Canes roll over flat Devils 3-2

January 6, 2009   ·   Hasan   ·   Jump to comments

Too many times in recent years, the eighteen Devil skaters would sit back and daydream on the ice while waiting for Martin Brodeur to steal two points.  One of the silver linings of the Brodeur injury was that the team was no longer doing that, playing all out because they realized the urgency of every game and every point with Marty on the shelf.

Now with Scott Clemmensen putting up Brodeur-like numbers and the team having a little cushion as far as a playoff spot goes, it appears they’ve gone back to those old bad habits.

Once again in Carolina, the team got off to a bad start - for the fourth time in their last five games really, but unlike their comeback victories against bad Blues and Senators teams, they weren’t able to get on track against a resurgent Hurricanes squad, losing 3-2 in what was a lifeless performance until the final minutes.

If it was a tough night for the Devils, it would be a really tough night for their supposed two top defensemen – Bryce Salvador and Paul Martin.  Salvador contributed to Carolina’s first goal just 63 seconds in when he failed to control the puck deep in his own zone and the ageless duo of Rod Brind’Amour and Ray Whitney combined for a slick goal, with Brind’Amour’s pass finding Whitney in the slot. 

After what even Chico Resch described as a flat first period, the team continued to flounder in the second as best evidenced by the fact the Devils earned zero power plays, while giving Carolina three in the first two periods.  On the second one of those - a delay of game penalty by Zach Parise - the Hurricanes took advantage with the help of a fortuitous bounce at 15:15 after a Sergei Samsonov pass deflected off of Martin and past Clemmensen, doubling the Carolina lead.  When Tuomo Ruutu scored midway through the third period to give the Hurricanes a 3-0 lead it looked as if Cam Ward would record what felt like the easiest shutout since Brodeur’s six-save ‘gem’ against Toronto in 2000. 

Only some gutsy coaching by Brent Sutter spoiled the shutout, injected some life into the team and gave the game any excitement at all.  After the Devils finally received a power play Sutter pulled Clemmensen for an extra attacker with a full eight minutes still left in the game.  The bold strategy worked, as Martin finally beat Ward with a wrister from inside the blueline for his third goal of the season after a nice pass by Patrik Elias.  

Astonishingly, after a revived Devils team earned another power play seconds later Sutter pulled Clemmensen again down two with still several minutes left, for almost the full two minutes of the power play!  While the Devils avoided being scored on, the power play failed to connect a second time.  With two and a half minutes left, Clemmensen vacated the net for the extra attacker one more time and again the Devils circled the net like hawks, getting a second goal with barely half a minute remaining when Elias chipped one home for his eighteenth of the year. 

Finally, after a couple of icings and more than five minutes of playing with an empty net, time ran out on the Devils’ comeback - and rightly so to be honest.  Winning twice with comebacks after lackadasical efforts was bad enough, but maybe a result like this is what’s really needed to keep it from staying a habit.   

Notes: Colin White missed his fifth straight game due to the all-encompassing ‘upper-body injury’ with no clue as to what ails the Devil defenseman - the secrecy our injuries are shrouded in would make Bill Belichick proud.  At least Doc Emrick will come off IR (and the bereavment list) on Saturday, returning to the mike for the Devils’ game in Los Angeles.  In the historic matchup between son Brandon Sutter and father Brent, the Canes’ centerman recorded three shots on net - hitting a post in the second period - and received 7:59 of icetime.

BoNY Three Stars:

1. Tuomo Ruutu (goal, +1)
2. Ray Whitney (goal, +1)
3. Patrik Elias (goal, assist)