Madden's return heroic

John Madden returned from a two-game layoff because of right ankle laceration to score two goals today and lead the Devils to a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Just as important were Madden’s defensive contributions. He helped hold Leafs’ leading scorer Mats Sundin off the scoresheet and played 20:38 in the game _ the most ice time of any Devil forward. Madden was on the ice for all but five seconds of the final 2:16. He came off the ice five seconds before an Maple Leafs’ off-sides with 1:02 left. Then, Sutter put back on for the draw outside the Devils’ blue line and he stayed on for the remainder of the game

“Am I impressed? No,” Sutter said. “The way he’s played this year, no. He gives it his all every night. He’s a very intelligent player. He can play in any situation, obviously. You look at the two goals he got and the second one he was just standing at the top of the crease where he should be and he scores.”

Sutter used his only timeout 1:43 into the third period because he thought his team was starting the period in a similar fashion to when the Devils blew a 1-0 lead in its 2-1 loss to Florida on Friday. That meant he didn’t have one to use when the Devils iced the puck with 29.6 seconds left.

Madden admitted to being “a little winded” after the game, but had nothing negative to report about his ankle. Although he said he didn’t feel pressured to play today after the Devils lost both games without him, it was clear the Devils needed him back.

“Injuries to key players will always do that,” Martin Brodeur said. “Players have to play out of character, so it’s an adjustment. And he’s such an important player. He plays so many important minutes in a hockey game. To have him back, he looked great today skating-wise.”

Madden has scored the winning goal in both of the Devils' games against Toronto this season and his 13 career goals against his hometown team are his most against any opponent.

Comments

[ALEXNJD]

Good game, still don't have confidence in the 3rd. Huge game from Maddog,thank you for come in back John,thank you. PP STILL SUKS.

[Jim A.]

Great day for local sports! Any word of the crowd reaction to the Giant's big win?

[Mike]

I was there and it WAS INSANE! Complete strangers hugging and cheering! Great memory I will hold on to forever.
As for the Devils game. Marty owes the posts a steak dinner. The defense looked faster. I give White Rachunek and even Oduya credit for keeping their feet moving and playing like they should. I can't get over how most of our team is made up of streaky forwards. There is no consistent scoring from anyone. Langs comes back and is on fire. Now he barely gets noticed. Zajac scores 5 in his first 30 games and now has 6 in his last 8. I REALLY can not figure out what is wrong with Elias and Zubrus. Neither one of these guys will break out and score regularly. It's getting to be a little too ridiculous. Juggle the lines all you want Sutter. NOTHING is going to make Elias score except ELIAS!

[jules]

Tom, how was the media meal tonight?

[Jon]

TG are the rumors about Tanguay legit or no? If yes, who you think would be sent Calgary's way?

Nice to see Maddog return and play well, and Marty was Marty once again, nice grabbing the 2 points.

[Amerz]

Does everyone have to ask TG a question? Sorry It's a little annoying. Can't we just let him write his blog?

[TG]

I had a late brunch before I went to the game, so i didn't eat that much of the media meal. It was turkey. I had one cookie, which was good.

I've heard rumors tht Tanguay is being shopped. I would think that if the Devils are going to make a trade, it would be for a forward and not a wing, but what do I know.

The one rule that usually applies to Devils' trades, though, is if you hear about it, then it usually doesn't happen. Lou swears people to secrecy. There have been some exceptions.

[PhantomNJ]

Amerz, feedback from the audience is pretty much the point of there actually being a blog. Otherwise these posts may as well just end up on the main northjersey.com site under Devils' news articles.

Tom has been really good about finding information that the average fan would never have access to otherwise. Sometimes it is information that he comes across through his own questions and/or observations. Sometimes it is information generated from questions by his readers.

It is that personal touch which has generated the following you see in the comments section to his posts.

Keep up the great work, TG.

[Steve]

Dosn't anyone realize that Elias is playing out of position? He is a finisher, not a playmaker. You have to give him some slack because he is not a centerman.

Lou needs to make one or more of the following moves as we head into the break.

1) Find a centerman to play with Elias. I don't think the Devils have the caproom for a Sundin type so we are probably looking at a 2nd line type. (Nagy -Kings?) Or as I have stated time and time again. Bring up Vrana, give him the 15-17 minutes a game with Elias and try to build that chemistry on your top two lines.

This Zubrus is a bust and Lou blundered badly by giving him a 6 yr deal. Zubrus in my eyes, is not a player you want on your top two lines. His offensive production makes him more suited for a third line role.

I know he had a 60 point yr last yr, but how much of that credit goes to Ovechkin?

2) While statistically, defense has not been an issue, Lou always looks to upgrade at defense during any trade deadline. I know Blake and Kaberle may be available but again I am not sure if the Devils have the cap space for either. A Brad Stuart or Tom Preissing might offer more offense but I am not where they are with salary.

A typical under the radar Devil move, would be a Jaraslov Modry type. Someone who is not expensive, not flashy and a veteran.

As a fan, it's painful to watch Rupp, Pelly, Asham, Clarkson, Zubrus and Brylin because you know you are not going to generate much offense out of these six players.

Brylin is the perfect fourth line player during the regular season because of his versatility. He can fit in on any line for 2-3 games and his positional play will not hurt you. For whatever reason, he becomes more of an offensive force in the playoffs.

Zubrus is a bust. I'd leave him on the third line.

Clarkson has potential but his role at present is to agitate.

Rupp, Pelly and Asham give you no offense.

If we a few alterations, we will have the offense to go deeper in the playoffs.

If Heatley's shoulder injury lingers beyond two months, Ottawa is vulnerable

[PhantomNJ]

Anyone have an estimate as to how much of the crowd stayed for Giants football? I first heard about it while at Friday night's game. Had I not already promised to be somewhere for the Giants game, I would have loved to have done the pseudo-doubleheader. As it was, I was sorely tempted.

It was good to see the Devs get back to winning.

[Laura]

There were somewhere around 200 people in the Fire lounge. Great atmosphere - lot of Packers fans in there also.

[Elias26]

Tom,
Any news on the trade front?

[PhantomNJ]

Laura,

Thanks for the info. Good to hear!

Steve,

I agree with you that the Zubrus signing doesn't look great right now but it's way too early to term it a bust. New team, new scheme, and new responsibilities mean an adjustment period. There are times when he uses his size and length and looks pretty effective. Those times simply aren't coming often enough. Still I think it's too early to label him a bust on a half season plus of work.

As for trades, I would suspect that players to be targeted would be the type to have either an expiring contract or at most a year left on it. Anyone worth getting who has more than that will be either too expensive in terms of dollars against the cap or too expensive in terms of what we would have to send back. Unless of course we have a stockpile of minor league talent that other teams are drooling over. Somehow I doubt it.

[JJ]

I hear ya Mike but it seems like all of the teams that aren't from Detroit or Ottawa score in bursts & spurts. Prime example is the Rangers - shouldn't THEY be scoring a whole bunch more with all of the offensive firepower they have? It's partly the parity in the league, it's definitely GREAT goaltending (esp. the five Atlantic Division teams) and with the Devils it's their lack of an elite scoring defensemen.

Hey TG, any word on the ice quality at the Rock? I remember some complaints early on (as expected with brand surface that hasn't been skated on) but I haven't heard anything lately. Thanks!

[Scott]

Aarg and Joe Devs

I am not going to resort to name calling.

The idea behind getting Redden, or Hossa for that matter, would OF COURSE be to sign them not let them leave for nothing.

I don't understand how you can stick up for Elias, who is so soft both on the ice and off that we must trade him while his is still living off his old rep.

You 2 are kidding yourselves if you think this team is final 4 material, yet Lou has not made an impact trade since...I don't remember when.

[Elias26]

Zubrus is actually doing better than I expected. If the Devs could trick someone into taking Gio I'd be happy. The Devils only have a few more years to win cups, unless they draft another Marty.

[PhantomNJ]

Scott,

What post(s) are you responding to?

As for Redden and Hossa, I'll say it again. I'd love to have either or both on this team. But you've already advocated trading the few offensive chips we have for Redden. Whether or not Redden is worth it is besides the point. Getting him in the trades you've proposed would cripple what little offense we have. Unless Ottawa is insane enough to trade him to a team in the same conference for scraps, a team with whom they are fighting for home ice, I doubt it is going to happen. We'd probably have better luck trying to sign him in the off-season as I believe he's in his walk year.

Anyone who wouldn't want Hossa on this team (Marion, not Marcel ;-) ) would have to be a Rangers fan.....either that or out of their minds. But Atlanta is going to want the kitchen sink for him and rightfully so. I don't think they'd have any interest at all in Elias given his salary. Trading Parise for him would be kind of pointless. You do get better but you also get older and more cap-tied.

If Lou could find a way to get Hossa without giving up Parise, anyone short of Marty is expendable. I just don't see it happening though. I would sorely love to be wrong.

[Elias26]

lol, check this out

http://www.njdevs.com/forums/index.php?act=idx

> Board Offline

Due to the Star Ledgers pending litigation on NJDevs, I am forced to take some drastic steps to remove their articles. I will be deleting all the previous postings of their news articles. This is going to be a vast resource hog.

Browsing will be offline until I finish.

I plan to start around noon, it will probably be a couple of hours before the process is done.
----------------------------------------------------------------

The guys that run NJDEVS are real good guys. I have taken star ledgers attack on the site personally and have deleted there bookmarks and will not be buying there paper anymore.

[Njdev23]

Elias26, This isn't the Star Ledger site.

[Maxwell]

Honestly, I think Zubrus is a great player, and will give us some serious offensive production over the next few years. He's a very smart player, and he's got the physical stature; it's just a matter of when he'll really click with someone else on the team. I have a feeling that Pando and him are going to make a difference together after the break, but, like TG - what do I know?!

[Elias26]

I know Njdev23, but I don't go to that site anymore, so I posted it here. I'll have to visit the record 2x as much now. lol

[Scott]

Phantom

My post was not meant for you. Your views and mine align.

2 others called my comments on elias being weak "foolish"...to me, trade him now while there is still time. High skill level but zero consistency, does not hit and he's a headcase.

But all our speculation on trades may be wasted time since Lou somewhow seemed to think this defense was gonna be OK coming into the year...and this defense, save for Martin and an occasional Vish hit, is a joke.

Uh-No-Duya improving but White, Motley and Greene regressing.

If Redden or T-Kab are available, Lou must pursue them at all costs...2 of the top 10 d-men in NHL.

[Scott731]

Ya, Lou should trade away as much future as possible to improve this team, just this season, and give them a slightly better post season shot. It's doubtful other teams are giving anything but other underachievers for Elias so to get good guys for the stretch run this year you'll have to trade young talent and picks, IMO. Then you won't have the cap room to keep everyone together next season and you will have lessened the number of guys in the system to replace your current players. All this and none of these moves make the Devils a better team than Ottawa on paper for this season.

The best move, to me, is to sit tight this season, hope to get some breaks in the postseason this year, like all teams not in Detroit or Ottawa, and then the Devils look really good over the next few seasons with young talent coming up and their major pieces locked up for the most part.

[Steve]

Ottawa is the number one seed. Unless they can get back two quality players, they are not going to move Redden.

I see the Redden situation just like the Gomez contract last yr. In theory, you probably should move the guy if you do not have the cap room to re-sign him, however, Redden is a core guy and you probabaly disrupt your team chemistry by moving a top player.

Atlanta - Atlanta is not a deep team and unless they fall out of the mix entirely in the next 2 weeks, they are not going to move Hossa.

I am surprised at all the Zubrus fans. Yes he had a small 4 pt spurt, but he is not a true centerman nor is he a 60-80 point player which is what the Devils needed from him. Granted he has moved to a new team, but I just don't see him being a dominant offensive force.

I see him with Pandolfo and Madden, playing good defense and throwing in the odd goal here n there.

If you were a GM, would you give this guy a 6yr deal based on his career stats?

[edweaver]

what a horrible game last night....if we played anyone decent or a team that didnt play the night before we would have lost.....greene should be playing every game and oduya and mottau are horrible and both are on the powerless play(even though i know one of them has to be one 1 of the units right now)i'm disgusted with the team right now and sutter only makes it worse with his LINE CHANGES....i know we picked up 2 pts. last night but i consider it a loss