Morning off
There was nothing exciting from today's morning skate. In fact, Brent Sutter told all the players who are playing tonight against the Rangers (other than Rod Pelley) not to come to the rink after they had two hard days of practice.
Pelley skated with Cam Janssen, Jay Pandolfo, Sheldon Brookbank, Andy Greene and Kevin Weekes.
Janssen, Pandolfo, Brookbank and Greene will be out tonight.
Expect Martin Brodeur to start both games of this back-to-back set against the Rangers and Los Angeles Kings. In fact, it could be a while before we see Weekes get a start.
"You've got to assume Marty is going to play until told otherwise," Sutter said.
Henrik Lundqvist will be back in net for the Rangers tonight after Steve Valiquette shut out Philadelphia Thursday night.
Silly to say tonight is a must win, but for a few reasons why, it feels that way.
Beat the Rangers, end this NY losing streak, stop the crappy play, lets see some intensity, lets not shoot ourselves in the foot with careless play in our defensive zone.
4 pts come late Saturday night- it is needed.
Go devs
Posted by: Air Silks | February 01, 2008 at 12:40 PM
Man.. is anyone else excited for this game? We need a win tonight in the worst way.. hope we can finally get a a W against the blue shirts and I am hoping this game isnt as boring as that snooze fest in NY a couple of months ago.. anyone else find it ironic that people still assosiate the trap with the Devils while the Rangers have been playing some of the most BORING hockey in the NHL this year?
Posted by: Chris | February 01, 2008 at 12:41 PM
any reason why pelley was singled out to come to the skate? Is he in Sutter's doghouse for some reason?
Posted by: Drew | February 01, 2008 at 12:49 PM
I was going to ask the same thing, Drew.
Also...I think its time to get Greene back in the lineup. He's sat long enough, I think some fresh legs would do the defense some good. He's been stronger than Oduya for the most part, I don't understand why he's been sitting for so long.
Posted by: Sarah | February 01, 2008 at 12:59 PM
Yea, bad idea not to utilize Weeks tomorrow. I don't know why Asman is getting ice time over Janssen...
Posted by: Elias26 | February 01, 2008 at 01:19 PM
It's probably because Pelley doesn't get that much icetime, and being a young player like he is they think it's beneficial for him to be on the ice as much as possible, trying to get better.
I'm worried about tonight's game. The Rangers played really well last night, and they have our number this year. It seems like we just can't beat a NY team. Hopefully that streak comes to an end tonight! GO DEVILS!
Posted by: Devilswede | February 01, 2008 at 01:20 PM
I've decided that Sutter has something against Greene. I think he's third or fourth best D-man we have. At this point, I wish the Devils would trade him. I think there are a lot of teams who would like to have him and who would play him.
Posted by: Chris | February 01, 2008 at 01:20 PM
Marty must not be tired and Air Silks you hit it on the head, we need not only 4pts by Saturday but we need to win Monday too! This load of home games is real important and I can't see Marty resting while the the team is in a slump and he's not tired.
Chris you nailed it man! Rangers & Isles are now the trapmasters of the Atlantic. Both play a very snoozy style of hockey. At least when we were doing it to perfection we had a bunch of scorers to go with the great D (except in 2003). I also haven't heard Rangers fans saying how Marty isn't all that great or that his stats are inflated because of the team in front of him. The past 4 years have proven he is the best in hockey, possibly the best ever.
Posted by: JJ | February 01, 2008 at 01:27 PM
Alot of teams would jump to have a guy like Greene. I dunno what Sutter is thinking. But then he's the coach and I'm not. But I would have though Larry Robinson would have recognized his talents too. So theres gotta be something else going on behind the scenes.
I think we can expect Marty to play til we're definately sure we're gonna stay on top in the conference. At this point we may miss the playoffs if we even think about playing Weekes.
Posted by: MoonDragn | February 01, 2008 at 01:28 PM
Maybe Greene is on the block and they aren't playing him so he doesn't get hurt?
Posted by: JJ | February 01, 2008 at 01:50 PM
Maybe Oduya's on the block and that's why they are playing him! At least that's what I hope...
Posted by: cj241 | February 01, 2008 at 02:02 PM
Was there a reason for Pelley skating today?
Posted by: Pat D'Amico | February 01, 2008 at 02:14 PM
Pelley doesn't get much ice time, so this is an opportunity to get a good workout in and work on some things on the ice.
Posted by: TG | February 01, 2008 at 02:32 PM
the schedule is getting pretty busy, why not start Weekes against the Kings Saturday night ?
Posted by: Mike | February 01, 2008 at 02:38 PM
the schedule is getting pretty busy, why not start Weekes against the Kings Saturday night ?
Posted by: Mike | February 01, 2008 at 02:38 PM
I'm not surprised Marty's likely to play against the Kings, he probably enjoys playing the teams he never sees, and of course he's playing division games. I'd peg Weekes' next start at 2/9 against Carolina. I can live with that, anyway...
I think we've got a good shot to take the game tonight, because I think tomorrow night's game is set up to be the classic Devils let down. We always seem to get a big important win and then completely sputter out against a bad team the next day. There's definately a setup for that this weekend.
Posted by: Josh | February 01, 2008 at 02:49 PM
the objective should be to try to get at least 3 of a possible 4 points for these next 2 games
Posted by: Anthony | February 01, 2008 at 03:41 PM
it wont matter who the devils put in net, marty is washed up and weekes is just terrible.And the devils will lose tongihts game and tomorrows game, and you'll wonder how tht happened, but its obvious cause the devils are a no good hockey club who probably will not win the stanley cup for another 20 years.
Posted by: lucas ferguson | February 01, 2008 at 03:41 PM
@Lucas 20 years would still be better than the Rangers with their 54 years of sucktitude. and hears to another 54 years!
Posted by: AnthonyRR | February 01, 2008 at 03:55 PM
lucas is an idiot the devils easily since like 1995 have been even with Detroit as the best run teams. Don't even pretend otherwise, the devils simply do what it takes to put a playoff team on the ice, and they are doing that again this year.. look at Edmonton 2 years ago.. u dont need to be #1 to win the cup it comes down to April and im glad to say the consistently swing hockey sticks not golf clubs in late April... GO DEVS GO!
Posted by: Tom | February 01, 2008 at 04:58 PM
LOL Lucas, if the devils are that bad then the rangers are complete garbage!!!!
One playoff series win in the last 10 years.
Only 2 playoff appearances in the last 10 years.
Drury, Gomez, Shanahan, Jagr .. All these big names and your in LAST PLACE (ok next to last place .. soon to be last place).
Posted by: jdr30 | February 01, 2008 at 05:40 PM
@ Lucas
Brodeur > Lundqvist - rangers suck
Posted by: Anthony | February 01, 2008 at 06:36 PM
Who got the A's this month?
Posted by: Pat D'Amico | February 01, 2008 at 07:51 PM
Elias and Madden. I'll check after the game, but I think Madden is holding the A for Pandolfo again.
Posted by: TG | February 01, 2008 at 07:56 PM
TG even better is u check this during game time! its great!
Posted by: Tom | February 01, 2008 at 08:14 PM