March 11, 2010, New York Rangers-New Jersey Devils game story for Metro Newspaper
Devils light up Lundqvist
DEVILS 6 / RANGERS 3
The laughs were louder.
The smiles were wider.
This was not just another two points to the New Jersey Devils. No, this was a win.
“Wins are important no matter who it is against this time of year, but it makes it a lot sweeter when it’s against those guys,” a grinning Travis Zajac said after the Devils dominated the Rangers, 6-3, at the Prudential Center last night. The Rangers are now 29-29-9. Jersey is 39-23-3.
The teams play one more time this season, March 25 at The Rock. Jersey leads the season series 3-2. The next games for both teams will be Friday night. The Rangers will be in Atlanta while the Devils host Pittsburgh.
Both organizations, one of only six to make the playoffs every season post-lockout, are struggling at the season’s most inopportune time. The Rangers had lost six-of-ten, 13-of-20 overall and trail Boston by three points for the last playoff spot in the East. The Devils, even with the blockbuster acquisition of Ilya Kovalchuk, had lost 14 of 20 games before last night, and had fallen behind Pittsburgh by five points in the Atlantic Division race.
John Tortorella told reporters following the morning skate that he was going to keep the Rangers lines together. However, he decided to change the lines. Olli Jokinen centered Marian Gaborik and Vinny Prospal on the top line. The remaining line combinations were Artem Anisimov-Ryan Callahan-Brandon Dubinsky, Chris Drury-Erik Christensen-Sean Avery and Brian Boyle-Brandon Prust-Jody Shelley.
For the changes to pay off for the Rangers, they need to consistently generate offense. That is done by holding onto the puck in the neutral and offensive zones, which they did not do last night. The stat sheet credited the Devils with only six takeaways, but it certainly appeared like they tripled that number.
“We did a good job of that. We did a good job of forechecking in the first two periods and because of that we got some opportunities,” Zajac said. The center scored his 21st of the season with 3:39 left in the third, a single season high. “We want to control play a little more and take it to teams, instead of sitting back.”
The newly formed third line of Rob Niedermayer, Brian Rolston and David Clarkson was especially effective. The trio combined for five points and was plus-seven. Clarkson, who missed three months after breaking his leg, was a Rangers-seeking missile.
“We controlled the puck low. In our end, we shut them down,” Clarkson said. “I’m going to be physical every night and be in front of the goalie. I felt great tonight and I got to build off of that.”
The Devils’ three goal second period didn’t hurt, either. Jersey scored three times in the period, were up 5-3 after two and had chased Henrik Lundqvist. In all, six different players scored for the Devils
Jersey led 2-1 after the first period. Rob Niedermayer scored the game’s first goal 3:16 into the match. Prospal tied the game 57 seconds later, finishing a pretty passing play with Jokinen and Gaborik by stuffing the puck inside the far post.
The top line was non-existent after the first twenty minutes, which Tortorella noted.
“They had a pretty good first period,” Tortorella said. “It can’t be one and (done). It’s got to be more consistent throughout the game.”
Bryce Salvador put the Devils ahead with a slapper from the point with 1:43 remaining in the period. The goal finished a sequence that saw Gaborik fail to clear the puck, allowing the Devils to cycle in the offensive zone.
The Rangers other goals came off the sticks of Erik Christensen—who made a beautiful inside-out move on Patrik Elias before roofing a shot on Martin Brodeur—and Brandon Prust in the second period. Their goals tied the game at 2-2, then 3-3.
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Devils (deliver) Rangers fourth straight loss; three things we saw last night at the Rock:
1 Not their best — Henrik Lundqvist and Martin Brodeur are two of the best goaltenders in the world. That is inarguable. It is also inarguable that neither played at a world class level last night. Brodeur allowed three goals on 19 shots, while Lundqvist was pulled after giving up five goals on 17 shots.
2 Benched again — The Devils tied a season high with six goals from six different players. It’s five more goals than they scored in their Jan. 12 meeting, a 1-0 win. While they will never be confused with the Washington Capitals or Pittsburgh Penguins, the league’s 24th best scoring team put a beatdown on their hated rivals, perhaps an indication that Jersey is at full strength and ready to make a run at the Cup.
3 Bright spot — The Rangers’ inability to find four consistent lines has plagued them all season. John Tortorella, though, may have stumbled onto something last night. Erik Christensen and Brandon Prust scored second period goals that tied the game at 2 and 3, respectively. Goals have been hard to come by, as the Blueshirts scored just one each in recent losses to Buffalo and Washington.
http://www.metro.us/us/article/2010/03/11/05/0726-82/index.xml
posted by Denis P. Gorman at 4:11 PM
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