Saturday, December 27, 2008

151 Minutes, 24 Seconds and Counting

151 Minutes and 24 seconds and counting! Yes Devil fans, that is how long we have gone without a goal. The last Devils goal was by Brian Rolston at 8:36 of the 2nd period against the Flyers last Sunday.

Last night, the Devils shut down the Pens high powered duo of Crosby and Malkin, limiting the Penguins to 18 shots but a goal by Fedetenko in the 2nd period just squeaked through Clemmensen and it seemed as if in slow motion crossed the goal line for the only goal of the game.

For a team that had scored 30 goals in seven games (4.29 Goals-per-Game) before these past two shut-outs, tough times and missed opportunities have been the scenario for the past two games. As in the game against the Bruins, the Devils had glorious opportunities that were missed. Jamie Langenbrunner had several chances that he missed on, Travis Zajac missed a wide-open net late in the 2nd period, David Clarkson missed a goal by literally an inch as the entire puck just couldn't get across the goal line , etc. etc etc.

Despite pestering 37 shots at the Pens, the game seemed lack luster and for three periods and the Devils seemed to lack the sense of urgency to score for two periods. The Devils need to find their offense right away as they held to the garden and face the Rangers tonight, as not getting at least two points out of this week would be a huge set-back.

Notes:
- The Devils have three players playing in the World Junior Championships in Ottawa. Mike Hoeffel (LW/USA-2007 2nd Rd. Pick), Patrice Cormier (C/Canada-2008 2nd Rd. Pick) and Mattias Teneby (RW/Sweden-2008 1st Rd. Pick).
- Scott Clemmensen can't be blamed for the past two losses. He has only allowed one goal in each of the past two games and has stopped 39-of-41 shots in the two games.
- Coach Sutter finally split up the top 2 lines late in the game last night. Elias was centering Parise and Rolston late in the game. Let us hope that he goes back to the way things were before the two shut-outs and maybe moving Rolston to the wing with Parise and Zajac.

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