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08-09 Season Series
| October 16, 2008 | Atlanta | Devils 1, Thrashers 0 |
| November 1, 2008 | Newark | Devils 6, Thrashers 1 |
| January 8, 2009 | Newark | Thrashers 4, Devils 0 |
| February 6, 2009 | Atlanta | Devils 5, Thrashers 1 |
As I write this, I'm raging against the machine (their 1992 CD). Meanwhile, the Devils are raging against the Southeast division as they return to the friendly confines of the Prudential Center for a back-to-back set against the SED division teams that they haven't faced on their 3-game road trip, the first of the set being against the Atlanta Thrashers.
The Thrashers have only played 3 games all season so far, but they do have a winning record regardless.
Their last game, a 4-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators last Saturday night, is of concern, though.
Ilya Kovalchuk: "I don't think we showed up for this game. I don't know whether we were ready at the start and then they capitalized on us and scored a couple of quick goals. We came back and in the second period we had a couple of chances to take the lead, but their goalie played well. That goal on the power play made the game."
John Anderson: "I don't think we competed as well as we should have. We did not compete in the corners. We weren't as good as we were in St. Louis. I hope it doesn't bite us in the rear end 50 games down the road. We can not play that way and expect to make the playoffs."
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj134/TenthWonder511/kovalchuk.jpg
Kovy was one of the bright spots in that game, though. In fact, he has a hot stick for the Thrashers so far. He scored his fifth goal of the season in that game in the first to get the ball rolling for them after falling behind the Sens 2-0. Ron Hainsey would pull the game back even 2 minutes before the first period was over.
Anderson on Kovalchuk's hot start: "I talked to him before he left last year and one of the things we talked about was his slow start last year. He had the Olympic team skate [with Russia] before he got to training camp so I think that helped him get going. He's been working hard, skating hard in practice. Hopefully that's a sign of things to come."
They just seemed to fall flat right out of the get-go, which is the rationale behind that Kovy quote earlier. The rationale behind the next one: it could be the Sens’ defensive play.
Kovalchuk: "We just tried to beat everybody by ourselves, but we just need to play like a unit, like we did the first two games."
...Oh, right. The power play he referred to. The game was tied at 2 at the time early in the second when Mike Fisher backhanded one by Ondrej Pavelec to put them ahead for good.
I know I'm going all over the place, but bear with me.
Pavelec actually didn't have a bad game in the end, but you wouldn’t have known it if you only saw, say, the first 3 minutes of the game. The 2-0 Sens lead was claimed in that time with goals by Alex Kovalev (first as a Senator) and Jarkko Ruutu (first of the season). Some coaches would pull a goalie for that, but Anderson did not, and he settled back down even though they lost.
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj134/TenthWonder511/pavelec.jpg
Pavelec on his relationship with Anderson, dating back to being on the Chicago Wolves: "He knows me and I know him. We had the good year and won a championship. But every year is a different year. He's the head coach in Atlanta. He's got more responsibility. We have a good relationship. If I need something I go ask him. If he needs something he can ask me. It's a good relationship between coach and goalie. Other players have the same relationship with him. It's no different."
It's a lot for such a young goalie to be given the #1 spot. I've seen him play briefly last year; he does have the tools. What he does with them... No it's not a different story. It's a story of not taking it for granted.
Pavelec when asked what he needs to work on: "Everything. Every day I try to work on everything. Try to get in good position. Don't scramble. Play the puck better. Handle the puck. Things like that. Nothing changes, just try to improve myself every single practice."
The game on Saturday might as well have been a game on a Saturday back in July now. Yeah, I'm referring to the long layoff they've had. It gives the Thrashers a chance to work out some things, and I mean besides their play. Some news from Thursday's practice includes Kovalchuk being excused to work out some personal things, Nik Antropov (who only got his first assist against the Sens... even though he's Kovy's linemate) being excused after a few minutes to do some off-ice conditioning (He took a puck to the knee in the Ottawa game, but is being reported as being fine.), and Christoph Schubert being ABLE to practice after remaining behind in Ottawa to work out his work visa details. (He was claimed off waivers from the Senators just as the season was underway.)
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj134/TenthWonder511/schubert.jpg
All 3 are expected to be on the plane to New Jersey.
On a different plane to New Jersey, one emanating from presumably Dulles International on Tuesday, was a team returning home on a 3-game winning streak. All that matters in the end is that they won all their games on the road trip.
Martin Brodeur: "We did it on the road and now we're going to be on a homestand for a couple of games. Hopefully, we'll continue with the way we're going at home. It's night and day. Regardless of the teams you play in the three games, you just hope to do well and we did great. We got all six points in different ways, so, definitely, we've got to be happy about that."
Three different ways, huh? Lemme recap just to be sure... Devils 4, Bolts 3 in a shootout where the Devils were trailing until Travis Zajac buried a last second goal to put the game in OT... Devils 3, Panthers 2 where the game was tied with less than 5 minutes left until David Clarkson scored on the power play to put them ahead for good... Devils 3, Capitals 2 in a shootout where Clarkson comes up big again to tie the game with about 7 minutes left in regulation... What's different about getting 3 clutch goals?
Let me go in chronological order:
In general, Zajac has been stepping up his production this year. He already is leading the team with 3 goals. With that, he seems to be emerging as a huge goal scorer now after the OT goal he scored last spring in the playoffs.
http://www.njdevilspitchfork.com/players/z/zajac5.jpg
Zajac on the goal in Tampa: "It really bounced and a couple of guys tried to take a whack at it, but somehow it came to me."
And all he did was put it by Mike Smith with 1.1 second remaining in the game to force overtime.
That was a confidence boost much needed, because the Devils were sluggish at times in the game. They kept up the strong game, but couldn't end it in the extra 5. They easily won the skills competition, though.
The Panthers' game was generally being regarded as the best game of the 3 as far as how the Devils played. They just never gave up against a team that you now expect to do the same. (Never give up, I mean.)
Jacques Lemaire: "Overall, it's probably our best game from the first minute to the last. Through the whole game, we probably had one average shift."
http://www.njdevilspitchfork.com/players/c/clarkson2.jpg
Clarkson's finish came on a one-timer in front of Tomas Vokoun from Zajac's pass. It also came 2 minutes after Stephen Weiss tied it, also on the power play, when the defense played him soft and he finessed his way to Brodeur.
Clarkson: "A team with leadership and good veterans will keep coming. The way we did it shows our leadership right there. When they score late in the game to tie it up, we don't just give up and sit there. We came back out and made sure we were getting chances to come back and win the game."
Zajac: "We did a pretty good when we needed to. At the end when we had a chance to regain the lead we did a pretty good job on it."
Rob Niedermayer, who opened the game's scoring: "We wanted to stick with it because sometimes in games like that a bounce here, a bounce there, you've been playing so well and the momentum can turn like that. I thought we did a great job just sticking with our game plan. It was a big win for us."
http://www.njdevilspitchfork.com/players/n/niedermayerr3.jpg
The plan was to jump all over the Cats, and they kinda did, but got nothing to show for it until Niedermayer snuck one by Vokoun after taking a deceptive pass from behind the net from Paul Martin midway in the second. I mean, it must've been deceptive; I was in shock at how quickly it developed and went in.
Monday was the conclusion of the road trip, and it started off like gangbusters for the Capitals, netting 2 in the first thanks to the Mikes (Green and Knuble). But the Devils weathered the storm, particularly in the second when they were outshot 12-7, but still pulled it within one on Brian Rolston's second of the year.
Rolston: "They came out real hard on us tonight and we were back on our heels, and I think we just kind of snapped out of it in the second. We get a goal -- that kind of calmed us down a little bit and got us rolling. Obviously, our penalty kill really picked us up tonight."
Oh yeah. Important to note the PK, especially against all the firepower the Caps have. So much so that Jamie Langenbrunner also weighs in on the 5-for-5 night for the PK units.
Langenbrunner: “Our penalty kill did a great job. It obviously starts with the guy in net. He made some big saves so the penalty kill would be good. I think we did a pretty good job against a very dangerous power play of at least keeping the shots so we knew where they were coming from. Marty knew where they were coming from."
And of course, I mentioned the GTG by Clarkson in the third.
They couldn't end it in the extra 5 here, either, even with a power play on a trip by Brendan Morrison. But the Devils owned the shootout again, which included both Langs' and Zach Parise's second shootout tallies this year and Brodeur stonewalling all the shooters he faced, to finish the road trip off right.
Clarkson: "It makes the road trip not just a good road trip but a great road trip."
Now one question remains... can they bring the solid play to home ice?
...
Well, I don't call it "the friendly confines of the Prudential Center" as a jab on Wrigley Field, you know. :lol2:
Thrashers Injuries
| Kari Lehtonen | Back Surgery | Day-to-day |
| Matt Sidall | Undisclosed | Unknown |
| Noah Welch | Right Knee | Out Indefinitely |
| Boris Valabik | High Ankle Sprain | Out 4-6 Weeks |
Devils Injuries
| Patrik Elias | Groin | Targeting an October 29th return |
| Mark Fraser | Head | Unknown, but is back practicing |
In goal:
For the Thrashers, expect to see Ondrej Pavelec in there. So far, in 3 starts this season, he's won 2 of them: his first two against Tampa and St. Louis, respectively. The 3.01 GAA is meh, but the .913 save percentage is definitely good. It means that he's not seen a game with less than 30 shots: he was 36-39 against Tampa, 29-31 against St. Louis, and 30-34 in the loss to Ottawa last Saturday. He does have one appearance against the Devils in his career: 20 minutes of donut hockey in a relief effort.
With back-to-back, however, I wouldn't be surprised to see Johan Hedberg in there, either, maybe even for tonight. He has yet to play a game this season, and John Anderson could save Pavelec for the Sabres on Saturday. I'm just laying out all the options.
For the Devils, it's Martin Brodeur once again. He seems to have relaxed a little bit since late in the game against Tampa. Thus, he was able to get all 3 wins on the road trip. He was under siege that game (41-44), but his defense pulled it together some against the Cats (19-21) and the Caps (31-33) and helped him to have his first two games where he allowed less than 3 goals this season. The OTs helped, too; his GAA is now just under 3 (2.93), and he's right at 90% for saves.
So with that, I now call upon that which is old...
