Despite missing many players themselves….the Devils won their 9th straight on the road to start the season with a 4-1 win over the just as depleted Pittsburgh Penguins. The game was mostly even (most categories were very close). Martin Brodeur stopped 25 of 26 and might have had a shutout if not for a goal that could have been called slightly questionable was waived off but that is just well…one of those things.
This is the second time that the Devils have beat the Penguins on the road and both by three goals. Both games were eerily similar. Shots were in the mid 20’s in both games and the Devils did not have to play their usual one goal game. It was nice to see a guy like Travis Zajac get 3 assists and Parise scored again. One of the key things is the Devils are playing a very minimalist type of game right now where they are just trying to keep things simple. It is the best way (when there are several injuries) to play.
Now of course the wrinkle in all of this comes Monday Night….when the Devils have a chance to tie the mark set by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2006-07 season of 10 straight road wins to start a season. Did anyone expect the Devils to have this kind of road record? In a word…no. But I guess we knew less about Jacques Lemaire than we thought perhaps. Maybe its a comfort level perhaps but one thing is for sure…no matter who is on the ice…the Devils play hard even if you want to strangle the television because they do make mistakes galore.
The Devils are 1-10-1 in their last 12 games on Versus. To make matters worse, the Devils were up 3-2 in Game 7 in the Spring against the Carolina Hurricanes. The game went on Versus and the Devils lost. Look it sounds like a coincidence but is it really? By the way the 1 win in that time span came at MSG against the Rangers with Scott Clemmensen in net.
New Jersey is 13-4 right now and though they tend to win by razor thin margins…imagine this team fully healthy. Maybe Lou Lamoriello was right when he said the youngsters do belong on this team. Surely it is early but no one expected the Devils to be amongst the league leaders in points at this stage of the season or at all for that matter. How poetic that we are talking about this on Friday The 13th.
Next game for New Jersey is home against Washington before the Philly tilt on Monday. Until then here is a little more from last night.
About last night……
