Long night, bad ending

The Devils got one point tonight when they should have gotten two and cost themselves sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division.

They’ll have to settle for a tie with Pittsburgh atop the Atlantic Division after a 4-3 shootout loss to the Atlanta Thrashers at Prudential Center.

After Marian Hossa scored the tying goal with only 18.1 seconds left in regulation, the Thrashers prevailed, 3-2, in the longest shootout in Devils’ history with Pascal Dupuis scoring the deciding goal in the top of the 10^th round.

That was three rounds longer than the Devils’ previous shootout-high of seven rounds in a 4-3 loss to Colorado on Dec. 9, 2005 at the Meadowlands. The Devils lost that shootout, 1-0, failing to get any shots past Avalanche rookie Vitaly Kolesnik in the tiebreaker in just his second NHL start.

Even after such a long game, Devils coach Brent Sutter said Martin Brodeur would start his 18^th consecutive game Saturday in Ottawa. The Devils still have a chance to close within two points of the Senators for the Eastern Conference lead with a win.

Tonight’s shootout was hampered by the again-choppy ice at The Rock. The Thrashers, who gained a share of the Southeast Division lead with their victory, had four consecutive shooters fail to get a shot on net before Dupuis scored the winner. Bobby Holik and Chris Thorburn both lost the puck before the could shoot. Devils center John Madden also almost lost the puck on his attempt in the seventh round before flipping a weak backhand off the right side of the net.

“You saw both teams come down and the puck just go off guys’ sticks and go in the corners,” said Madden, whose bad-angle goal at 8:45 of the third period had given the Devils a 3-2 lead. “That’s going to happen. It’s something you’ve got to take into consideration.”

It was somewhat understandable the ice was bad for the shootout after the third period and overtime. The dry cut by the Zamboni can only do so much.

The ice may have also factored in the Devils’ inability to get the puck out of their zone before Hossa’s tying goal.  Even so, the Eric Perrin’s attempted centering pass from behind the net hit Brodeur and landed right in the crease for Hossa, who beat defenseman Paul Martin to the puck and scored.

“I didn’t see it until the end,” Martin said. “I think it just rolled down Marty’s arm and just dropped in (the crease). A couple of guys there just swung and missed and they kept it in.”

Coincidentally, representatives from CIMCO Refrigeration were at Prudential Center all day today checking out the system and trying to figure out how to make the ice better.

But it’s hard to blame this loss on the ice because the Devils could not hold leads of 2-0 and 3-2.

“We had a couple of lapses there to give up goals,” Sutter said. “Even the shorthanded (breakaway for Perrin in the second ) we had bad position. We played hard. We were in a good mindset tonight. We didn’t get two points, we got one.”

Madden admitted he let up for a moment on his check on Ilya Kovalchuk just seconds before the sniper scored the Thrashers’ first goal – which came just 50 seconds after Brian Gionta’s power-play goal made it, 2-0. The initial shot by Perrin hit Johnny Oduya in front and caromed into the slot for Kovalchuk, who got just enough on the puck to slide it into the net for his 40^th goal of the season.

“I thought the puck went to my left,” Madden said, “and when I let go of his stick, I realized the puck came right out to him. He was kind of surprised too because he said something to me later on like, ‘Why’d you let me go?’”

But Sutter also blamed rookie David Clarkson, for letting Perrin go and giving him a wide-open initial shot. He was even angrier with Clarkson for his holding penalty on ex-Devil Bobby Holik, which led to Todd White’s tying power play goal at 11:31 of the second period

Clarkson grabbed Holik in the Thrashers’ zone while play continued up ice and dropped his gloves, apparently hoping to entice him to fight, but Holik has never been one to fight, leaving Clarkson looking foolish.

“It was an undisciplined penalty that you can’t take,” Sutter said. “To be quite honest, it’s a stupid penalty when you take penalties like that any time during the course of the (game), let alone when you’re up, 2-1, in a game that’s (like) a playoff games. It’s not a smart play on Clarkie’s part at all.”

Clarkson sat for the remainder of the second period after White scored, but Sutter gave him a reprieve in the third because he didn’t want to double shift his other forwards with another game coming up Saturday.

Comments

[Ron]

TG, any word on the lineup for tomorrow night? think it will be the same?

[Anthony]

i was hoping sutter would bench clarkson after that penalty. I'm glad he did.

[Jason]

Madden was disgraceful tonight. Fanned on the stick check allowing the first goal, fanned on clearing the zone allowing the tying goal, and then fanned twice on clearing attempts in the last minute. Blew every scoring chance he had, including a pathetic attempt in the shootout. I don't know what he was on tonight, but he looked lost.

[Dan]

Good stuff, Tom. Did Sutter mention his thought process during the skills competition? I know he's got fewer and fewer options as it goes on, but it seems very odd that he'd turn to Asham of all people (who wet the bed) with the game on the line when he's still got better choices on the bench.

[Richer's Ghost]

Ummm lighten up there Anthony. That 'disgraceful' effort by Madden just happened to be the goal scorer who saved the tie. Perhaps you missed his goal to put the Devils up 3-2 in the 3rd period? You must have also missed all the faceoff wins against Holik who just happens to be nearly 70% against everyone else since the All Star break. He was 2nd star of the game... apparently you're in the minority.

[Steve Lepore]

So Tom, did you meet Dr. Melfi?

[Brian]

RG, I see where you are coming from but Jason is right. It was a weird night for Madden since he did some great things offensively, but he did fail to clear the zone that allowed Atlanta to get the game to over time. Even in over time he failed to clear the zone twice that could have cost the Devils the game right there. I don't think he deserved to be in the top 3 stars, and over on njdevs most people agree that he had a horrible night.

[Jason]

Wow, I didn't even notice he was in the top 3 stars. Terrible. RG, He got his 1 garbage goal off a lucky bounce most likely due to our horrendous ice. Other than that he was the worst player on the ice tonight.

[Anthony]

RG: i think you meant jason....i didn't say anything negative about madden

[TG]

I'm guessing Madden was the No. 2 star because up until the final 20 seconds, he had the winning goal and those votes are put in with about five minutes left in the game. (Again, I don't vote).

I wouldn't say he was "disgraceful". Sure, he's had better games. But I thought he was skating pretty well. The puck was bouncing in the final minute. There was a bit of bad luck involved. If you want to blame Madden, then maybe you want to blame Brodeur too for letting the puck go off him from behind the net and drop right in the crease for Hossa. Sometimes, you get unfortunate bounces in this game.

As for the shootout, Sutter said he just went by feel and by consulting with John MacLean. I guess he could have used someone other than Asham in the 10th round, but at that point it's pretty slim pickings anyway and you're just hoping you get lucky. If he used Rupp or Pandolfo or Oduya or Martin and they didn't score, someone would complain about that too.
Asham had trouble with a bouncing puck just like a lot of the other guys. It wasn't his fault the Devils lost the game or the shootout.

Sutter didn't mention anything about tomorrow night's lineup other than that Brodeur would start -- and he needed some pressing to give that one up.

[ashambites]

Asham appeared to be in a medically induced coma during the shootout. Missing that wide on a shootout is incredible. I don't recall seeing any defensemen on the ice during the shootout. During the Ford/Mercury Score-O in between the 2nd and 3rd period, the girl from London came closer to scoring than Asham. At least hers was a shot on goal! Personally, I would have preferred to see Larry Robinson in the shootout over Asham.

[Jason]

TG, Madden was lousy all night. And he is a vet, so there is no excuse. All of a sudden he can't clear a puck with noone around him? Cmon man, no sale there. Brodeur should share a bit, that's true, I think he played the puck WAY too much tonight, and caused a couple turnovers, but Madden has to play better than that if he is going to hang his career's hat on being a great defensive forward. I just don't like the whole game. I am really getting the feeling this loss didn't bother anyone because they still got a point, and still got into first place. Even Chico, the worst homer in history, went above his usual mindless banter to say how he didn't feel this loss was so heartbreaking. Oh no Chico? I guess not for someone who is paid to eat and do poor color work, but maybe it was heartbreaking to the fans who paid $100 a seat to watch their team piss away a sure win. Clarkson and Madden belong on the bike tonight.

[Brodie30]

In spite of the twp lapses, Madden was the best player on the ice for the Devils tonight. He had three partial breakaways and was a great save away from a shortie. He was awesome on the penalty kills reading the plays before they happened and keeping Ilya's lethal shot at bay. You have to notice the little things he does before you call him out for the plays that got away. Atlanta has some great, top tier forwards and it's a lot of responsibility falling on his shoulders. Cut him some slack, there are 29 other teams that would kill for him.

[Jeremy Kenter]

I agree. Madden is a bit older now (34 and counting) and I do not think he played poorly in the defensive zone. The Thrashers have a dynamite, young and talented roster with 'Chuk and Hossa. You're expecting an eight year veteran to compete against a 24 year old and a 29 year old.
You wanna criticize? Start with Zubrus and Zajac rather than Madden. Mad Dog has 15 goals and the second best shooting percentage on the team behind linemate Jay Pandolfo. And these are two guys you don't expect to score every game, yet they have produced offensively and defensively thus far.

I responded to the Madden for Holik "rumors." I am curious as to Burnside's sources. I am fairly confident that Uncle Lou is very secretive about his decision making process and have rarely seen a predicted rumor come true from a "reliable" source like Eklund, Everson, Spector, or whoever reports them.

With an upcoming deadline (feb. 26th), we will likely see a variety of trades. I just hope Madden for Holik was never discussed and will never be discussed.

[NJD26]

That trade was and would be stupid but to be fair Holik did have more of a positive impact last night than Madden, especially goading Clarkson into that stupid penalty. I wouldn't be shocked if Clarkson was a scratch tonight, Sutter was not happy with him at all even blaming him on the first goal among other things.

I wonder if the team had won would Marty have played tonight? Sutter did seem to be hesitant to say he would start both games yesterday.

[TG]

Rachunek was the only Devils defenseman to shoot. His shot appeared to hit the top of the crossbar.

[Devilswede]

Just a disgraceful game! Madden, White and Clarkson should take most of the blame! Those three guys were flat out terrible. You just can't play like that in your own zone with only seconds remaining while having a 3-2 lead....it's inexcusable! This loss is so bad, reminds a lot of the Montreal game.

"The right mindset"??! Is Sutter friggin kidding me?! They had a 2-0 lead and they let it slip away to a team that wasn' even coming on very hard! Madden's mistake led to Kovalchuk's goal and Clarkson's bonehead penalty led to that PP goal. Clarkson is really undisciplined and I hope Sutter sits him for a couple of games. That kind of mistake should lead to a benching.

I can't even put it into words how disappointed I am in the Devils after this loss....

[95-00-03]

First off, You guys gotta lighten up on John Madden. He was the by far the most active player on the ice, and without him on the PK, we would have probably never seen OT or a shootout.

I think last night's game was just one of those games that could have gone either way and I am glad we got a point out of it.

How quickly we forget the challenge this team had before they even started the season this year. With the talent we lost before the start of the season, and currently being tied for first place in the division, we should all be laughing at the NYR and enjoying every minute of this season :0)

[Hoosier]

C'mon guys, Madden made a couple mistakes but was skating hard the whole night and chipped in with offense. Unfortunately, his 2 mistakes caused 2 goals. It happens. Clarkson was awful. Very immature game. I thought the Devils controlled the game for the most part. They didn't dominate, but other than one stretch in the 2nd I thought they were the better team. Hopefully they aren't to gassed for tonight's big game with Ottawa. They need to keep the foot on the pedal because they are still far from a lock for the playoffs.

[Falcone]

Madden didn't have a strong game on d, however I wonder how much f that was due to the ice? The puck bounces a lot and moves on the guys and I'm getting tired of seeing that. Invested all this money into a new arena and our ice blows arse.

Doc and Cheeko spoke last night about Clarkson for Michael Ryder of Montreal. THe more I think about it, the more I wouldn't mind it, if Ryder is a permnant member of our club. I like Clarkson, he brings grit and can bang the puck in, but he's young and can still learn and become better. Ryder is young as well (27) but has the ability to score and rack up points more than Clarkson. Kinda would even out in my book, but I'd want Ryder. If they let him go after the summer, I'll be pissed.

Additionally look at the stands, I know we've never gotten a great draw, but we really need a scorer. Someone to put butts in the seats. We've never really had a premier player and we could use one. Tired of the old ways, we need to change somethng around.

[SonicDude]

Were it not for Larry Robinson's incredible knowledge of defensemen positioning, the Devils would be a sub-500 team. He makes this defense look so much better than it really is.

But we really saw how bad this defense can be last night. I feel they were inactive (esp. Mike Motley) on the first 2 goals (even though one was a PPG) last night and had trouble getting it out of the zone on numerous occasions.

>>> Mike Mottau is a joke.
>>> Rachunek is up and down and soft.
>>> Oduya is improving but has a LONG way to go and is soft.
>>> White should not be on the ice for any crucial time anymore.
>>> Vish, supposedly a no. 4, is the biggest disappointment, though I believe he is much better than he is showing.

Imagine what Big Bird could do with Martin, a top-pairing d-man and a stay-at-home who actually spends more time in the opponents zone.

[Ron]

I don't know who should sit for D tonight but I think someone should so Greene can get some ice time. When he got back on the ice last weekend he played really well. In last friday's game he had the most ice time and had one of the highest shots on goal out of anyone. just my opinion

[Ron]

I don't know who should sit for D tonight but I think someone should so Greene can get some ice time. When he got back on the ice last weekend he played really well. In last friday's game he had the most ice time and had one of the highest shots on goal out of anyone. just my opinion

[Stan]

from Brian, "...and over on njdevs most people agree that he had a horrible night."

That doesn't make it true. Thank goodness TG can bring some reality to this board.

[SonicDude]

Falcone - Agree big time.

The folks in my section were all talking about (again!) how frequently the Rock is in the 12000-14000 attendance range. Ottawa game too.

The Devils need to break from their ways somewhat to address this. Lou is not only the GM, but an owner and has the opportunity to change this.

So why not Hossa? Star power, flashy scoring... perfect. Trade for him and sign him, or give him the $8M he seems to want this summer.

Why not Jokinen?