Devils vs Kings: An impressive Win
Posted 9:49 AM ET | Comments 1
When the puck dropped to begin the game, many Devils fans put the hands over their face and muttered to themselves "Here we go again". In the first ten minutes of the game the Devils were absolutely dominated. They were out-skated, out-shot, out-scored, and out-coached. Gagne was able to capitalize for the high-powered Kings' offense early in the game and this one looked like it could be a blowout.
Cam Jannesen, took a penalty in his first minute on the ice this season and it all looked like it was going downhill from there.
The Penalty Killers came up HUGE and no one played better short a man than Martin Brodeur. However the momentum gained from the kill did not seem to lift the hockey club at all. They continued to allow constant opportunities against Brodeur surrendering 10 scoring chances in the first period. (nine in the first ten minutes).
It wasn't until the veteran hall-of-fame goaltender came up with a desperation sprawling save that the Devils woke up. The first two line for the Devils did nothing in the first half of the period and the Devil''s relied heavily on their defense, goaltender, and fourth line to keep them in the game.
After the save, it was clear Marty was shaken up a bit. He was able to tough it out through the rest of the period facing only more shot. THe Devils offense saw Marty in pain and they stepped up their game keeping the puck out of Brodeur's end. Patrick Elias tied up the fame with about 8 and a half left in the period.
When the Devils came out to start the next period, Marty was in a baseball cap and Moose Hedberg was between the pipes. Over the next forty minutes he would make 16 saves and allow the game to continue to overtime.
The Devil's took 16 seconds of a powerplay into overtime and again they were unable to capitalize with the advantage. Moose made a couple of outstanding saves in the final moments of "hockey" in this game. When the green lamp lit signaling the end of overtime and the start of a shootout, both teams had reason for optimism as both goalies were rock solid.
However, the captain Zach Parise was able to net a nifty backhander after Kovalchuk beat quick in the first round. Anze Kopitar had the opportunity to keep his team alive but he was stopped by the left pad of Moose and the Devils grabbed the extra point.
The Devils showed that their defense can withstand a mirage of offense and that they are not going to give up goals in bunches as they did last year and in the opener this season. Their powerplay needs work, but there is reason to smile if you are a Devils fan.
Cam Jannesen, took a penalty in his first minute on the ice this season and it all looked like it was going downhill from there.
The Penalty Killers came up HUGE and no one played better short a man than Martin Brodeur. However the momentum gained from the kill did not seem to lift the hockey club at all. They continued to allow constant opportunities against Brodeur surrendering 10 scoring chances in the first period. (nine in the first ten minutes).
It wasn't until the veteran hall-of-fame goaltender came up with a desperation sprawling save that the Devils woke up. The first two line for the Devils did nothing in the first half of the period and the Devil''s relied heavily on their defense, goaltender, and fourth line to keep them in the game.
After the save, it was clear Marty was shaken up a bit. He was able to tough it out through the rest of the period facing only more shot. THe Devils offense saw Marty in pain and they stepped up their game keeping the puck out of Brodeur's end. Patrick Elias tied up the fame with about 8 and a half left in the period.
When the Devils came out to start the next period, Marty was in a baseball cap and Moose Hedberg was between the pipes. Over the next forty minutes he would make 16 saves and allow the game to continue to overtime.
The Devil's took 16 seconds of a powerplay into overtime and again they were unable to capitalize with the advantage. Moose made a couple of outstanding saves in the final moments of "hockey" in this game. When the green lamp lit signaling the end of overtime and the start of a shootout, both teams had reason for optimism as both goalies were rock solid.
However, the captain Zach Parise was able to net a nifty backhander after Kovalchuk beat quick in the first round. Anze Kopitar had the opportunity to keep his team alive but he was stopped by the left pad of Moose and the Devils grabbed the extra point.
The Devils showed that their defense can withstand a mirage of offense and that they are not going to give up goals in bunches as they did last year and in the opener this season. Their powerplay needs work, but there is reason to smile if you are a Devils fan.
Actually, you should mention that the DeBoer actually used Brodeur's injury timeout to tell the team everything they did wrong and what they should be doing, so that really help a lot and Brodeur's injury, in a twisted sense, actually saved that game for us.