The New Jersey Devils played in their home opener Tuesday night and didn't disappoint as they shutout the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0.
Here are some notes the game.
- That was a big win for the Devils. They didn't seem to have their legs under them for almost the entire first period, yet they had a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes of play. New Jersey started to find their game early in the second period and didn't look back as they walked away with a 3-0 win.
- Martin Brodeur was stellar once again Tuesday night. The Devils were outshot pretty bad in the first period but Brodeur came up big each time he was called upon and allowed the Devils to get their legs underneath them. Brodeur ended up stopping 24-of-24 en route to his 120th career shutout. He's allowed just one goal in the first two games and clearly still has some gas left in the tank.
- After Tuesday night's win the Devils are now 2-0-0 while the Flyers are 0-3-0. In a shortened season it's tougher to make up ground than in a regular 82-game season so the more points the Devils get early, the tougher it will be for teams like the Flyers to catch later on.
- The Devils are 2-0-0 in divisional play. It may not sound like much now because it's still very early, but divisional wins are always important. Good on New Jersey for grabbing a couple early.
- The Devils powerplay clearly still needs plenty of work. After going 0-2 in their season opener the Devils followed that up by going 1-7 Tuesday with just eight shots on net. New Jersey talked about becoming a team that continuously puts pucks on net throughout their powerplay's. They haven't been that team so far.
- As bad as the Devils powerplay was, their penalty kill was fantastic. They didn't allow a goal and held the Flyers to just five shots in six opportunities. Impressive.
- Travis Zajac is doing a heck of a job showing the Devils he was worth the contract they gave him. He played a little over 20 minutes, with a good chunk of them against Claude Giroux's line, and held Giroux completely in check. Giroux didn't register a shot, while Zajac won 55% of his faceoffs, recorded a takeaway, five shots and the game-winning-goal.
- Mattias Tedenby played just 7:10 against the Flyers. He had a couple of chances but took a penalty which likely lead to the decrease in minutes.
- I was once again impressed with Stefan Matteau last night. He played a little over 10 minutes, had three shots, two hits and took a penalty while mixing it up with Jake Voracek in a scrum. While it would probably be best for Matteau's development to go back to the QMJHL and play 20 minutes a night, I could see him sticking with the big club. He's played well in a depth role and has been a nice addition to the lineup. The Devils are all about winning games and he's helped them do that.
- Ilya Kovalchuk is a freak when it comes to penalty shots and shootouts. If you go by his shootout and penalty shot percentages the last couple years, there's nobody better in the league in those situations. He showed that last night.
- It was nice to see the Devils stick together as a group last night. Fights aside, you saw rookie Stefan Matteau, Jacob Josefson and a couple other guys not too accustomed to rough stuff jumping in scrums to help and stick up for their teammates. It may not seem like much, but those kinds of things really help bring teams together.
- David Clarkson was very good once again. He scored a wraparound goal, which was probably a big thing for him, had a couple shots and dropped the mitts with Wayne Simmonds. These guys are invaluable to any team which is why Devils President and General Manager, Lou Lamoriello, needs to give his best effort to get him re-signed long-term.
- Jacob Josefson played 16:25 and saw some powerplay time last night. If you've followed my writing throughout the lockout, you'd know I was pretty adamant in saying he should play a bigger role with the big club this year. While he didn't score, he did have a few good chances and seemed to have a little more jump than most of the Devils. DeBoer should continue to use him like he did against Philadelphia.
- Adam Henrique is reportedly 7-10 days away from returning. Here is how I see the forward lines shaking up when he returns.
Zubrus - Zajac - Kovalchuk
Elias - Henrique - Clarkson
Tedenby - Josefson - Matteau/Darche (if Matteau is returned to the QMJHL and Darche signs)
Carter - Gionta - Bernier
Those lines provide a good balance of size, skill, speed and grit which is what every team wants.
New Jersey Devils Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»