caught the puck on his stick after a Panther got the puck poke-checked away from him on the rush. Samuelsson was able to rip an uncontested shot past Hedberg while Kovalchuk drifted aimlessly a few feet behind him. Kovie would redeem himself in both this game and the Pittsburgh game, but he could take a page out of Rangers’ Marian Gaborik’s book.

Next time the Devils have the night off, Kovalchuk should watch their cross-town rivals’ top scorer, and see how he transformed his game from a disinterested defensive player into a tenacious, hardworking defender.

The Devils were outplayed and outshot at times in the Florida game, but certain Devils stood out, like ironman Patrik Elias, who created scoring opportunities all night. The Devils’ second goal of the night was encouraging, because while Boston had victimized Henrik Tallinder in the previous game, he rebounded with a gutsy effort Friday.