Dealing With The Devils: Something To Build On

By Max Herman
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Few could have predicted before the season started that the New Jersey Devils would be this far down in the standings by this time of year. But that's not to say that they have nothing to be thankful for this Thanksgiving holiday...

The last week's worth of games provided desperately needed signs of life from a hockey team that had previously been comatose. It was a cornucopia of hope, if I may.

Now certainly you can't say it was perfect. After all they lost the first of the three games I am speaking of in St. Louis. But even through their struggles, the Devils have taken several body blows without caving into the knockout punch that could send them into a downward spiral. And this week they finally converted their due diligence into some goals. And more importantly, some wins.

The Devs really deserved a better fate last Saturday against the Blues. With Martin Brodeur sidelined once again with his sore elbow and an inexperienced Mike McKenna in goal, the Devils did a great job of initiating the play and establishing control of the puck in the offensive zone. They caught a terrible break late in the 1st period when the officials decided not to blow a play dead when it seemed as though McKenna had covered up a loose puck. Instead Alex Pietrangelo dug it out of his equipment and into the net. That erased a 1-0 New Jersey lead...

After the Devils fought back to go up 2-1 on a Mattias Tedenby goal (more on him later), McKenna suffered from more bad puck luck. An Eric Brewer slapper from the point pinballed off the back boards, off of McKenna's back, and into the net. And once again the game was tied..

Brad Winchester scored on a beautiful tip-in a few minutes into the 3rd period to give the Blues a lead they would not relinquish thanks in large part to goaltender Jaroslav Halak...

Quick sidebar: How big of a steal has Halak proven to be for St. Louis? More like grand larceny. If Carey Price wasn't playing like a man possessed right now then Montreal would have a lot of egg on their face. For those of you playing the home game, the Canadiens received Lars Eller and Ian Schultz in return for Halak. Eller has a grand total of 2 points in 20 games and Schultz is currently a Hamilton Bulldog. Advantage Blues.

...But I digress...

After suffering that tough loss to St. Louis the Devils were faced with the unenviable task of hosting the league's best team, the Washington Capitals. It would have been very easy for the Devils to come into that game feeling disparaged. They could have gotten run out of the arena by the Caps' high-octane offense and no one would have even been surprised. Memories of their first meeting, a 7-2 Capitals' victory, were still fresh in the mind of the weary Devils' fan...

But instead, the Devs turned the tables on Ovechkin and Co. and took the play right at them early on. They out-shot Washington 9-4 in the 1st period and scored three goals in three different ways. Elias on the power play. Arnott at even strength. And Tedenby's thrilling penalty shot. They gave the best team in the league their best effort of the season...

The line of Brian Rolston, Travis Zajac, and David Clarkson combined with the defensive pairing of Henrik Tallinder and Colin White to keep Ovechkin's line off the scoreboard and severely limited their impact on the game. And then there was Johan Hedberg, who decided he wasn't interested in giving up any goals to anyone that night, regardless of the name on the back of their sweater...

After 60 minutes of keeping their foot on the gas pedal, the end result was a 5-0 spanking that led to Capitals' defenseman Mike Green calling it the worst game his team had played in two years. Yes, Washington came out flat in that game, but did I mention they are the best team in the league? I think I did. I see no reason to diminish the quality of any five-goal victory, much less over a team as good as the Caps.

Wednesday night proved to be a different kind of challenge. The Calgary Flames came into Newark, and much like the Devils, were desperate for a win. Both teams just one spot away from the bottom of their respective conferences. The early goings of the game had a nervous sort of energy. Both teams played very conservative and defensive-minded...

Once the teams got past the feeling-out process, the Devils mostly outplayed the Flames in the 1st period and took a 1-0 lead. But Calgary seemed to take control in the 2nd period and eventually tied it early in the 3rd, seconds after a Flames' power play had expired...

But instead of falling into the mindset of "here we go again," New Jersey stayed committed defensively and tightened up their game. Hedberg stood tall, and the game eventually would be decided in a shootout...

After the histrionics involved with Ilya Kovalchuk's last shootout attempt, I loved that John MacLean marched him out there to shoot first and face it head-on. This time Kovy decided to forgo the finesse and just ripped a wrist shot that went over Henrik Karlsson's glove hand so quickly it made Karlsson look as though he was swatting at a pesky mosquito...

That proved to be the only goal that Hedberg would need, as he stopped the trio of Niklas Hagman, Alex Tanguay, and Brendan Morrison. And lo and behold, the Devils have back-to-back wins for the first time this season. So if you had November 24th as the date they'd first accomplish that feat...well then you have really peculiar gambling habits.

Now is this the start of a string of CONSISTENT winning hockey? Only time will tell. But let's just put it this way: if the Devils can't feed off of the momentum they gathered this past week, they could very well be destined to watch this year's playoffs from their sofas.

I know it's been ugly Devils' fans. But there is reason to hope. Reason to believe. We've seen now that if this team is gonna go down, they'll be going down swinging. In the spirit of the holiday, at least be thankful for that...

Max's Three Stars Of The Week:

Third Star: RW David Clarkson

Think fast: Which Devil has registered the most shots on goal this season? It might surprise you, but David's the guy. So why hasn't he been featured yet on my 3SOTW? Well because prior to this week only two of those shots found the twine. But Clarkson doubled his goal total in the three games this past week, and as mentioned previously, played a huge role in shutting down the Alexander Ovechkin line on Monday.

Second Star: G Johan Hedberg

Ladies and gentlemen, the Moose is loose. I gave Johan a third-star nod a few weeks ago after playing just a portion of the game in Chicago when Marty Brodeur originally injured his elbow. Well I guess Heddy really wanted to earn it this week. All he did was stop 55 of the 56 shots he faced as well as going 3-for-3 in the shootout on Wednesday. No big deal really. If Hedberg keeps playing at this level, it'll be a lot easier to talk Brodeur out of rushing back to the rescue prematurely.

First Star: RW Mattias Tedenby

If you read my column regularly, you know I've been excited about this kid's arrival since training camp. But I don't think anyone was prepared for this kind of immediate impact. And when I say impact I mean explosion. It's as if he's learned to ride the bike without ever using training wheels. He's collected a point in each of the last three games, with 2 goals and 2 assists. Both of his goals were highlight-reel-quality breakaway scores on his backhand. One of which was on the penalty shot which essentially took the Capitals completely out of Monday night's game. It may have also been the moment where every Devil fan had to think, we just might have something here with this kid.

Honorable Mention: LW Patrik Elias, C Jason Arnott

Email Max a question or comment: mherman@wfan.com

Follow Max on Twitter: @MaxH_WFAN

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!!

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