The Devils entered Saturday night's contest against the Stamkos-less Lightning in a bit of a tail spin having just won three of their last 10 contests.
New Jersey had been getting mediocre goaltending of late while struggling to consistently find the net, yet last night neither were an issue as they shutout the Lightning 3-0.
The Devils were on the other side of the coin as instead of outshooting their opponent by a significant margin and losing, they were outshot 33-19 yet managed to escape with two points.
Martin Brodeur had arguably his best effort of the season while Damien Brunner and Dainius Zubrus (2) chipped in with goals.
Some notes:
- It was nice to see Brunner get on the board once again. He's playing with a lot more confidence when he has the puck on his stick and he's really making things happen. The biggest reason for his recent surge is that he's putting everything on net. He hadn't been shooting and had been trying to force passes, and as a result he wasn't doing much besides turning pucks over and taking penalties. In the last three games he has three goals and 11 shots.
- How about that outlet pass by Eric Gelinas to setup Brunner's goal? That's the kind of thing the Devils have been lacking from their blue liners in recent years. It doesn't look like it'll be an issue any longer, though.
- After a four-game pointless drought Zubrus has really turned it on of late. He now has points in four consecutive games including three goals in that span. He has really benefited from playing on a line with Travis Zajac and Jaromir Jagr.
- Speaking of Jagr, he has points in four straight including six assists over that span. Not bad for a 41-year-old.
- I have to give a ton of credit to Martin Brodeur. The Devils needed an excellent performance from their goaltender to snap this losing skid and Brodeur gave it to them. New Jersey is off until Wednesday when they take on the Senators. Given his performance against Tampa Bay, I expect No. 30 to get the start.
- With last night's win included, the Devils are 3-0-0 on the season in games I don't see live. They've won by an aggregate score of 12-2 in those games.
Prospect Updates
- The Albany Devils topped the Hartford Wolf Pack 5-2 in a matinee game. Scott Wedgewood got the nod in goal and stopped 26-28 in the win. Keith Kinkaid has started to run away with the starting job so he needed a quality start.
- Artem Demkov continues to make the most of his opportunity in Albany. With all of the Albany players in New Jersey, Demkov was promoted to the AHL and has made an immediate impact. He scored and added an assist in the win and now has five points in five games.
- Mattias Tedenby continues to light it up in Albany. He's scored three times and added an assist in two games during his 'conditioning sting'.
- Other notable performances: Ramon Hrabarenka (one goal), Stefan Matteau (one assist), Brandon Burlon (one goal, one assist), Harri Pesonen (two assists).
- I was scouting the Windsor Spitfires vs Barrie Colts game last night and several players stood out. Devils prospect Ben Johnson was among them. He scored and did some excellent work defensively. You can read more on his performance, along with notes on some 2014 draft eligibles, and other drafted prospects at TheHockeyGuys.
- Devils prospect Ryan Kujawinski was a healthy scratch last night after taking a bad penalty in overtime against Niagara that led to the game-winning-goal. Kujawinski has had a nice season in Kingston and is among their top players so I don't expect this to turn into an issue. To me it's just the coaching staff sending a message that as a leader of a young team he can't do things like that. Kingston is back in action today and I expect him to return to the lineup.
- In the WHL, Damon Severson's Kelowna Rockets were in action but he did not play as he was at Team Canada's World Junior camp in Toronto.
- Graham Black scored in Swift Current's losing effort to Kootenay. He's having an excellent season in Swift Current as he's found twine 17 times and has tallied 46 points in 34 games on the year.
- In action today: Kujawinski, Johnson, Ben Thomson, Graham Black and Anthony Brodeur.
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