Monday, March 9, 2009

Devils Need To Bounce Back After Disaster On Long Island

After their worst defeat of the year, a 7-3 trouncing to the young Islanders, the Devils know that they need to bounce back and right the ship in the final 17 games of the regular season.

Sutter spoke this week to many of the veteran players, all of whom need to step up their game as they head towards the playoffs. Players like Zubrus, Elias, Gionta, Shahahan, Madden and Rolston are all players that Sutter expects to see them games rise to the level of play he expects come playoff time.

The line of Zubrus-Elias-Gionta are the key to how far the Devils can go in their Stanley Cup run. The line was a key producer offensivelly during the Devils long winning streak in the middle of the season. Even though Elias has kept up his scoring pace, Gionta has (4G-8A) in his last 21 game while he had (11G-27A) in the first 43 games, while Zubrus has been a big dissapointment with (2G-4A) in his last 22 games, while he had (11G-17A) in his first 43 games.

If the Devils are able to win against Calgary and Phoenix, it will set up the opportunity for Brodeur to tie Patrick Roy's record in Montreal and then have a chance to break it at home against the Blackhawks at home on St. Patrick's Day.

Devil Notes:
- Havelid played 19:28 in his debut with the Devils and was a minus-2.

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