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Devils On Brink With 3-2 Loss
by David Carty

For Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils, it’s the tale of two seasons. Throughout the regular season, the Devils proved resilient. Surviving and even flourishing despite injuries to its top line, New Jersey came into the playoffs with the same agenda it had throughout the Lou Lamoriello era, championship or bust. Unfortunately for Jersey fans, the Devils may be cashing in their chips.

The Devils lost Wednesday night 3-2, putting the under-seeded Ottawa Senators one win away from the Eastern Conference Finals. In the midst of a Devils collapse, the Senators stuck to what got them to the postseason: star power.

Daniel Alfredsson opened the scoring for the Sens, netting a perfectly placed pass from Dany Heatley four and a half minutes into the first period. Ottawa gave New Jersey three power-play opportunities in the first period alone, but strong blue line play shut down the EGG line. Anton Volchenkov played brilliantly on the penalty kill, disrupting the Devils scoring attack and breaking up several chances. Patrick Elias struggled on the man advantage, giving up the puck twice on one of the power-plays.

From early on, it was obvious that this was a different Devils team. They were getting pushed around; they looked lost. Ottawa pounded on Brian Gionta early and took no prisoners. One hit on Colin White resulted in a game delay while they fixed the glass.

The Devils did, however, crack the code early in the second period. They took advantage of a Volchenkov penalty to get on the board. Elias connected with Gionta to even the score 1-1. Then Martin Brodeur accomplished a rare feat in his storied NHL career - he proved he was human after all.

Off a face-off in the Devils zone, Heatley tossed the puck from near the blue line at the net. The shot, which Brodeur never reacted to, deflected off his right heel for the score. Brodeur allowed an unacceptable garbage goal; it should have been stopped easily. It was a postseason blunder and Brodeur’s poor performance wasn’t over.

Four minutes into the third period, Mike Fisher lit the lamp after weaving through a suddenly porous Devils defense and beat Brodeur to the glove-side from the top of the circle. Can you believe the Devils’ defense was so weak and Brodeur’s reactions were so slow?

A Jay Pandolfo tally brought it to one, but the Devils got no closer despite some of their best action with Brodeur on the bench late in the game. A Colin White high sticking penalty killed the New Jersey momentum and the Devils fell again.

New Jersey’s sudden shortcomings have been the difference in the series. While the Devils offensive attack looked strong at times, their defensive deficiencies have left them reeling; leave it to the Sens to steal a page from the Devils’ playbook. Strong defensive play and domination in the neutral zone led one team to victory and that team was not the Devils.

Heatley and company lead 3-1 in the series and will look for the deciding win at the Continental Airlines Arena on Saturday afternoon. No word yet on which Martin Brodeur will be in net for the Devils.

First Look: Devils-Senators
by David Carty

The Devils and Senators had similar roads to the postseason. Both teams pounded through the regular season finishing with over 100 points. (Only two points separate the teams.) Injuries stole ice time from each team’s top personnel: the entire EGG line of the Devils, and Jason Spezza and Mike Fisher of the Sens were just a few of the skating wounded. Each squad even had its own challenge in former #1 overall picks to square off against in the first round to reach this point.

Sidney Crosby and Vincent Lecavalier are stars of the game; they both provided strong offensive production against the Devils and Senators, respectively. While similarities between the two teams exist, their style of play couldn’t be more different. In what could be the best second-round match-up the NHL has to offer, it will be a classic battle of offense versus defense.

Forwards

When healthy, New Jersey’s EGG line of Patrick Elias, Scott Gomez, and Brian Gionta is a tactful well-oiled machine that can do as much damage as any line in the NHL. Just look at how they performed against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Gomez leads the NHL in postseason points heading into round two with nine. Elias and Gionta aren’t far behind with six apiece. Zach Parise’s breakthrough season featured the 22-year-old as a determined player with tremendous leadership skills. In other words, Parise was built for Lou Lamoriello’s system. Backed by specialists Jamie Langenbrunner (postseason wizard) and John Madden (perennial Selke contender), the Devils boast solid play up front that is not to be overlooked.

Yet the edge stays with the Sens. Dany Heatley is too skilled a player to fall into the trappings of the New Jersey defense and will make his presence known. Jason Spezza, paired with Heatley, has developed into one of the game’s better table-setters. Daniel Alfredsson still has some postseason demons to answer to, but no need to call an exorcist. Outstanding ability will always find its way.

Advantage: Senators

Defense

Richard Matvichuk missed 81 games during the NHL season with a back injury. But since his return he hasn’t missed a beat. In Sunday’s clinching Game Six, Matvichuk logged the second most ice-time on the team (22:34) and that was after being cross-checked by Vincent Lecavalier and missing the final minutes of the first period. Brian Rafalski has been as active on the offensive charge as any Devils player with seven postseason points. Paul Martin compliments Rafalski by logging a ton of minutes and playing a solid two-way game.

Anton Volchenkov has taken it upon himself to try to replace every inch of Zdeno Chara’s 6’ 9” frame. That’s mission impossible, though Volchenkov is effective in his role when staying disciplined and not getting behind the play. The yin to Volchenkov’s yang, Wade Redden, answers the call whenever needed. He possesses all the offensive ability Volchenkov lacks and the leadership abilities to command a blue line. In the end though, New Jersey has built its franchise on defense. This year’s Devils may not strike fear into opponents (that job was previously occupied by Scott Stevens); they still finished with the Eastern Conference’s best defense.

Advantage: Devils

Goaltending

Does the question need to be asked? Martin Brodeur’s accomplishments, postseason or otherwise can be rattled off by even the most casual Devils fan. If not for a kid named Sid, Martin Brodeur would be walking home with the Hart Trophy. Instead, Martin will have to settle for another Vezina trophy. If anyone was worried about Brodeur slowing down, setting the single-season record for wins with 48 did enough to silence the doubters.

After winning the starting job in November, Ray Emery has done more than a serviceable job in net for the Sens. His progression this season has reassured those who have said he could use more seasoning. But in the playoff season, Brodeur is about as close as you’ll get to perfection between the pipes.

Advantage: Devils

Special Teams

In the regular season, both squads finished in the middle of the pack on the power-play. Neither team was inspiring or disappointing, but the postseason has been a different story. The Devils and the Senators rank first and second respectively in power-play goals in round one. With the EGG line clicking on all cylinders, it appears that special teams will indeed be where the damage is done.

But not so fast; the Devils enjoyed the East’s best penalty kill unit and will not make things easy for Ottawa. The Senators themselves played strongly down a skater, but nobody can match the Devils’ ability to neutralize threats in their zone.

Advantage: Devils

Coaching

It’s the house that Lou Lamoriello built. The only problem has been trying to find a coach (not named Jacques) who he can trust behind the wheel. The other obvious solution is to handle it yourself. For the second time, Lamoriello fired his head coach with just weeks left in the regular season as he begins his second tenure as Devils coach. The players only had three days to work with Lamoriello, but the nucleus of the team is well familiar with his system and played for him in his first coaching stint.

Meanwhile Bryan Murray faces the challenge again. Murray is comparable to Marty Schottenheimer of the NFL, except that Schottenheimer has actually made it to the big dance before. With this talented a squad, pressure will be placed squarely on Murray’s shoulders to deliver results. Another second round postseason loss, albeit to the Devils, are not the kind of results Senators’ brass or fans will accept. And we know what happened to Marty Schottenheimer this off-season.

Advantage: Devils

Summary

An edge on defense means an edge on the tempo of a game. The New Jersey Devils have been reinventing the same formula for years under Lamoriello’s leadership and this year is no different. It’s hard to call Brodeur’s 2006-07 season a career year, but he set career highs in wins, games played, minutes, and shutouts; a scary thought. Heatley and company are plenty capable of squeaking a few past the stingy Devils defense. But when push comes to shove, the Devils resiliency and experience will win out in the end.

Prediction: Devils in five

Game Schedule
Thu, April 26 7:00 p.m. at New Jersey
Sat, April 28 8:00 p.m. at New Jersey
Mon, April 30 7:00 p.m. at Ottawa
Wed, May 2 7:00 p.m. at Ottawa
Sat, May 5 8:00 p.m. at New Jersey
Mon, May 7 7:00 p.m. at Ottawa
Wed, May 9 7:00 p.m. at New Jersey

Devils Dispose of the Lightning
by David Carty

In New Jersey, it has always been about the system. Lou Lamoriello is the longest-tenured NHL GM for good reason. Whether it was playing the trap in the pre-lockout, middle-aged time hockey, or simply controlling the pace of the game, the Devils never waver from the course Lamoriello sets.

Throughout all of the player retirement and turnover and coaches either quitting or getting the axe, there has always been Martin Brodeur. Largely overshadowed by Patrick Roy and Dominik Hasek for half of his NHL career, Brodeur is and has been the face (or the mask) of the New Jersey Devils since winning the Calder Trophy in 1994. And as he’s developed, he’s become the backbone in a Devils franchise predicated on defense.

Thirteen years later, Brodeur is as good as ever. Brodeur, who will turn 35 in two weeks, stopped 32 of 34 shots to win a deciding Game Five against the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-2. Brian Rafalski netted his second power-play goal of the postseason and added an assist to bolster New Jersey’s strong special teams play.

But it was the Devils’ E-G-G line that amounted for most of the damage. Brian Gionta netted his fourth playoff goal on a short-side snapshot high over Johan Holmqvist’s glove. Gionta struck again in the second period beating Holmqvist with a hesitation wrist-shot from the left circle. Lightning defenseman Filip Kuba looked shaky on both scores. First, getting beat on Elias’s feed to Gionta while on the back-check; then, knocking over Holmqvist on Gionta’s second goal.

Patrick Elias assisted on all three Devils goals, controlling the offensive charge throughout the duration of the first two periods. And Scott Gomez added two assists of his own, as the Devils’ entire offensive production came down to the E-G-G line (plus Brian Rafalski, who also added an assist). All in all, New Jersey’s top line amounted for 14 of the team’s 26 shots and conspired to send the Lightning packing.

Brad Richards tallied Tampa Bay’s only two goals on the afternoon; both were on the power-play, and came within a span of six minutes. The Lightning entered Game Six with a pedestrian 2-for-20 success rate on the power-play against the Devils’ stingy penalty kill unit. Richards’ goals riled up the capacity crowd and served as a breath of fresh air for the struggling Lightning.

Unfortunately, it would be their last breath.

The same feisty play that marked (or marred) the Lightning’s first period effort was not evident in the third period. Brodeur played through screens and heavy traffic in the crease in the game’s first two periods and made the third period look no more difficult than a speed bump en route to the victory. On New Jersey’s rare defensive lapses, Brodeur was waiting to steer clear any offensive opportunity provided by the Lightning. In the third, Brodeur stopped the Lightning’s period-low ten shots on net and faced only a single unsuccessful power-play to begin the period.
Brodeur’s 93rd career postseason victory served to send home the league’s most dynamic duo, Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier. The duo’s frustrations were evident early in the first period. Lecavalier and St. Louis even spent a romantic two minutes in the penalty box together. The penalties occurred after Brodeur denied a Lecavalier offering on the doorstep. Lecavalier cross-checked Richard Matvichuk in the back after the play, sending Matvichuk to the locker room for the period. Matvichuk, who missed all but one game of the regular season after undergoing back surgery, returned for action in the second period. St. Louis argued with the officiating crew and received matching unsportsmanlike conduct penalties with Devils defensive specialist John Madden.

In the end, St. Louis and Lecavalier couldn’t crack the league’s likely Vezina trophy recipient. The duo combined for nine shots and only one point, an assist by Lecavalier on Richards’ second goal; the Lightning’s final goal of the 2006-07 campaign. The Devils will face the fourth seeded Ottawa Senators; Game One is reportedly set for Tuesday night.