Devils’ veteran leadership again shows the way

January 31, 2009   ·   Hasan   ·   Jump to comments

Perhaps it was fitting on a night where the Devils honored HOF broadcaster Doc Emrick that tonight’s game actually surpassed last night’s wild win in Boston for drama and excitement - and with the same result in the end, a 4-3 Devils come from behind OT win that was probably the team’s best win at the Rock to date for a variety of reasons.

Primary among those reasons was the much-deserved ceremony honoring Emrick, with the beloved broadcaster receiving a custom-made microphone with ‘Doc’ atop of it, a crystal with a picture of Doc and his two canines and a painting that included Doc in a Pittsburgh Pirates hat (you only had to hear the exchange between Chico Resch and Doc the other night to know how much Doc loves his Pirates - for better or sadly, usually worse), and also the Foster Hewitt award he received from the Hall of Fame.  Among Doc’s last words in a very short speech were, ‘Thank you Devils, thank you Penguins – put on a great show, I know you will!’

And was it ever.

What made this game so amazing was it actually looked as if it was going to be one-sided in favor of the Penguins early, when Maxime Talbot scored on a deflection at 9:33 of the first period and then just 20 seconds later Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby took advantage of a two-on-one with Crosby beating Scott Clemmensen glove side, roofing a backhander.  Clemmensen nearly gave up a third goal to Chris Minard later in the period, but John Madden swept it off the goalline at the last possible second.

Yet, it was the Devils who dominated much of the first period outshooing Pittsburgh 19-7 thanks in part to earning three power plays (an entire week’s quota for us lately) and getting back in the game when Bobby Holik of all people somehow backhanded a shot past Marc-Andre Fleury at 11:21 for his third goal of the year. 

After a quiet second period - other than Holik’s two penalties and Crosby whining as usual after a slashing penalty, the Penguins seemingly put the game away in the third when Malkin beat Clemmensen with a wrister that somehow squirted through the five-hole at 8:34.  What made Malkin’s goal particuarly galling was that minutes earlier Malkin was writhing in alleged pain on the ice the way a soccer player flops down and grabs his knee trying to draw the penalty, but of course didn’t miss a shift.

Ironically it was ex-Devil Petr Sykora who did wind up paying for crybaby antics, when he got himself whistled for a game-changing double minor after having an unsportsmanlike conduct tacked onto a hooking penalty.  Before you could blink, Brendan Shanahan scored his third goal as a Devil four seconds into the power play on a slapshot, cutting the deficit to 3-2.  Still, it looked as if the Devils would come up short on a night where Fleury made 39 saves – and after seven straight wins really you couldn’t exactly complain, especially given the effort was clearly there.

Trying isn’t enough for this Devils team however, they’re only interested in doing.  Starting with captain Jamie Langenbrunner, whose backhander snuck past Fleury with just thirty-one seconds left and the Devils’ net empty, remarkably tying the game at three.  Even more stunningly, the Penguins nearly returned the favor at the end of regulation when Malkin’s perfect pass found Pascal Dupuis open in the slot, but Clemmensen made by far his biggest save of the night in the final two seconds of regulation to get the game into overtime. 

Playing their third game in four nights, the Devils kept dominating in the overtime but you got the feeling they needed a goal to get the extra point, with Malkin, Crosby and company looming in a shootout.  Enter Langenbrunner one more time when his slapshot beat Fleury with sixty seconds left in the overtime, for the Devils’ second straight dramatic 4-3 OT win and the captain’s third straight two-goal game (14 total this season).

In an otherwise perfect night at the Rock, the media decided to give Malkin and Crosby stars and only Langenbrunner got one (first star obviously) for the Devils.  Maybe Malkin did deserve it but I’m not giving him one on principle after his acting class in the third period, so Fleury gets my one Penguin star for the night for almost stealing two points for his team.

Notes: On an eight-game winning streak, the Devils have three days off before next playing Washington at home Tuesday night, which will be a VERSUS telecast at 7 PM (Doc doing the broadcasting there too).  Apparently a division rivalry on a Friday night and honoring a popular broadcaster was enough to ensure the Devils’ fourth sellout of the year.

BoNY Three Stars:

1. Jamie Langenbrunner (2 goals, +1)
2. Brendan Shanahan (goal, assist, +2)
3. Marc-Andre Fleury (39/43 saves)