Once again, Martin Brodeur and Henrik Lundqvist’s names are linked. The pair of brilliant opposite No.30’s for their respective metro area clubs were nominated earlier today for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goalie, making it the third consecutive year they’re up for the prestigious award. 

It was Brodeur who took home his third Vezina a year prior, edging out Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo with his Ranger adversary finishing third. The New Jersey Devil will try to make it two straight for the second time in his brilliant Hall of Fame career. His first ever Vezina topped off the franchise’s third Cup in 2003. He was a repeat winner the following year before the lockout. 

I just made an interesting discovery. TSN has it wrong in their article. They claim Brodeur’s going for a fifth Vezina but that’s impossible because Calgary’s Miikka Kiprusoff won it in 2005-06.  

Way to go guys! It’s not the first time they’ve screwed up either cause I recall them misspelling a player’s name recently. Keep up the good work.

Anyway, Brodeur had another stellar season winning 44 of the Devs’ 46 games while posting a respectable 2.17 GAA (ranked fifth) and .920 save percentage (tied for sixth). He also posted four shutouts and tied with San Jose’s Evgeni Nabokov for most games played (77).

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Speaking of which, Nabokov will be joining Brodeur and Lundqvist as a nominee. The Sharks’ netminder won 46 of the club’s 49 games while finishing tied for third in GAA (2.14) and shutouts with six. He also had a .910 save percentage.

As for Lundqvist, it’s the third straight season he’s been nominated. Not a bad beginning to a career. The 26 year-old Swede appeared in a career high 72 games matching the amount of victories (37) from last season while achieving a new best in GAA (2.23) along with a .912 save percentage. He also paced the league with 10 shutouts- three better than his first two seasons combined. 

The NHL Awards will be handed out following the Stanley Cup Final on June 12th.

Reaction: No real surprise here as all three were worthy selections. Glad to see Luongo not included as he really fell apart causing Vancouver to miss. There were other good candidates who could’ve been considered such as Jean-Sebastian Giguere, Pascal Leclaire, Chris Osgood, Tim Thomas and Marty Turco, who said he’d give it to Nabokov.

Nabby certainly had a great season. I wouldn’t mind seeing him win it. Figure it to be between him and Brodeur with Lundqvist finishing third despite all the shutouts. I just didn’t think he was consistent enough to win it. Let him win that other priceless hardware with teammates. Hey. I can dream!

A couple of years ago, Ranger coach Tom Renney didn’t do his team any favors by going public about their opponents’ tendency to embellish penalties against his club. Not surprisingly, it came off wrong looking like a built in excuse for why the Rangers were handled by the Hudson rival Devils, who ironically enough are the same first round opponent two years later.

If there was a valuable lesson learned from that rough experience in which the Devils swept Renney’s team out of the playoffs, it was that the affable coach’s complaints didn’t help his team. Jaromir Jagr also lost his cool near the end of Game One going out of character to try to punch then opponent Scott Gomez injuring himself and any realistic chance a thin Ranger offense had of competing against a more well balanced and experienced Devil club that Spring.

Lesson learned. The second time around, Renney has taken a different tact with the officials in the fifth Battle of Hudson. This series has had its share of questionable calls for both sides in a very physical and intense match-up. If there’s been one noticeable change from two years prior, it’s the Rangers’ willingness to compete against an opponent whose reputation has always been to bang around and get dirty.

In particular, it’s been the Blueshirts’ more aggressive game plan of going hard to the net which has paid off driving Martin Brodeur nuts no matter what he says. It can’t be easy for the three-time Stanley Cup winner when pesky Rangers such as Ryan Callahan and nemesis Sean Avery are in his face constantly. Heck. Even the perimeter oriented Jagr stepped out of character the other night and took the puck hard to the net accidentally kneeing the Devils’ best player as he went by.

On the play, No.68 was properly given a goalie interference call while Brodeur got an unsportsmanlike conduct for diving. The three-time Vezina winner does have a tendency to overdo it when players come near his crease. However, I’ve seen worse than what happened in that instance where he got nabbed.

In Game Four, Avery also drove hard to the net being hauled down by Devil defenseman Colin White sliding into his “best friend.” Sure, he was pulled down and the momentum carried him towards the net but you always have to wonder with Avery. He tends to accentuate.

When the hard fought game had concluded in which his team fell short to fall behind 3-1 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series, first-year Devil coach Brent Sutter questioned the Rangers’ tactics. He had to stick up for his star player, who needs all the help he can get with a defense which has allowed their opponent to get to the dirty areas too easily.

If you heard or watched Brodeur’s postgame commentary Wednesday night, then you know he wasn’t overly happy with his team’s play. They were guilty of lazy turnovers which the Rangers turned into goals including Marc Staal’s winner. Instead of taking issue with how the games have been called, the franchise netminder credited his opponent for their aggressiveness.

Translation: His teammates aren’t getting it done. They’ll need to battle harder if they’re to extend the series tonight.

While Brodeur hasn’t complained, Sutter’s commentary after Game Four was heard loud and clear by Renney, who wisely took the high road even ignoring a Zach Parise play which saw the gritty Dev knock Henrik Lundqvist’s stick out leading to Mike Mottau’s tying goal. John Dellapina of the Daily News had a good article on the hot topic as the Rangers aim to eliminate their archrival tonight in Newark.

On the subject, Renney brought up some valid observations:

“Let’s not make too much out of this. Both teams play hard. The net is the end point. What are we supposed to do, just stand off to the side and throw pucks at him? It’s not the way the game’s played. Both teams and 16 teams are doing the same thing.

“That’s how you play. That’s how you win at this stage. … The one thing we know for sure is that we’ve never said to our guys, ‘Go after Marty Brodeur.’ We’ve never, ever preached that as a coaching staff. And we probably never would, with anybody.“

Such a poignant response was definitely the right way to go. Especially with his team a game away from the second round. There will always be lots of talking during playoff series. However, it’s how you handle adversity which ultimately decides whether your team advances.

Thus far, Renney’s team has dealt with the elements better than Sutter’s club. We’ll see if they have the killer instinct needed to finish a pesky opponent off in Game Five.

Sean Avery battles Marty Brodeur in an unusual matter

Let me just state for the record that I like Sean Avery. He can be a very effective hockey player and has played quite well in the First Round Eastern Quarterfinal Series against the Devils tallying three goals and an assist thus far.

However, the NHL’s most hated player (yes, even more than Darcy Tucker) crossed the line last night during an extended Ranger 5-on-3. His screening shenanigans in front of nemesis Marty Brodeur was completely uncalled for and let’s just say extraordinary stuff which defied logic. Does that surprise anyone?

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It was hard to tell what the heck Avery was doing in front of Brodeur from my seat. We sit in 412 and it’s all the way at the opposite end where the chaos was taking place. Watching the replays was enough to see how dumb this agitator can sometimes be. He was essentially swinging his stick in a way not to make contact with the Devil netminder without even paying attention to where the puck was behind him.

I’ve never seen anything like this in all my years watching hockey. It went on for at least 20 seconds even leaving Versus color analyst and former Ranger GM Neil Smith at a loss for words.

See for yourself above.

As fate had it, Avery cameback and scored on that same power play to put the Rangers up 2-1 in a game they’d eventually lose 4-3 in overtime.

Not surprisingly, the NHL reviewed the tape and instituted a new rule. We’ll just call it the Sean Avery Rule for waving his stick and whatever the heck else you want to say in ways a hockey player shouldn’t when screening in front.

This was bush league and has no place in the game embarrassing those who watched it. Why would a good player like him even need to go that far? He and Brodeur have a history but this was just moronic.

In any event, I hope he doesn’t try such garbage next game. Next time he won’t be so lucky and could require help off the ice. Word of friendly advice. Just play the game!

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I just didn’t have a good feeling about this game. All day, I was tenative for many reasons:

1.The Devils had way too much experience to go so quietly.

2.Both the first two games could’ve easily gone the other direction just showing how closely matched these bitter Hudson rivals are.

3.I just couldn’t envision being up 3-0 on the Devils even with home ice at what was an electric Garden. Truthfully, it was a fun atmosphere even if the team I root for lost. They have only themselves to blame.

4.You just knew the Devils would come with their best effort. They played with more edge and got the desired result to make this a series.

I could probably think of even more reasons but you can pretty much catch my drift as to why the Devils had what it took to win Game Three. Even if it was decided on one of the flukiest goals you’ll ever see. Stephane Matteau ring a bell? Sure did for myself watching from Section 411 as suddenly off a draw rookie Brandon Dubinsky won- outstanding all night- John Madden snuck in and centered the puck and got the break which his more desperate club was looking for with the puck taking a Devil-esque bounce off rookie Marc Staal’s skate past a stunned Henrik Lundqvist who never saw it coming.

If you were a diehard fan sitting or standing like myself watching it, you just couldn’t figure how the puck went in. But that’s what happens when your team plays like a bunch of wusses. It was all Devils in sudden death. And that’s what these sort of games come down to. NHL overtime is about who wants it most. On this night, Brent Sutter’s club did. They had the desperation and attacked with vigor also hitting three posts including a brilliant outside-inside move by Brian Gionta which rang off the crossbar.

Maybe that should’ve sounded off the alarms at the Ranger bench but the message never got to Tom Renney, who saw his team sit back more than the old style Devils used to. Hello? It was playoff OT! What the hell were they waiting for?

From my perspective, they basically said to the better goalie Marty Brodeur and his team:

“Here. You take it.”

That might’ve worked in the regular season against these guys but it sure won’t get it done now.

I give the Devils credit. They could’ve caved in when it was tied 3-3 late in regulation but wouldn’t mostly thanks to their future Hall of Famer in net, who saved his biggest stops for those final frantic minutes with his team’s first round hopes sinking as fast as sand in an hour glass. Brodeur’s best save had to be on Michal Rozsival, who jumped in and rocketed one labeled for the far right corner but the veteran netminder slid across and just got his stick on it to push it wide.

If that goes in, that could be it for the Devils. Maybe they go away for good. Instead, it allowed his team to regroup and play a much superior six minutes of OT before Madden’s prayer was answered with help from who’s maybe been the Rangers’ best defenseman Staal.

Go figure. Dubinsky, who netted his first two career NHL postseason tallies including the tying power play goal and Staal, who’s played like a veteran would impact the winner at 6:01.

Sometimes, hockey’s a stange game. Either way, the Blueshirts now know it’s a series and there will be a lot more riding on the line following two days off before Wednesday’s Game Four on Garden ice. By now, they realize how tough a task it will be to put these Devils away. They also to a man never thought they’d be up three zip. They’re still in an enviable position.

If there’s one thing I’d worry about from a Ranger fan perspective, it’s that usually when a series is dictated by the road team and then the road one gets an OT victory, it tends to shift the momentum. I still can recall the 2000 Flyers down 2-0 against the Pens. Keith Primeau. Once, there were the Pens trailing the Caps by the same deficit needing to turn it around on the road. With help from Petr Nedved, they did.

Will the Rangers get sucked up and have the same kind of fate or will they bounceback and show the sort of character this team’s had when their backs were up against it.

I’m calling out a few players now:

A.Paging Chris Drury. You weren’t brought in to lose every faceoff to Madden and make fans nervous. You were brought here to win those all draws and score the all important goal which changes the tide. That zero next to your scoresheet is looming larger and larger buddy. So get it in high gear. Time to find your game!

B.Paging Nigel Dawes. Yes, you scored that gimme in Game One but you’ve not been as good as you can be on the forecheck. Win some more pucks and get open for your shot which Brodeur even with perfect 20/20 has problems with. We need you also to make that key defensive play which sets up the transition and that extra pass which creates the kind of scoring chance which will have our opponent very concerned over. You and Drury have not done the job while your grittier linemate Ryan Callahan has won every battle and done so much more.

C.Paging Marty Straka. You freaking missed on a textbook give-and-go with your very inspired Czech butt buddy Jaromir Jagr. Score there like you have in the past when setup by that same great pass by No.68 and there’s a good chance we’re not talking about a loss. You are a good skater and have backed up the Devils a few times but stop overpassing the puck and shoot it already! Jagr needs you to be a threat.

D.Paging Fedor Tyutin. For whatever reason, you aren’t playing up to capability. While your partner Dan Girardi covers for your every mistake, you have been too tenative. That penalty didn’t help either buddy. Even if it was a crap call which speaks volumes about how abysmal the two-ref BHL crew really was. That doesn’t matter because you were in the box while the Devils found a way to score on the power play and get back in the game.

E.Paging Henrik Lundqvist. You were brilliant the first two games but tonight, weren’t as razor sharp as needed. In particular, that Zach Parise PPG was about as soft as a marshmallow. There was no excuse for letting that low backhand to sneak through like that. And the first goal early on wasn’t a good one either and allowed the Devils to establish themselves and gain more confidence. You must be better come Wednesday or people are going to start questioning you including this fellow blogger. It’s happened before.

F.Paging Scott Gomez. It was nice that you dominated Game One and were good again in Game Two but you were basically invisible tonight. Even if you did get a primary helper on a Sean Avery lay-up during a five-on-three, you did little else. You didn’t battle hard and dogged it frequently when challenged by former teammates. You can’t always smile and want to hug your ex-buddies during a playoff series. Time to get hungrier and impact the game with your game changing speed. That’s what you get paid for.

G.Paging Gary Bettman. Your referees are an utter disgrace. It’s clear that most don’t know how to interpret the rules and make the wrong calls. I’m not just speaking about tonight’s game which nearly derailed what was a very entertaining playoff game. I’m talking in general. There have just been way too many poor judgments being used by these officials. We saw it rear its ugly head in Newark the other night and again Saturday in Montreal helping decide games. If that’s what you want, then your sport is never going to get the respect it merits. Right now, I sit here a little baffled. Is this what you want? If we took a poll, I’d be willing to bet the old regimen isn’t pleased with the standard of officiating. Either get guys who actually grasp it and won’t make tacky calls which have no business being in the game or go back to the one ref system.

Well, guess that’s all I can think of for now. There were other games. The Caps were shutout on home ice by a more desperate Flyer team 2-0 and the Bruins got an OT winner from Marc Savard to get back in their series against the Canadiens. Oh my god. I also see the Sharks somehow managed to blow a three-goal first period lead losing 4-3 to the Flames in Alberta. Adding further injury to insult, former Shark Owen Nolan potted the winner at 16:15 of the third. Wow. What a bunch of chokers. I sure hope my team doesn’t have that same label after this series. How could I have picked San Jose? What was I on?

Geez.

2:10 PM: I’ll be liveblogging the action today between the Devils and Rangers.  Check back here at 3:00 PM ET for more goodstuffs from myself and hopefully all your Battle friends!  

2:46 PM: Betts and Malik are in for the Rangers, Mara and Hollweg are out.  Devils go with the same lineup as Friday night in Philly.    
 

2:57 PM: It is MSG+ on my TV today.  Game coming up!      

3:07 PM: Zach Parise with a big hit on Christian Backman.  No feeling out stage in this one folks.       

3:08 PM: First big chance to the Rangers as Brodeur stops Jagr from the deep slot.     

3:10 PM: Chico deems Newark, NJ “Hockeytown North America” for the day.  Oh boy.    

3:12 PM: Devils get their first chance of the day as Zach Parise tips a Patrik Elias shot…NEVERMIND THEY SCORE!  John Madden at the side of the net!  1-0 NJ! 

3:14 PM: Big hit from Vishnevski on Sjostrom as Madden gets his 20th for the second time in his career. Gionta and Martin get the assists on the goal from Madden at 4:26.

3:18 PM: Jagr fans on a great chance in front. It’s fairly clear who looks more ready for this one, and it’s a total suprise.

3:20 PM After a great Ranger chance one way, Gionta and Pandolfo fail on a 2-on-the-goalie.

3:21 PM: Drury off for charging. Devils to the power play. Bit of an iffy call, likely one the refs made to get what had become a hard-hitting game from getting nasty.

3:25 PM: Rangers kill it off. Devils continue to struggle on the power play vs. New York.

3:27 PM: SCORE! Rupp sent one to the net that Lundqvist couldn’t get the angle on! 2-0 Devils. Rupp’s 3rd of the year, from Zubrus at 12:57.

3:32 PM: The Devils are, how they say, owning the Rangers at the moment. Being physical and agressive and offensive, strangely enough. I’m having trouble with this software. If Hasan or Lenny or Derek can pick it up for me, let me know while I switch off to some other technology.

3:51 PM: It was mostly Devils in that period as they outscored the Rangers 2-0 and outshot them 11-2. I honestly am not surprised that they came out so strong. Especially after how Sutter ripped them as Hasan referred to about not being ‘professional’ in a bad loss in Philly Friday night which allowed the Flyers to clinch.

3:55 ET: The Flyers and Pens at last check were scoreless. A Pens’ win gives them the No.1 seed and a first round date in the Battle of Pennsylvania. If the Flyers win, they move up to No.6 and play Washington. As Hasan accurately reported yesterday, the other match-up is set between the Canadiens and Bruins in a battle of Original Six. Montreal dominated the season series sweeping all eight games. It wasn’t close. They outscored them by over 20.

Some Ranger thoughts on the opening stanza:

-Malik struggled in his first period back. He needs to get his timing back.

-Loved what Chris Drury did hitting a couple of Devils with clean hits. I didn’t realize that wasn’t allowed as the charging call was another softy in the BHL.

-Someone needs to give David Clarkson a beatdown. That shove on Malik right into Lundqvist was cheap and dangerous. He’s a dirty player. That can’t be tolerated. And his shenanigans after the whistle on Brandon Dubinsky was also idiotic. I really dislike that guy with a passion.

Second period’s apparently on as I heard a roar from my brother. So I’m guessing the Rangers got one to slice it in half. Be back for more later.

4:41 PM: Derek checking in again. The Rangers got a Chris Drury goal 19 seconds into the middle stanza to slice the deficit to one. That’s where we stand with 20 minutes left. His team-leading 25th was made possible by some great hustle from rookie Nigel Dawes, who beat Zach Parise to a loose puck to keep it alive allowing Drury to get to it and fire past the glove of Marty Brodeur.

Maybe it woke up the Rangers cause they played a much better second having the edge in play outshooting the Devs 10-5. Shots are now 16-12 New Jersey with the all important third coming up.

It’s rather simple:

A.If the game gets to OT, the Devils get home ice because of the tiebreakers regardless if the Rangers comeback and win.

B.The Rangers must prevail in regulation to earn home ice and the No.4 seed in the upcoming series.

4:45 PM: Just to update Pens-Flyers, Scottie Upshall’s 14th with 1:30 left in the second has Philly in front with a period to go. Sidney Crosby and Daniel Briere are sitting out.

We’ll have more later.

5:49 PM: It’s all over. The Devils get their first win in eight games in the season series by coming back to take the shootout 2-1 making the final score 3-2. Trailing on “fan fave” Scott Gomez’ sneaky backhand, hexed Zach Parise finally found a way to beat Henrik Lundqvist going to the backhand top shelf to force an extra round.

In it, after Fredrik Sjostrom fanned on his shot, Patrik Elias wired one off the inside of the crossbar and in to give his team a final victory ending the regular season.

5:54 PM: To the Rangers’ credit, they got the game tied when Sean Avery actually did something setting up the resurgent Jaromir Jagr for his 25th early in the third. A couple of highway robberies by Lundqvist on Parise actually allowed his team a chance to steal the home ice when John Madden was sent to the box for a soft hook. Another Bettman special.

5:57 PM: Tom Renney did go for it pulling Lundqvist for the extra attacker for a six-on-four but his team overpassed the puck a little and didn’t get the kind of opportunity needed to beat Brodeur, allowing the Devs to get the one point they needed for home ice and the No.4 seed. 

Both teams wasted four-on-three chances in OT forcing it to a shootout, where this time the Devils finally solved Lundqvist to improve to 1-4-3 in the season series.

That’s now meaningless once the second season begins. Expect Game One at The Rock to take place Wednesday night at 7 PM.

A little note which MSG used. In 4/5 first round history, the No.4 seed has won 19 of the 26 times. Another stat which won’t mean a whole lot once the first puck’s dropped.

6:03 ET: Here are the Eastern Conference match-ups:

(1) Mtl vs (8) Bos

(2) Pit vs (7) Ott

(3) Wsh vs (6) Phi

(4) NJ vs (NYR)

We’ll have much more on all the match-ups.

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I don’t really have any words at the moment. That’s how disgraceful the Boston Bruins’ performance was against has been Jocelyn Thibault. Getting blanked at home by Ryan Miller is one thing but to not even bother trying against T-Bone is quite another altogether.

It was clear as day what Claude Julien’s strategy was. Don’t go hard into corners. Avoid any human contact. Stay healthy for the postseason. I can’t fault the B’s much here as they had already secured a spot yesterday with a 4-1 road victory over beat up Ottawa, who will not have captain Daniel Alfredsson nor Selke candidate Mike Fisher when the second season begins.

Loose Translation: The defending Eastern champs are cooked. So, whoever gets them should have plenty of fun at their expense.

There’s one thing which I’m not grasping about that lifeless performance which saw $10 million man Thomas Vanek net his fourth hat trick since President’s Day:

Would you chance it if your first round opponent turns out to be Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals? Let’s see here. After tonight’s 3-1 home win over Florida wrapped up their first Southeast Division since 2000, that’s seven in a row and 11 of their last 12.

In recent memory, only the Devils came into the NHL tournament hotter with that ridiculous 11-game win streak which turned into 15 after sweeping out the Rangers.

Which brings us to the second first round Battle of the Hudson in three years. A lot has changed in those 24 months. The cast of characters are different on both sides. Sure. A few of the familiar faces such as the two polar opposite No.30’s in Henrik Lundqvist and Marty Brodeur plus Jaromir Jagr and John Madden are still part of the script.

It’s just that there’s so much more to look at when evaluating the two mirror images who rely on close attention to detail along with their franchise goalies to win.

Tomorrow’s game became more important due to Boston mailing it in. Home ice is now up for grabs. It’s rather simple:

A.If the game reaches OT, the Devils get the No.4 seed and home ice.

B.A Ranger win in regulation pushes them past New Jersey into fourth giving them that extra seventh game at MSG. 

Now, with that at stake, there’s no way either coach will play their backups. For the Devils, even if that weren’t the case, Kevin Weekes would still have a clipboard and a free bag of popcorn complements of Chico Resch. Brodeur always starts and tomorrow will be No.41 in a row unless Hell freezes over. I still plan to be here as does our Devil contingent.

No matter what way you slice it, a loss to a hated rival is out of the question. I tasted that sour feeling two years ago in a series which was over before it began. A total mismatch. I believe this time, it will be different. No. I’m not going to make any predictions for this series. I can’t and won’t. The only thing I expect is that it should be a lot more competitive as both participants are very healthy going in.

The Rangers will get back key fourth line center and top penalty killing forward Blair Betts tomorrow from minor foot surgery. Does Marek Malik also return or does Tom Renney keep it intact? Christian Backman has come around after doing his best Sandis Ozolinsh not too long ago. Paul Mara has filled in admirably. My guess is Renney will reinstall Malik and team him with partner Michal Rozsival, shifting poised rookie Marc Staal to the third pair alongside Backman.

I really don’t have much issue if that’s what happens.

On the Devils’ side, the only question is whether Bryce Salvador will return. Otherwise, they’ll be relying heavily on Paul Martin, Colin White and Johnny Oduya. Don’t underestimate Mike Mottau either as Brent Sutter has gotten a lot of mileage out of the journeyman. He logs important minutes and has handled himself quite well.

If there’s one advantage the Rangers might have on the blueline, it’s the steady pair of Fedor Tyutin and Dan Girardi. They look to have a little more balance 1-6 with the capable Mara if needed. Even the most optimistic Devil fan can’t be overly confident about Vitaly Vishnevski and either Sheldon Brookbank or Andy Greene. Is Karel Rachunek back in or is that experiment over?

The forward match-ups are intriguing. You have the top scoring line of Zach Parise, Patrik Elias and Jamie Langenbrunner who have worked extremely well together to form solid comradery. The Rangers can counter with the solid two-way line anchored by Chris Drury along with rookies Nigel Dawes and Ryan Callahan. They are certainly dangerous enough offensively and terrific on the forecheck.

Is that how Renney will go though? Hard to say. Another question is will Sutter match the Madden line against Scott Gomez or Jaromir Jagr? It’s kind of like picking your poison.

Jagr has really come on strong with points in four straight and five goals including three power play. No.68 is playing his best hockey of the season. His team needs him for this first round and beyond if they’re to have any shot of going deep into the Spring.

Jagr has played lately with Steven McDonald rookie recipient Brandon Dubinsky and complementary wing Marty Straka. Don’t be surprised if Renney flips Straka back to the Gomez line for Sean Avery, who’s been invisible lately. At the moment, Avery’s with the former Devil pivot and 39 year-old vet Brendan Shanahan.

If things go well for Betts Sunday, he’ll center a capable fourth line which Renney can send out more than a few shifts. Figure Fredrik Sjostrom and Petr Prucha to be on it because enforcer Colton Orr is out with a broken foot and it makes little sense to play slow and slower team comedian Ryan Hollweg.

Let’s see if Renney’s sensible enough to do that.

On the Devil side, they’ll need offensive support from the Madden line comprised of John Madden, Jay Pandolfo and at the moment Brian Gionta, who somehow has not gotten on the scoresheet during the regular season series. Something which every Blueshirt fan should be concerned about.

My only question is if Sutter keeps together the suddenly sizable effective trio of Dainius Zubrus, Mike Rupp and rookie banger David Clarkson, then what about who plays with slumping sophomore pivot Travis Zajac? Can Sergei Brylin and Arron Asham teamed with Zajac generate offense?

Maybe that’s a question better left for Hasan or Lepore cause I’m baffled. I think the Devs need to have more offense up front if they want to win this series. The top three Ranger lines are well balanced and can cause problems for that Devil D.

You could also say the same for that Elias top unit which features Parise, who is just awesome along the corners getting to every loose puck and then using his superior speed to get quality chances. He’s the best scorer in this series as the 32 goals, 10 power play goals and eight deciding markers say. Elias might not finish as much these days but he’s always been a money playoff guy. You don’t need to remind any Ranger about that if they were around for two years ago.

So, what should this series come down to aside from airtight battles featuring timely stops from Lundqvist and Brodeur. We’re probably looking at a couple of overtime games where there won’t be any shootout to save Renney.

My gut feeling on this series is whoever comes out more aggressive will win. Simply sitting back and countering won’t win it. The team which is able to sustain a better forecheck should have the advantage and could wear down the opponent.

Figure it to be very physical as these teams absolutely loathe each other as much as the fans. What I believe that means is that whoever wins it will come out bruised and battered and could be easy pickings for somebody in Round Two.

That’s just a gut feeling as I don’t believe either team scores quite enough to make a serious run in this conference. I see it going at least six games.

And now a final thought which I’m sure can be expressed for a lot of fans in this heated rivalry.

Losing is not an option. There are zero excuses as this Ranger team has been expected to get to this point and much more. You don’t bring in Drury and Gomez for a third straight postseason. You get them for this crucial time of year.

And with that, I’ve said my piece. Now let’s hear from the enemy.

Take that Martin “Excuse Maker” Brodeur! Even on a night when the Devils severely outplayed the Rangers through the first 40, they still didn’t have what it took to get a win against their bitter Hudson rivals at a fun filled atmosphere in NYC.

Ranger beat writer Larry Brooks of the New York Post had it documented perfectly in his article yesterday which was to the point about the subtle cheapshots Brodeur will stupe to when it comes to the team he’s become envious of. A week after not giving any props to rookie Nigel Dawes for pulling off a great move and shot which wasn’t even close to being “missed”, the future Hall of Fame netminder this time was at it again over the opposite No.30 Henrik Lundqvist when in a recent SI piece, he had some unflattering remarks which didn’t make a whole lot of sense:

“The way he plays is not something I like too much. “Lundqvist is weird.”

Huh? What exactly was Mr. Brodeur talking about? Even the affable 26 year-old who led Sweden to Olympic Gold a couple of years prior was baffled beyond belief:

“I have to tell you, I respect Marty a lot, and it’s always a great challenge for me to play against him, but I don’t know what to say about what he said about me,” a rather bemused Lundqvist told The Post yesterday. “Does he think my style is weird? I don’t think I have a weird style.

“Does he think that I’m weird as person? I don’t think I’m weird. I don’t know what to say.”

It’s probably better off that Lundqvist didn’t make much of an issue of it. The only thing I can think of is Marty can’t like the fact that the third-year Ranger has fared quite well against him in the regular season. As poetic justice had it, in a game where both franchise goalies made terrific highlight reel saves, Lundqvist’s star shined the brightest again in making 32 saves to Brodeur’s 28 in improving to an unheard of 12-2-3 lifetime head-to-head in the regular season. Marty still till this point holds the edge in the playoffs (3-0).

If you liked goaltending, then you got to see another classic turned in as each netminder took turns making ridiculous saves. Brodeur got it started with a right pad kick out of a Marty Straka try off a great backhand Jaromir Jagr pass. Lundqvist turned away Jamie Langenbrunner’s shot labeled for the top of the net with a great glove save. He also robbed Langenbrunner on a tip try from in close with his team leading at that point 1-0.

With the game tied at two late, Brodeur answered with perhaps the finest save of the night imitating Lundqvist with a cat-like glove stop foiling rookie Ryan Callahan’s breakaway try. Unfortunately, he could do very little about Dawes’ latest heroics. Off a quick rush by who else but Chris Drury, the 23 year-old Manitoban drove hard to the net. Drury’s centering feed went off Devil defender Sheldon Brookbank ricocheting at Brodeur, whose clearing attempt hit the driving Dawes as he was being hooked on the unpredictable play by Travis Zajac.

As fate would have it, the puck went off Dawes’ shoulder while flat on the ice into the net along with the spunky player who always seems to be in that area.

“I was just kind of mad I got hooked,” Dawes told the AP. “That’s the craziest goal I’ve probably scored in my career. I’ll take it. It’s a huge two points. Good things happen when you go to the net like that.”

How right he is. From there, the Blueshirts held off a strong Devil attack which finally decided to test Lundqvist, who wasn’t required to do much but made a couple of strong stops including one on Brian Gionta. With Brodeur pulled for an extra attacker, the former Ranger killer was parked right in front and made a nice deflection but Lundqvist was positioned perfectly eating it up.

The Rangers won despite playing two poor periods. Honestly, the game should’ve been over at that point. As I said to one of my buddies up in 411, the Devils probably could’ve been in front 6-1. Only Lundqvist and Dainius Zubrus’ wide shots kept that from happening.

The second started out alright for the Rangers with a miracle taking place in the form of an actual power play goal with Brendan Shanahan netting his 23rd to snap a seven-game drought off a great feed from Scott Gomez. Gomez wasn’t expected to play due to bad ribs but the ex-Devil didn’t seem to care and suited up. To be honest, I didn’t think it was the wisest decision by him and Tom Renney. He could’ve been seriously hurt. The Devils twice took cheapshots at him including an illegal hit by scrub Vitaly Vishnevcrapski at the conclusion of a scoreless first. How in the world wasn’t that an interference call? He freaking crosschecked Gomez down with the puck nowhere in sight.

That was not only dirty but looked intentional. There was also Zubrus doing what he does best wrestling him to the ice. Of course, no call. Just like last year.

I had plenty of reasons to hate the Devils already. It was awfully nice of them to give me a couple of more. Oddly enough, I ran into a Devil fan when I got out of work yesterday. He was sporting his Black and Red Devil hat supporting his team. We talked a little about the game and he mentioned he was from Haslet, New Jersey. Hope I didn’t mess that up. The dude was definitely amped up for the game mentioning how he was going to watch it with plenty of buddies. I wished his team luck.

That’s not the best part of the story though. Ironically enough, we both attended the same exact public schools (P.S.4) and junior high schools (I.S.75). I was like, “Well, no sh*t!”

How cool is that? He also remembered Mr. Glawon. Imo, the best teacher at P.S.4, who later went on to become a principal. It’s just really weird I guess. Especially me being three years older. What were the odds? Probably about as good as the two teams combining to score five total goals in regulation.

When the Devils get to two and the Rangers score not once but twice on the man-advantage, something’s not right. Possibly a full moon?

I just figured at that point, the law of averages would finally catch up and the Devils would come away with their first win of the season series. Instead, Christian “Traffic Cone II” Backman atoned for his Sandis Ozolinsh-esque primary assist on Zach Parise’s go-ahead late in the second by firing past Brodeur over the left shoulder early in the third for a PPG. His third (second as NYR- both at MSG) came 98 seconds into the third from Gomez and Drury.

Speaking of Gomer, he showed a lot of courage playing last night and quite well too in notching two assists continuing to stick it to his former club. He has seven assists against them so far with one more big game left on the final day of the regular season at The Prudential Center next month.

Will Patricia Greuter of 2Man really have to don Ranger blue? We’ll know soon enough.

All season long, the Canadiens have been proving critics like myself wrong. That didn’t change one iota last night where they used a Andrei Kostistyn power play tally with 5:43 left to get past the Devils 2-1 up in Montreal, taking over first in the Eastern Conference.

The difference was the lethal No.1 ranked Habs’ power play which connected twice in six opportunities while the Devs took a collar for a second consecutive night to drop their third straight. After picking up points in nine straight, they’re 0-2-1 in their last three and haven’t been finding the back of the net with any regularity. Something which top netminder Marty Brodeur eluded to afterwards:

“They didn’t give us much, we barely had three or four really good scoring
chances on [Carey] Price. We’re just having problems scoring goals and creating
chances of late, and it was the same thing tonight.”

It was also the second game in a row his team permitted two power play goals against. Something which can’t become a common occurrence if the Devs are to come out on top down the stretch.

Rookie goalie Carey Price outdueled Brodeur in net finishing with 31 saves. The well spoken 35 year-old Montreal native turned aside 23 of 25 but just didn’t get much support in dropping to 34-14-5 for his brilliant career against the hometown Les Habitants.

The Devs outshot the Habs 13-8 in the opening stanza but the contest remained scoreless until Montreal double threat Mark Streit got to a loose puck in front steering one home on the backhand past Brodeur for his 12th 6:11 into the second. Montreal captain Saku Koivu and leading scorer Alex Kovalev notched assists.

But New Jersey drew even 7:26 later thanks to resurgent sniper Brian Gionta, who got to a loose rebound in front and stuffed one into an open side for his 18th (5th in last 10). Defensemen Mike Mottau and Colin White added helpers.

Then it would be the goalies who stood tall to keep the contest knotted. First, a sprawling Price robbed Patrik Elias on a one-timer which was labeled. Then Brodeur kicked out the right pad to deny Kovalev’s 35-foot right wing wrister late in the second. He also thwarted checking center Maxim Lapierre’s pointblank rebound early in the final stanza. Another big glove save from in close kept the Habs off the board with less than eight minutes left.

However, the Canadiens would finally go back in front thanks to some nice passing down low. During a five-on-four man-advantage which Chris Higgins just kept on-side, Tomas Plekanec was setup in front but missed. A hustling Andrei Kostistyn got to the loose puck behind the net and beat Brodeur with a wraparound for the deciding tally. It was his 20th of the season.

The Devils did generate a couple of chances in the final five minutes but Price stood tall denying Jamie Langenbrunner’s rebound try from in close. He also got a glove on a Karel Rachunek blast to preserve the win- pushing the no longer surprising Canadiens a point ahead of both NJ and Ottawa (5-4 winners over the Pens) for tops in the conference.

“It is a pleasant surprise for us and for a lot of people,” a pleased Koivu pointed out afterwards.

“There were some question marks for this team because of the young players
coming from the minors, but those guys have done an excellent job coming in here
and wanting a big role, not being happy just to be in the lineup.”

The loss was another opportunity lost by the Devils to increase their division lead with the Pens losing despite three more points from NHL scoring leader Evgeni Malkin.

With the Flyers going into Long Island and posting a 4-1 win thanks in large part to a crushing shorthanded goal by Jeff Carter, suddenly the Atlanta is extremely tight. Seven total points separates the first place Devs from fourth place Philly which makes today’s early 12:30 matinee at the Rangers even larger. Especially with both teams making up their extra game.

Essentially, the winner will pick up a couple of points and get even closer to the idle Devs. Meanwhile, the second place Pens could pull ahead with a home win over the Thrashers.

Both the Rangers and Flyers are aiming for their fourth straight wins. So it should be quite a battle at the Garden in what’s an NBC game.

As for the Islanders, they really hurt themselves by falling to the Flyers because a regulation win would’ve put them in a three-way tie with Philly and Buffalo for the eighth spot. Instead, they’re four behind the suddenly resurgent Flyers and trail the Sabres by a couple of points which makes the upcoming home-and-home against the rival Rangers huge. It could possibly make or break their season.

There’s a lot more puck today. So I should be around to update everything accordingly.

Enjoy the games along with what’s a fun and unpredictable playoff race.

It wasn’t much of a night for the first place Devils. With a chance to increase their conference lead, instead they didn’t show up ready for hockey easily being shutout 4-0 by the new and improved Capitals at The Prudential Center.

Despite a strong start by Marty Brodeur, the Devs couldn’t muster much against ex-Jacket Sergei Fedorov and new Capital goalie Cristobal Huet. Instead, their power play fizzled firing blanks while finishing 0-for-3. Meanwhile, the opportunistic Caps cashed in on both of theirs including NHL-leading goalscoring D-man Mike Green, who whistled one past Brodeur off a nice Alexander Semin feed a little more than halfway through the scoreless contest.

Brodeur came up with what looked to be a large stop on a Tom Poti pointblank chance from 35 at the end of the second. Unfortunately, his teammates drew zero inspiration instead getting badly outworked and outplayed by a hungry Washington squad hell bent on catching the battered Hurricanes for the Southeast Division.

The end result was:

Caps 3 Devs 0

SOG: Wsh-13 NJ-2

Though the Devils again held league leading finisher Alexander Ovechkin off the scoreboard, the Russian still setup one-time Dev Viktor Kozlov’s 17th just 43 seconds into the final stanza. They would tack on a couple of more with Semin notching his 20th off a Poti setup and then out of all people, Washington enforcer Donald Brashear got into the act.

Unchecked, the noted tough guy buried a Matt Bradley pass in the slot for his fourth to put the exclamation point on a stunning Caps’ statement with 2:55 to go.

Notes: The Devils finished with only 18 shots and went only 20-for-47 in the faceoff circle. … Fedorov registered his first point as a Cap with a secondary helper on Green’s deciding tally in the middle stanza. … Rookie pivot Nicklas Backstrom tallied two assists. Poti also had two assists as well. … Deadline pickup Bryce Salvador logged over 20:00 in his Devil debut on the blueline finishing minus-one. … Brodeur turned aside 25 of 29 in defeat.

Tops in the East on line in Montreal: The Devs will look to rebound when they visit the Habs up in Montreal with tops in the conference on the line. Usually, the Montreal native Brodeur shines in those. The Habs are coming off a 6-2 rout of Buffalo in which Tomas Plekanec notched a hat trick and leading scorer Alex Kovalev tallied four assists. We’ll see what happens.

It was a great afternoon for the Devils. In particular, All-Star netminder Marty Brodeur, whose 37 saves were the difference in a 2-1 overtime triumph over the Caps at Verizon Center.

With his team outshot 28-10 and outchanced by plenty through 40 minutes, the three-time Vezina and Cup winner stood on his head robbing Alexander Ovechkin and other Capitals including Alexander Semin and rookie Nicklas Backstrom point blank to keep the game scoreless.

The Devils finally came with a better effort in the third and were rewarded with the game’s first goal when team captain Jamie Langenbrunner converted on a 5-on-3 power play just 39 seconds in for his 11th. Paul Martin and Patrik Elias notched assists.

However, the Caps finally found a way to beat Brodeur when Semin took an Ovechkin feed and went to the backhand for his 19th just 1:53 later to tie it.

If the Capitals were the superior team in the first two stanzas, then the same couldn’t be said for the final 20 of regulation as the Devils got plenty of shots (18-10) and chances on Washington backup Brent Johnson. The former Blue was up to the task much like his counterpart earning his team a valuable point to get within five of the first place Hurricanes.

In OT, it would be mostly Washington as Ovechkin tried to stickhandle through every Devil. He also setup one quality opportunity for top defenseman Mike Green but a terrific pokecheck by Brodeur thwarted his backhand deke attempt keeping the extra session going.

Remarkably despite the Caps dictating the play, they got no total shots on Marty in the OT while the Devs finished with three including the winner.

Off a two-on-three, John Madden wouldn’t give up the puck forcing a sharp angle shot on Johnson which rebounded out to Elias. The crafty left wing patiently waited before firing a shot off the post. A hustling Madden then slipped Shaone Morrisonn’s check and backhanded one thru Johnson’s five-hole for the winner sending FSNY basketcase announcer Mike Emrick into a screech of epic proportions.

Doc’s a great play-by-play man but he sounded like an annoying child there. It was a great win for the Devils nonetheless and allowed them to grab the conference’s top spot by a point over the idle Sens. According to the FSNY production truck team of Roland Dratch and Larry Gaines, it’s the first time they’ve led the East at this point in seven years.

I’m not really sure what the significance is. Their team always wins the division and usually finishes at or near the top of the conference.

As a former researcher though, production teams love those kind of stats. So, it stands to reason why they used it.

Meanwhile, the Pens and Sharks needed a shootout to decide the winner. In it, all three San Jose shooters easily beat frustrated Pittsburgh netminder Ty Conklin. The best part had to be when Jarkko Ruutu slowly walked in before somehow going to the right hand to put the puck upstairs on Nabokov. For a guy who gets underneath the skin of opponents, he has some skill to go with it as I’ve never seen him miss in a shootout. No wonder Michel Therrien selected him over NHL leading scorer Evgeni Malkin and Petr Sykora.

It was all for naught as veteran pivot Jeremy Roenick made it three-for-three in the skills competition by easily picking the five-hole on Conklin to give the Sharks their second consecutive win of what’s been a very tough Eastern road trip.

For the Devs, it meant they now lead the Pens by two points with each team having 19 games to go.

If the video of Brodeur’s big game comes out, we’ll be sure to put it up.

The Rangers aim for their second straight win as they host the Panthers now. Lenny did a quick preview. To any normal puck fan who read my drunken post last night, I apologize.

To the loser who posted under Anonymous because they have something stuck up their ass and have never made a mistake in their pathetic life, go to Hell! Anyone who can’t put their name behind something is spineless and obviously doesn’t have a lot going for them.


Enjoy the games people! See ya later.