Unreal! Devils Overcome the Odds Vs. Sens
Devs just two road wins away from NHL rercod
Posted on Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 11:35 PM
By Stan Fischler
A lot can be said about the rampaging New Jersey Devils but one word puts it best:
UNREAL!
Looking ahead to a well-earned three-day break before facing Anaheim on Wednesday at The Rock, Jacques Lemaire's sextet is secure in the knowledge that it can win with Patrik Elias — as they did on Friday night over the Islanders at home — or without their scoring ace, as proven Saturday evening in Ottawa when Patty remained in New Jersey, resting his weary, comeback bones.
Oh, yeah; they're also doing it minus such worthies as Paul Martin, Johnny Oduya and Rob Niedermayer. Maybe even Bryce Salvador; but we'll get to that later.
UNREAL!
The unlikely come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Senators gives them eight consecutive road wins since the start of the 2009-2010 season.
Only the Buffalo Sabres — with 10 straight Ws to launch the 2006-2007 campaign — ever has enjoyed a better NHL road start in league history.
This achievement is so unfathomable that the usually precise analyzer, Lemaire, only smiles when trying to describe the phenomena.
"I guess," laughed the astonishingly gifted coach, "we're good at it."
Despite the endless assault of injuries — Tom Sestito was summoned from Lowell (AHL) to replace Elias in Ottawa — New Jersey has amassed five straight wins and have eight victories out of their last nine games.
One could legitimately assert that the Garden Staters had absolutely no business beating the Senators; if one considers the manner in which the Devs played the first half of the match.
The power play was awful. And after falling behind, 1-0, in the first, Martin Brodeur allowed an eminently stoppable second period Brian Lee angle shot slip inches over the goal line before his belated attempt to pull it out in time.
"The thing is," noted Zach Parise, "that we didn't panic. With Jacques behind the bench, we were calm and just stuck to our plan."
Suddenly, with little rhyme and less reason, Parise followed up attempts by captain Jamie Langenbrunner and David Clarkson to put in a power-play goal late in the second frame and it was as if the entire visiting bench was revived.
"We began to move our feet better," explained Andy Greene who has effectively replaced Martin as New Jersey's best two-way defenseman.
Sure enough, they cashed in on another man advantage early in the third with redoubtable Clarkson banking a left-alley shot through goalie Pascal Leclaire's pads and now the Devs were in familiar psychic territory; a tight game in the third period; something that they seem to thrive on although it regularly gives Lemaire conniptions.
"Zach's goal gave us confidence," asserted the coach, "and we gradually raised our game. We got better and better."
Another Ottawa penalty — this time to Chris Campoli for delay of game — gave the Devils their third power-play goal and the winner.
Greene, who was a forgotten man under coach Brent Sutter and who gradually has earned Lemaire's praise, rifled a seeing-eye wrister from 50-feet after a nifty pass from Langenbrunner.
"With so many guys in front of their goalie," said Greene, "all I wanted to do was throw it high."
And so he did leaving Leclaire still searching for the rubber somewhere in the Rideau Canal.
Meanwhile, Brodeur compensated for his early faux pas, thwarting a few desperate Senators' thrusts in the final minutes; especially after Leclaire was pulled for an extra skater.
Asked about Greene's noble effort, Lemaire deflects kudos to others.
"In the third period," Jacques pointed out, "I was down to four defensemen. How about (how well) Mark Fraser, Colin White and Mike Mottau played."
What happened to stalwart backliner Salvador is a mystery at the moment that soon will be solved. Friday night (one goal) hero Cory Murphy struggled against the Sens and was used sparingly as the game moved to the climactic third period.
The easiest thing to say about this wounded — but game — outfit is that it manages to hang in there until someone forces a good thing to happen.
"All I can say about this team," Lemaire concluded, "Is that we find a way to come back. The boys don't let up. They want to win and that's a great sign."
Jacques might also add: UNREAL!!
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