In Lou We Trust

The New Jersey Devils defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Center 2-1 last night. For most of the game, the arena was incredibly quiet. Incidentally, NJ was the better team for most of the game. Coincidence, I THINK NOT.

Anyway, there's plenty to like about last night's game. Martin Brodeur was stoning Leafs left and right, as Tom Gulitti's article in the Bergen Record and Rich Chere's article in the Star-Ledger both state today. Brodeur admits that the one goal he did give up was weak (quote from the Gulitti article):

"Marty was outstanding," Julien said. "He kept us in the whole game and gave us a chance to win. No doubt he was a big difference in our net for us tonight."

The only shot Brodeur missed was a Darcy Tucker slap shot from just inside the New Jersey blue line that found an opening with only 3:37 remaining.

"I wasn't holding my stick real strong and it hit the heel," Brodeur said. "I'd qualify it as a bad goal."

Jamie Langenbrunner scored right after a Devils' power play, Patrik Elias scores off a fluke goal (the puck hit two Leafs before going over Tellqvist and in), and Cam Janssen held his own with Wade Belak in a first period fight. Chere has a second article in the Star Ledger about Janssen, read on to learn why Pandolfo may not ask for a room of his own and why we won't see Dan McGillis up with the NJ Devils this season.

From NHL.com, here are the official scoresheet and official super stats of last night's game. While the Devils win the first game of their five game road trip, the win was as much the result of Martin Brodeur being, well, Martin Brodeur. Quoting Patricia Greuter of 2 Man Advantage (and with an appropriate photo):

Devils gave up 34 shots tonight against the Leafs. Of those 34 shots, about 9000 were decent scoring chances. Yeah, I’d say we need a serious upgrade on defense.

Poor Marty. I think there are six men who owe him steak dinners right about now.

The Devils were heavily outshot 34-19, they clearly need to shore up on offense (take more shots) and on defense (stop them from running about with the puck in your end). That said, Mark Everson's post game article from the NY Post highlights some important facts about the Devils' recent run.

• The Devils are 8-2 in their last 10 games, including last night's game.
  
• The Devils are defeated the Leafs, who were 4-0-1 in their last 5 games.
• Morale and confidence is as high as ever with the win.

So there's no reason to panic. The Devils have been playing well and are now at the top of the Atlantic Division with a record of 12-6-1. The next game is Phoenix on Tuesday night, a game the Devils should have no problems winning.