Category Archives: Game Recap
Lightning Strikes Twice in the Shootout; Win 5-4 Over the Devils
Three Stars of the Game:
3rd Star: Alex Killorn (1 goal, 1 assist)
2nd Star: Andy Greene (1 goal, 1 assist)
1st Star: Steven Stamkos (2 goals, 1 assist)
Stephen Gionta, Alexei Ponikarovsky, and Bryce Salvador all made their returns from injury, but it wasn’t enough as the Devils (15-11-8) dropped another tough one in the shootout Friday night to the Tampa Bay Lightning (15-18-1). The offense wasn’t the problem this time, it was the defensive play. The Devils scored in almost every way they could, scoring goals at even strength, on the power play, shorthanded, and even on a penalty shot, but couldn’t put one past Mathieu Garon during the shootout. The Devils are now 2 – 6 this year in the shootout, a huge drop-off from their shootout success last year.
Devils Come Up Short: Devils 2 – Rangers 3
The Devils have been playing better as of late, but the one issue they are having that has not left them is the inability to finish scoring opportunities. That was very evident as the Devils fell to the Ranger 3-2 Tuesday night at The Rock.
A pretty wide open first period saw the score land at 2-2 at the end of it. The Rangers opened the scoring as Michael Del Zotto bunted a puck out of mid-air after Johan Hedberg (making his 13th straight start) fumbled the puck halfway up the boards. This was not the main reason for the goal but it put the Devils in a sort of panic and wound up leaving two Rangers right in front of Hedberg for the first goal. This is the 12th time in the last 14 games the Devils have given up the first goal. Giving up the first goal has been a big reason for the struggles the past month, you do not want to be chasing all of the time.
The Liberty Bell Rings in the City of Brotherly Love as the Devils Fall to the Flyers in a Shootout
Stars of the game:
1: Giroux (Goals: 0, Assists: 0)
2. Talbot (Goals: 1, Assits:0)
3. Clarkson (Goals: 1, Assits: 0)
It was a game that started with quite a bit of hype. Moose was starting in his 11th straight game, and was on a high after stopping 46 of 50 shots along with a two game win streak while Bryzgalov, the Flyers goalie, was quoted as saying that the Flyers wouldn’t make the playoffs if they didn’t win tonight’s game. After the Devils gave the Flyers a 5-2 smack down in New Jersey on Wednesday, the Devils Army believed that his fear would become reality. Yet in the end, it was the Devils who snapped a two game win streak and left the City of Brotherly Love with just one point.
Flying High Again – Devils Beat the “Bullies” 5-2
Three Stars of the Game:
3rd Star: Andrei Loktionov (1 G, 1 A)
2nd Star: Johan Hedberg (2 GA, 23 Saves)
1st Star: Adam Henrique (2 G, 1 A)
The Devils (13-9-5) picked up their 30th and 31st points of the season against an old rival, the Philadelphia Flyers (12-15-1), in the first half of a home-and-home series. The win gives the Devils their first consecutive wins since ending their 5-game winning streak in mid-February, and is the first time the Devils scored more than 3 goals since they last played the Flyers on February 15.
Buffalo Stampedes Past New Jersey in the Shootout, 4-3
Three Stars of the Game:
3rd Star: Tyler Ennis (1 SO Goal)
2nd Star: Ryan Miller (3 GA, 28 Saves)
1st Star: Jason Pominville (2 goals)
The Devils (10-6-5) were once again left with a familiar feeling after falling to the Buffalo Sabres (9-12-1) in the shootout Saturday evening. Devils fans were glad to see the Carter-Gionta-Bernier line reunited, after Carter was activated from IR. Both teams’ power plays were held scoreless, the Devils going 0-5 and the Sabres going 0-6. Each team also gave up a short-handed goal. The Devils have now dropped 7 out of their last 9 games.
Jets Shoot Down Devils – Devils Fall 3-1, Drop 3rd Straight
Three Stars of the Game:
3rd Star: Dustin Byfulgien (1 assist)
2nd Star: Ondrej Pavelec (1 GA, 22 Saves)
1st Star: Andrew Ladd (2 goals, 1 assist, 1 GWG)
The Devils (10-6-4) were once again left wondering where their offense went as they dropped their third consecutive game, falling 3-1 to the Winnipeg Jets (10-9-1). The Devils had their chances to score, but were unable to take advantage of these opportunities. The one silver-lining for the Devils is that they still have a respectable record, but are now 1-4-1 in their past six games.
A Capital L – Devils lose 5-1 to Finish Weekend in D.C.
Three Stars of the Game
3rd Star: M. Ribeiro (WAS) (2 assists)
2nd Star: Braden Holtby (WAS) (1 GA, 21 Saves)
1st Star: Alexander Ovechkin (WAS) (3 goals, 1 assist, GWG)
Coming off a hard-fought, come-from-behind win on Thursday night, the Devils were hoping to take both games in D.C. and extend their lead in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference. The Capitals, however, had other plans.
Game 14 Recap – Rivalry Renewed as Devils Beat Flyers in Second Meeting of the Season
It was an old school rivalry that was anything but ordinary. The New Jersey Devils hosted the Philadelphia Flyers in their second meeting of the year on home ice, and they didn’t disappoint. Although the Devils were outplayed in the first period, they came back to play some serious Devil-style hockey and scored 4 unanswered goals to win with a commanding 5-3 lead. The team now leads the Eastern Conference with 21 points.
The game started with the Devils scoring a goal within the first 40 seconds of the game with a beautiful shot from Travis Zajac. Unfortunately, the lead was short lived and the team soon found themselves with a 3-1 deficit as the result of goals from Simmonds, Knuble and Read.
Not to be deterred, the Devils started the second period with an aggressive offensive strategy that included long passes from Brodeur to keep the Flyers out of our defensive zone. The efforts paid off with Ponikarovsky’s first goal in his first game back as a Devil while netting yet another assist for Ilya Kovalchuk and Martin Brodeur. A goal from Patrik Elias tied the game and the teams left the ice with a 3-3 tie.
The Devils continued the momentum into the third period with some really smart plays and crisp passing, resulting in a beautiful tip in front of the net, not to mention a game winning goal, from David Clarkson. The icing on the cake? An empty netter from Bernier, of course.
Stars of the game
1. Ilya Kovalchuk
2. David Clarkson
3. Patrik Elias
Game 13 Recap – Blown Away – Devils 2 – Hurricanes 4
The Devils had their 5 game winning streak snapped tonight as the Carolina Hurricanes came into Newark and thoroughly outplayed the Devils in a 4-2 victory. Not much can be said about the Devils’ effort that the final score doesn’t reflect. They did get a goal with 4 minutes left in the 1st as a blast by Ilya Kovalchuk snuck under the crossbar and his the back bar before rocketing out of the net. It was so hard and so fast that it needed to be reviewed. Problem was there was no whistle for another 3 and a half minutes. So everyone was treated to a rare 24 minute first period. The goal was reviewed and counted and the time elapsed was then put back on the scoreboard as the two teams finished the period.
Game 12 Recap – Deja-Moose; Devils Sweep the Weekend, Beat Penguins 3-1
Roughly 30 hours after the Devils beat the Penguins 3-1 in Newark, history repeated itself. Sure, the arena was different…and the goal-scorers were different…heck, even the goalies were different. But the New Jersey Devils (8-1-3) pulled off another 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins (8-5-0) to win their fifth straight and increase their lead on the Atlantic Division, and the Eastern Conference.
