Score
Leafs - 5 / Devils - 3
Devils Notes:
- Martin Brodeur looked less than spectacular tonight, and it was quite evident. I know he is coming off an injury and this is his first game in about three weeks, but in the few games he has played this year he hasn't really showed much. It's a long season so I won't jump the gun just yet, but I think it may be time for him to hang them up.
- The Devils need a center, and it's so obvious. Having Patrik Elias, who is best suited for the wing, Adam Henrique, Ryan Carter and Brad Mills as your top four won't get you very far. Obviously this would be different if Travis Zajac and Jacob Josefson were healthy but that's not the case. Zajac and Josefson aren't returning any time soon and what the Devils have now is just not good enough. I know it's hard to acquire a center, especially this early in the season but it appears necessary.
- The Devils top line of Parise-Henrique-Kovalchuk didn't create near enough. They looked lost and out of synch and the experiment has not worked out - at least yet. I expect Pete DeBoer to mix things up for tomorrow night's game in Philadelphia.
- Speaking of Parise, he only has five points in 10 games. He's played better than that, but that's unacceptable. He needs to produce more. So does Kovalchuk.
- Adam Larsson tallied his first career point tonight. Congrats to the kid. It's too bad it had to come in a disappointing loss such as this.
- The Devils powerplay tallied two goals. I know the Leafs penalty kill has been struggling but that's still something positive the Devils can take away from the game.
- I really liked Anton Volchenkov's game tonight. He really showed why he's nicknamed "A-Train".
- As I noted above, the Devils play the Flyers in Philadelphia tomorrow. They can't hang their heads on this game and need to put it in the past. Tomorrow's a new day, and the Devils need a win. They are now 4-5-1 which is obviously not where they hoped to be at this point.
Maple Leafs Notes:
- The Maple Leafs really deserved to win this game. The first two periods were pretty even, but when the Leafs scored the fourth goal they really took over. They earned the two points.
- Joffrey Lupul was fantastic tonight. He didn't see a ton of ice-time, but he was extremely effective when he got it. The stats show it.
- Jonas Gustavsson was pretty good. He didn't steal the game but for the most part he was good when called upon. Leafs fans can't complain.
- Phil Kessel quietly tallied another two points (2A) tonight, but in my opinion he wasn't that great. Good players find a way to rack up points even when they're not on the top of their game. Kessel did that tonight.
- Mike Komisarek played over 21 minutes tonight. Leafs fans know that doesn't happen often.
My 3 stars
1. TOR - Joffrey Lupul (3G, 5 shots, +3)
2. TOR - Mikhail Grabovski (1G, 1A, 2 shots, +2)
3. TOR - Mike Komisarek (1A, 2 shots, +3, 21:36 TOI)
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Note - Brendan Ross and I released our collaborated top 30 2012 draft rankings at TheHockeyGuys.net for November. Click here to check them out....one of these will likely be a future Devil.
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