New York Rangers-New Jersey Devils game story for Metro NY Newspaper
Bad blood fuels Blueshirts over Devils
Rangers 3, Devils 2
There is a proverb that suggests you always hurt the one you love.
For the Rangers and Devils, the adage changes to you always hurt the one you hate.
The first Rangers-Devils clash of the new NHL campaign had requisite amount of meanness. The cross-river rivals spent last night exchanging dirty looks, offering less-than-pleasant analysis of the other and punches.
In the end, a rivalry renowned for its heroes and villains on both sides—Messier, Richter, Graves, Matteau; Stevens, Brodeur, Niedermayer, Lemieux—added two young names to the roll call:
Matt Gilroy and Michael Del Zotto.
The rookie defensemen combined three points—including Gilroy’s game-winner, the first of his NHL career—in the Rangers’ 3-2 win at the Prudential Center. The Rangers improved to 2-1-0, while the Devils fell to 0-2.
Del Zotto, the Rangers’ first round pick a year ago, finished with two points (a goal and an assist) in 11:42 of ice time. Gilroy’s first NHL goal broke a 2-2 tie with 2:10 left in the second. Ales Kotalik’s power-play slapper in the first was the other Rangers’ goal.
One of overriding storylines for the Rangers this season has been and will continue to be the development of Del Zotto and Gilroy. Following the pre-game skate, John Tortorella explained why he benched both in the latter part of Saturday’s win over the Ottawa by saying, “We just weren’t playing them, period. We thought the back-to-back situation, they were struggling.”
While cautioning that “there will be bumps in the road,” Tortorella was pleased with how Gilroy and Del Zotto played.
“The two kids got their first goal(s) early. It’s baptism by fire and they handled the minutes tonight. They played well,” said Tortorella, who, despite noting that his charges “grinded one out,” wasn’t completely happy with the effort.
His first public meltdown of the 2009-10 season came 100 seconds into the first period. The emotional head coach erupted after witnessing Rob Niedermayer beat Henrik Lundqvist with a wrist shot from the slot for the game’s first goal at 1:21, following Jay Pandolfo outworking Chris Higgins along the half boards. Tortorella, who had warned his team following Saturday night’s 5-2 win over Ottawa that they “need to button up some things along the way here. We are giving away too many chances against,” called a time-out 33 seconds later and was seen screaming and animatedly gesturing at his team.
“I just saw us watching people play. Off the rush, we watched people go to the net, we watched them rotate out of the corners, we watched them go to the net again, we absolutely got beat out of the corner without any effort at all,” Tortorella said. “I was just shocked at how we were playing in our own end zone.”
If Tortorella’s team shocked its coach, then Jacques Lemaire’s charges may be depressing theirs. The Devils’ power play could use, well, some power and some play. The Devils fell to 2-for-10 in two games with the man-advantage. Travis Zajac scored the lone power-play goal with a wrister that beat Lundqvist (25 saves on 27 shots) glove side. It goes hand-in-hand that the Devils have lost both games. In the so-called “new NHL,” it is imperative that a team with Cup-aspirations be able to score consistently on the PP.
“There was progress. No, it was not enough. There are a lot of thing that have to go well for a team to win. First of all, everyone has to be on the same page. We talked about (that) last game, having long shifts. It was a lot better today. We only had one and (the Rangers) scored on it,” said Lemaire. “After being on the same page and being together, it is to be sharp. I just feel right now that we lack a bit of confidence. I can say that because I see the top players, they do make a lot of plays but (can) make more plays. Chances, sometimes we miss.”
Should the Devils continue to struggle, do general manager Lou Lamoriello and Lemaire ask Brendan Shanahan to return? Shanahan, the 22-year veteran, was “non-rostered” before the game. He is still on the Devils’ cap after mutually agreeing with management to leave the team last week.
posted by Denis P. Gorman at 6:58 PM
<< Home