Devils lose third straight in Windy City

March 27, 2009   ·   Hasan   ·   Jump to comments

Losing one in a row is a blip on the radar screen, two an annoyance but three means trouble’s on the horizon.  Yes, the Devils got a point out of their 3-2 OT loss in Chicago but really with the schedule ahead and the fact that the team had three days off beforehand, this was a game it behooved the team to win – especially considering tonight’s loss represented the team’s fourth straight on the road (and all against playoff teams).  Not to mention the Devils’ loss coupled with the Caps’ win gave them a one-point lead on the Devils for the second seed though the Devils still have two games in hand.  On the other side, the Blackhawks moved closer to locking up home-ice for the first round in front of what surely will be an unbroken string of sellout crowds.

Of course it didn’t help matters that the refs decided to call every penalty known to man in the first period against the Devils – five in all, including two delay of games and one hideous call on Colin White (back in the lineup after missing the last four games) where he barely made contact with wuss, er Kris Versteeg who should have been thumbed for his second diving penalty in two games against the Devils.  Instead White went to the penalty box and Versteeg of all people created some room in front of the crease with a nice turnaround move, beating Martin Brodeur to give the Hawks an early, ill-gotten lead 5:51 into the game.
 
Fortunately the penalty kill was up to the task tonight, killing all of the other penalties in the first period and going 5-6 tonight, a marked improvement over the pitiful 7-13 in their prior three road games.  It was no coincidence that White’s return helped the penalty kill, especially considering the one PP goal the Hawks got was on that ridiculous penalty where White was in the box.  Normally I’d be concerned about the sheer number of penalties taken, but given that two came on that asinine delay of game rule and another was thanks to one of the biggest douches this side of Sean Avery, lack of discipline wasn’t as much a problem as the six penalties would lead one to think. 
 
Except if your name is Bobby Holik who incredibly took two more minor penalties…or maybe not so incredibly.  I was going nuts when Chico Resch actually gave Brent Sutter credit for not benching Holik after any number of his dopey penalties.  Pray tell Chico, why exactly should Sir Bob be untouchable?  It’s not like he brings a whole heck of a lot to the lineup – a little snarl to be sure, but whatever benefit that gives us more than gets canceled out by sitting his toosh in the box for 2-4 minutes per game every game.  Especially considering his other main attribute was supposed to be winning faceoffs, and with Travis Zajac’s emergence and Holik actually playing the wing at times that’s even become far less important.  Obviously he’s not going to give us anything offensively.  Neither is Jay Pandolfo, but at least he knows how to stay out of the box.
 
Anyway, enough about penalties and penalty kills…back to the actual recap.  After Versteeg’s goal, the Devils settled in a little and just 92 seconds later, Zach Parise came through once again with his 42nd goal of the season, tying the game.  Then came what could (maybe should) have been a backbreaking goal when in the final seconds of the period, the Hawks were at last whistled for a penalty and on the delayed call Paul Martin scored off a rebound after a netmouth scramble with 18 seconds left in the first, giving the Devils a remarkable 2-1 lead considering they spent half the period killing penalties.  Brodeur was his usual spectacular self during the chaos, stopping 19 of the Hawks’ 20 shots in the first period and making 39 saves overall on the night. 
 
Before Parise and Martin’s goals I swear I was having flashbacks to that terrible Buffalo game in November when the Sabres outshot the Devils 20-3 in the first period of the first game post-Brodeur injury, props to the FSNY crew for pointing out that very game was the only other time this season the Devils took five minor penalties in the first period.  Yet, the Devils had the lead and should have pressed more in the second period I felt.  Perhaps they were still winded from killing penalties but they did let up on the Hawks as Chicago outshot the Devils 10-5 and a costly turnover late in the period led to a goal by Martin Havlat at 15:23, tying the game again.
 
After a back and forth third period, the game went to overtime and each team got a crucial point.  In the pre-Bettman NHL this would have been one game which ended in a tie and deservedly so with both teams being content, but one team had to win and eventually Danius Zubrus’s series of untimely mistakes doomed the Devils.  First he failed to get off the ice fast enough for a linechange, then committed a sloppy turnover on the blueline that led to the Hawks getting puck possession and cycling until Brent Seabrook beat Brodeur at 3:36 with a slapper from the blueline, giving the Hawks a 3-2 OT win that evened the score from ten days ago when we beat them by the same total at home.
 
Continuing a recent disturbing pattern reminiscent of last year’s stretch fade the offense failed to capitalize on opportunities (though credit a healthy Nikolai Khabibulin with a good game as well) and a good team that needed the game slightly more played just a little bit better in the end.  Yes, the Devils’ PK was encouraging but ironically this was their worst five-on-five game by far among their recent losses.  If the team hadn’t lost two in a row already and three on the road, you could excuse dropping a point on the road.  And if the team hadn’t lost three in a row you could excuse a flat performance tomorrow at home against Carolina where the NHL ridiculously scheduled the Devils for a 7 PM start in NJ after a game that ended past 11 EST tonight in Chicago.  At this point however, there are no excuses for tomorrow.  Every phase of the team’s game needs to be in gear at the same time and they need to pull out of this mini-malaise before the doubts creep in about a second consecutive stretch swoon. 

BoNY Three Stars:

1. Martin Havlat (goal, two assists, +1)
2. Brent Seabrook (goal, assist, +1)
3. Paul Martin (goal, 26:36 TOI)