Devils drop preseason opener 4-1

September 22, 2008   ·   Hasan   ·   Jump to comments

In the preseason opener for both teams, the Devils found themselves on the short end of a 4-1 result in Philadelphia.  Philly rode first-period goals from newly-minted captain Mike Richards and Steve Downie to an early 2-0 lead against Kevin Weekes.  

After a goalless second period, Downie scored again in the third period to give the Flyers a three-goal cushion against returning Devil Scott Clemmensen, who came in for the second half of the game after Weekes played the first thirty minutes.  Petr Vrana scored the Devils’ only goal of the night at 9:26 of the third, with an assist from Nicklas Bergfors.  Scottie Upshall scored an empty-netter late in the third to finish out the scoring for the night.

Since the Jets and Mets were both playing relatively big games and my PC isn’t high-tech enough to follow the webcast anyway, I can’t offer a first-hand account of this game.  Obviously Vrana and Bergfors combining on the goal is a good sign as both players should figure into the Devils’ future – either immediately or soon down the road.  Apparently Fedor Federov also had a good showing, I personally remain skeptical about whether this career journeyman (and younger brother of Sergei) can carve out his own niche with the Devils but I’ve been wrong before.  Pierre Leblond made his mark with two fights – come on you didn’t think a Devil-Flyer game would go without any scraps did you? 

On the down side, defensive prospect Matthew Corrente offered a very critical (if refreshingly honest) analysis of his own play in Tom Gulutti’s blog:

“I felt I was brutal to be honest with you,” he said. “I don’t know if was too much hype for me, thinking about it too much for too long. I’m pretty frustrated right now. I think I was thinking about this game for too long. There were a lot of nerves coming into it. I didn’t think I played the way I could have played tonight.”

As far as the big boys go, the supposed top line of Patrik Elias, Brian Rolston and Brian Gionta made their 2008-09 debut in this game.  While they didn’t have any points, Rolston led the team in shots with five, and his shot certainly should be a welcome addition in due time.  Elias commented on Rolston and his line: “We have good speed on our line, Brian’s got a great shot and good patience, and he was doing well on faceoffs.”

Here was the Devils full roster for this game:

Forwards: Elias-Rolston-Gionta; Rupp-Holik-Zubrus; Fedorov-Vrana-Bergfors; Leblond-Rheaume-Palmieri.

Defense: White-Mottau; Oduya-Corrente; Eckford-Brookbank.

Goalies: Weekes, Clemmensen.

New Jersey’s next contest is this Wednesday 7 PM against the Rangers.  It will be the Devils’ first home contest of the preseason.