Thursday, December 07, 2006
Postgame: Devils 2 - Montreal 1 (OT)
The New Jersey Devils have defeated the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 last night at the Continental Airlines Arena. From NHL.com here is the official scoresheet of the game and the official super stats of both teams.
The Devils started poorly enough with the Devils not converting on a 5-on-3 power play within the first 3 minutes of the game. It got worse with Martin Brodeur mishandling a dumped puck, Paul Martin not catching Alexander Perezhogin making a pass to a rushing Radek Bonk - who burnt Brad Lukowich in the process - who one timed right to an surprised Martin Brodeur. That would be Brodeur's only gaffe of the night, he was solid - stopping 18 more shots afterwards. The Devils defense also played well, holding the Canadiens to only 19 shots. After that goal the Devils seemed to play better as the game went on. The Devils really turned on the offensive pressure with 31 shots on net, with 13 in the first period and 12 in the third. The Devils finally broke David Aebischer with a Zach Parise capping a great pass from Scott Gomez with the equalizing goal.
Overtime was SICK for the Devils. No shots for Montreal, the Devils were swarming and Sheldon Souray hooked a (I think) Scott Gomez to prevent him from getting a strong scoring chance on Aebischer with 11 seconds left in overtime. According to the recap of last night's game at NHL.com, Souray does not regret taking that penalty.
Well, I can't disagree completely. 2 minutes in the box for stopping a potential goal with 11 seconds left in overtime? Sure, Montreal can hold out for another 11 seconds right?
Captain Patrik Elias said "NOT QUITE" and after a big faceoff win by Gomez and some passes, he ripped a one-timer to win it with 7 seconds left. The Devils are now an astonishing 19-1-4 (ties) against Montreal in New Jersey. They even have a 3 game winning streak going on. My only complaint is that the Devils need to a better job at the beginning of the game, that power play made me unhappy. But the Devils kept pressing as Montreal kept trying (and ultimately failing) to get the 1-2-2 trap going, and they got the job done so I can not complain too loudly.
The Devils face the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday. If you're going to the game, please bring a new, unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots.
IN OTHER NEWS: According to TSN.ca, Martin Brodeur is talking to the NHLPA about goaltender contact in the shootout. He's got a point. The goalie is already facing a breakaway, he should not be touched by the player at all.
DEVILS WJC UPDATE: The Swedish national team has announced their pre-camp roster for the 2007 World Junior Championships. The first link to the PDF file contains the roster in clear English on this Swedish website. Congratulations to Nicklas Bergfors (currently in Lowell with 9 goals and 8 assists in 20 games) and Alexander Sundstrom (currently in IF Björklöven, sorry I couldn't find any stats just this picture of him.)
The Devils started poorly enough with the Devils not converting on a 5-on-3 power play within the first 3 minutes of the game. It got worse with Martin Brodeur mishandling a dumped puck, Paul Martin not catching Alexander Perezhogin making a pass to a rushing Radek Bonk - who burnt Brad Lukowich in the process - who one timed right to an surprised Martin Brodeur. That would be Brodeur's only gaffe of the night, he was solid - stopping 18 more shots afterwards. The Devils defense also played well, holding the Canadiens to only 19 shots. After that goal the Devils seemed to play better as the game went on. The Devils really turned on the offensive pressure with 31 shots on net, with 13 in the first period and 12 in the third. The Devils finally broke David Aebischer with a Zach Parise capping a great pass from Scott Gomez with the equalizing goal.
Overtime was SICK for the Devils. No shots for Montreal, the Devils were swarming and Sheldon Souray hooked a (I think) Scott Gomez to prevent him from getting a strong scoring chance on Aebischer with 11 seconds left in overtime. According to the recap of last night's game at NHL.com, Souray does not regret taking that penalty.
Well, I can't disagree completely. 2 minutes in the box for stopping a potential goal with 11 seconds left in overtime? Sure, Montreal can hold out for another 11 seconds right?
"That's a penalty I would take 100 times out of a 100," Souray said. "I was
trying to catch up to a 3-on-2 and get the guy's hands enough so he doesn't have
a free shot."
Captain Patrik Elias said "NOT QUITE" and after a big faceoff win by Gomez and some passes, he ripped a one-timer to win it with 7 seconds left. The Devils are now an astonishing 19-1-4 (ties) against Montreal in New Jersey. They even have a 3 game winning streak going on. My only complaint is that the Devils need to a better job at the beginning of the game, that power play made me unhappy. But the Devils kept pressing as Montreal kept trying (and ultimately failing) to get the 1-2-2 trap going, and they got the job done so I can not complain too loudly.
The Devils face the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday. If you're going to the game, please bring a new, unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots.
IN OTHER NEWS: According to TSN.ca, Martin Brodeur is talking to the NHLPA about goaltender contact in the shootout. He's got a point. The goalie is already facing a breakaway, he should not be touched by the player at all.
DEVILS WJC UPDATE: The Swedish national team has announced their pre-camp roster for the 2007 World Junior Championships. The first link to the PDF file contains the roster in clear English on this Swedish website. Congratulations to Nicklas Bergfors (currently in Lowell with 9 goals and 8 assists in 20 games) and Alexander Sundstrom (currently in IF Björklöven, sorry I couldn't find any stats just this picture of him.)
Labels: Devils Postgame
# posted by John Fischer @ 5:53 PM 1 comments 
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Not only are the do the Devs have a great record against the Habs, they are an astonishing 10-1-1 at home. Even with only 13,000 "unsupportive fans" in attendance, they still manage to win. Weird.
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