Devils rebound from slow start to stun Caps, sweep trip

October 13, 2009   ·   Hasan   ·   Jump to comments

Between last night’s Devils and Jets games (not to mention two fantasy football games that went down to the wire) last night was a wild sports night for yours truly.  On the front end the Devils did far from dissapoint, to be honest I was afraid an angry Caps team would take out their three-game losing streak on us and after 14:16 it looked as if that would be exactly what happened as the Caps jumped out front 2-0 thanks to tentative defense and a goal by Mike Knuble that looked like it hit Martin Brodeur but trickled through.  As the Devils have done so many times however, they shrugged off an early start and hunkered down shutting down the deadly Caps’ attack the rest of the way, coming back to tie in regulation then getting the win and two points in a shootout with a dramatic conclusion.  Not only did the Devils’ win complete a three-game road sweep but it also got the Devils above .500 for the first time this year, even if two of the wins came via shootout.

In what would be a back-and-forth game, the early edge clearly was with the home team.  Although the Caps certainly didn’t dominate, they took advantage of what was a tentative Devils defense at times and converted on two scoring chances in the first.  As is the case often with Washington, it was Alexander Ovechkin and Mike Green that combined for that first goal, with Green beating Brodeur through a screen after corraling a rebound from an Ovechkin shot, giving the Caps the lead at 9:06.  Just five minutes and ten seconds later, the Caps doubled their lead when Ovechkin assisted on another goal, this time finding Knuble down the left wing and he fired a shot that either hit off Brodeur or bounced past him for the Caps’ second goal.  Among the few highlights for the Devils was David Clarkson’s fight with the Caps’ Chris Clark, though one has to wonder why Andrew Peters hasn’t deigned to fight yet through three games. 

Even though the Devils actually outshot the Caps 7-6 in the first period, there was still work to be done.  Washington got two power plays to work with in the second, thanks to penalties from useless Illka Pikkaranen and Johnny Oduya, who looks a bit off to start the season himself.  Brodeur recovered from the first period to make a series of nice saves on those two power plays, the first of which could have put away the game since it was still 2-0 at that point.  However, the Devils got on the board against Jose Theodore finally at 8:18 when Brian Rolston scored his second of the season off a cross-ice pass from a still-rejuvanated Rob Niedermayer.  Mere moments later the Devils received their second power play of the game but would get nothing to show for it, and wound up without a power play goal for the first time this season after three more subsequent chances.

Still, the Devils were back in the game even after being outshot 12-7 in the middle frame.  Unfortunately by this point I was off to watch the Jets’ vaunted defense lay an egg in Miami, but I did keep checking the score periodically in the third period.  Apparently the Devils had their best period in the third outshooting the Caps 12-11 but more importantly holding off a potentially deadly stretch of three penalties in a row early in the period, including a nearly minute long five-on-three.  Even without the departed John Madden, who was busy helping the Blackhawks come back from five goals down against Brent Sutter’s Flames (snicker snicker), the Devils’ PK looked as good as ever and for that you have to credit Niedermayer and Jay Pandolfo, who most Devil fans wanted banished to Lowell but who I felt still had a use in this role and would bounce back this year.  Not to mention Brodeur, the Devils’ D and their other PK’ing forwards, who held Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and the other offensive-minded Caps largely in check after the first.

After their tide-stemming penalty kills, the Devils found a way to tie it thanks to a wonderful shift by the newly constructed Clarkson-Nicklas Bergfors and Danius Zubrus line who kept the puck in the zone around a minute give or take a few seconds, mostly by effective work along the boards.  Thanks also to a nice keep from Mike Mottau, the line eventually broke through to tie the game with 6:26 remaining when Bergfors found Clarkson in front for the rugged winger’s second goal of the season.  Although the Devils couldn’t take advantage of two power plays in the third, Clarkson’s goal ensured OT and at least a point.

In overtime, the Devils received the only power play and despite a series of chances from Zach Parise, they couldn’t finish the game there and it advanced into a shootout.  Backstrom and Parise traded goals to begin with, Parise this time taking advantage of a Theodore poke-check to shoot it through him.  After a Brodeur save on Alexander Semin, captain Jamie Langenbrunner – who’s been as automatic as Parise in this lately – scored to give the Devils a 2-1 lead with one shooter left…Ovechkin.  In this duel (which I was able to see live during a commercial break during one of my times running to the other TV), Brodeur stopped the league’s reigning goal-scoring king glove-side and the Devils had another big victory on the road.  Despite no Patrik Elias, new players and a tweaked system, the Devils now have six points in five games after the less-than-promising start at home.  After a well-deserved three day break, the Devils get back at it this weekend with home games against Atlanta on Friday, then the playoff rematch with the dreaded Canes on Saturday night.

BoNY Three Stars:

1. Martin Brodeur (31/33 saves, SO win)
2. David Clarkson (goal, fight, +1)
3. Mike Knuble (goal, assist, +2)