April 16, 2009, Carolina Hurricanes-New Jersey Devils Eastern Conference Quarterfinals Game One playoff story for Metro (NY) newspaper
Devils send message in Game 1
Offense clicking in win over Canes
NHL. For five weeks, one of the pressing questions around the NHL was “what’s wrong with the Devils?”
Following last night’s thorough 4-1 demolition of the Hurricanes, the answer may be: not a damn thing.
In the first game of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, the Devils pressured the Hurricanes all over the Rock while not allowing Carolina to generate many scoring chances. Game 2 is Friday night.
The Devils played as smartly as they did efficiently and only committed two minor penalties — a two minute cross check by Bryce Salvador at the end of the second which carried over into the third and a Brian Gionta hook at 12:33 of the final period — while spending seven minutes on the power play.
“I thought through and through we got contributions from everyone,” said Devils coach Brent Sutter. “It was pretty precise, how we wanted to play. We know our opponent is a very tough opponent and we need to be a disciplined team in everything we do.”
Prior to the game, Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice praised the Devils ability to skate and generate offense off the rush. His words proved prophetic as New Jersey outshot the sixth seeded Hurricanes 39-19, most of which came from in and around Cam Ward’s crease.
“They played very well. There didn’t have any elements of their game that they weren’t successful at. They skated very well and we were a little jittery coming out of the gate,” said Maurice.
If the Canes were jittery, then Ward was under siege. The 25-year-old is among the league’s top goaltenders, but if the series is going to be played at his end of the ice, he may have to morph into a 21st Century version of Vladislav Tretiak in order for the Hurricanes to take a game—to say nothing of advancing to the next round.
“I think we’re going to look back at that game and see that he made a lot of real brilliant saves that we wish he hadn’t had to make,” Carolina’s coach said about his goaltender.
Certainly, he was brilliant. However, his clearing blunder with 3:57 remaining in the first directly led to the series’ first goal. Ward attempted to play the puck from behind the net. Instead of getting it out, Ward’s pass found Devils defenseman Mike Mottau, who unleashed a slap shot that beat the Carolina goaltender. It was Mottau’s second career playoff tally.
The Atlantic division champions were methodical in the second, having outshot the Eastern Conference sixth seed 15-6. Zach Parise, who scored 45 goals in the regular season, doubled the Devils’ lead 59 seconds into the period. A shoe-in to be on Team USA come next February’s Olympics, Parise walked in off the half boards and wristed a shot that Ward did not see.
Patrik Elias pushed the advantage to 3-0 with a slapshot from the left faceoff circle at 11:33. The Devils’ all-time leading scorer was aided by a screen from Hurricanes’ center Rod Brind’Amour.
Ray Whitney scored Carolina’s lone goal at the 10:30 mark of the third with a low backhander that beat Martin Brodeur stick side. On the next shift, a Chad LaRose just missed with a wrist shot that could have cut the lead to one. The Devils counterattacked and Jamie Langenbrunner finished with a wrist shot from the slot that beat Ward glove side high.
“Give them credit. That was a big goal for them. They capitalized on their chance. We had just had a really good chance to make it 3-2 and they went down and scored,” said Matt Cullen, who along with linemates Whitney and LaRose, were the only Hurricanes to record points last night. “That’s hockey. It was that close to being a 3-2 game with plenty of time left. As poorly as we played, we were still in it. Obviously that was the dagger.”
Three things we saw last night:
1 Flip it on. Down the homestretch, the Devils were accused of being bored and looking ahead to the playoffs. Before last night’s game, Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice warned, “This is not the New Jersey Devils of 10 years ago, where defense was their primary concern. They have a real good attack game.” Maurice was right. The Devils took a 3-0 lead after two and outshot the Canes, 39-19.
2 Shan-Wow. Brendan Shanahan has lasted 21 years in the NHL because of his accurate shot and because he’s as tough as they come. In the first period, a shot hit the future Hall-of-Famer flush on the mouth. He went to the dressing room and came out to start the second period. He ended up with four shots, as the Devils bombarded Cam Ward with 15 shots in each of the first two periods.
3 Total team effort. Some thought Zach Parise, who led the Devils with 45 goals in the regular season, might be tentative in his first playoff game as the team’s No. 1 threat. Parise put that to rest after he beat Ward with a wrister 59 seconds into the second to put the Devils up 2-0. As for Carolina’s high-flying duo of Erik Cole and Eric Staal? They went scoreless with a combined three shots.
Up next: Game 2, Hurricanes at Devils, tomorrow, 7:30 p.m. (MSG Plus)
posted by Denis P. Gorman at 9:16 AM
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