As ugly as it gets

It was at least 10 minutes after the final buzzer before Devils coach Brent Sutter emerged from a closed-door locker room meeting with his players following a disastrous 7-1 loss to the Penguins tonight at Mellon Arena.

Sutter had plenty to be angry about, particularly in the five-goal third period. But it really started with Ryan Malone’s shorthanded goal with 3:46 left in the second that gave the Penguins the lead for good.

“You’re tied 1-1 in a hockey game and you give up a terrible shorthanded goal from a 3-on-1 break from the hash marks in their zone,” Sutter said. “I really though that changed the complexion of the game and from that point on we made a lot of mental mistakes. We had a lot of breakdowns. We weren’t very strong between the ears for the rest of the game.”

It probably was just a matter of time that the Devils gave up a shorthanded goal with the alignment they’ve been using on their No. 1 power-play unit the last few games. Paul Martin has been the lone pointman with four forwards up front. Jamie Langenbrunner is the other pointman, but has spent a lot of time down low and with Martin at the top of the zone. Langenbrunner was caught down low on the 3-on-1.

“I got caught watching the puck instead of reacting back out to where I need to be,” Langenbrunner said.

With three losses in a row, the Devils have fallen two points behind the Penguins for first place in the Atlantic Division and three behind Montreal for first in the Eastern Conference. The Devils are in fourth place in the conference. Now, they have to worry about fifth-place Ottawa, which lost to Toronto tonight, but is still only two points behind the Devils, and the sixth-place Rangers, who are three points back.

What made tonight’s loss especially alarming was that the Devils disintegrated mentally in one of their biggest games of the season. It was their most-lopsided loss of the season (they lost twice by five goals, including once to the Penguins). Langenbrunner compared the loss to the 4-0 defeat in Montreal on March 11 when first place in the conference was on the line. “That’s two big conference games in a row…where for whatever reason we’ve collapsed instead of doing the things we need to do.”

Sutter called for it to be “a wakeup call” for his team raise the level of its game to match its competition in the most important time of the year. He also pointed out, “You score one goal in a game the last three games, it’s tough to get much accomplished that way, too.”

“Hopefully, this is a wakeup call,” Martin Brodeur said, echoing his head coach. “We’ve got to step up our game to the level that the competition is doing against us the last few games.”

**Brodeur has been pulled twice this season – both times against the Penguins. He also was pulled in a 5-0 loss to the Pens on Nov. 5 at the Prudential Center.

**Sutter's explanation for calling his timeout 23 seconds after pulling Brodeur for Kevin Weekes: "The timeout was to get the guys refocused and give Weeksie an opportunity to loosen up a little bit. He never had much of a chance and that was the next whistle."

**Back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch for four games, Andy Greene’s first shift of the night could not have gone any worse. When Jarkko Ruutu tried to feed Jordan Staal in the slot, Greene broke up the play, but shanked his clearing attempt between Brodeur’s pads for the opening goal of the game.

“I knew the puck was coming across and I was just trying to put it in the corner,” Greene said. “It just went off my heel weird and, obviously, you know the rest.”

**With two goals and an assist, Evgeni Malkin joined fellow Russian Alexander Ovechkin as the NHL’s only 100-point men. Malkin has 102 points now on 44 goals and 58 assists.

**Travis Zajac said Pens defenseman Sergei Gonchar turned just before he hit him on his boarding major with 7:47 remaining, which sparked a five-on-five tussle. “You don’t try to hit a guy from behind,” Zajac said. “I think it looked worse than it was. It wasn’t intentional.”

**Sergei Brylin played in his 321^st consecutive regular season game, tying him with Kirk Muller for the second-longest streak in team history. Brylin trails only Ken Daneyko, who played in 388 games in a row from Nov. 4 1989 to March 29, 1994. Brylin hasn’t missed a regular season game since the end of the 2002-03 campaign when he was out with a fractured wrist.

**Sutter said he expects his son Brandon to sign soon with the Carolina Hurricanes and finish the season with their AHL affiliate in Albany.

Comments

[Matt]

Remember last year when the Devils were in 1st place with 4 games left but weren't playing up to Lou's expectations? Remember what happened? I'm just saying...

[Dave]

I don't think Sutter's going anywhere for a while, Matt. If anything, I think Lou would wait to see what he does with the team in the playoffs. Sutter's biggest past successes were in tournaments/series that he coached the Canadian junior team in, right?

[Al]

Anybody who think's Sutter is going to be fired really has no clue about Devils hockey and how Lou feels about Brent. Zubrus has been an aboslute waste of money and time. Rachunek is a journeyman alonside with Mike Mottau. Andy Greene is a good young kid who has lost his confidence and that is the only thing I blame Coach Sutter with.

This team has a better coach than last year but it's virtually the same script. We can't score and Marty has to save us every night and it's not fair to him. Everybody KILLED Marty last year whennothing was his fault. You can't score one or two goals a game and expect to win. We should've paid Gomez and brought in another sniper like Sykora. (I don't care what happened in a locker room with he and Stevens in 2002..Stevens is not here any longer).

Also, we can't have our Captain making mistkaes like Jamie made tonight. I lvoe Jamie but Madden should be the Captain, so he is not voval..was Stevens vocal??

Bottom line if Zajac does not have 20 goals by trade deadline nexy year..get rid of him because he is frustrating to watch. Sophomore slup? Okay, I can deal with that...next year is HIS big year or out you go Travi!

Gomez is missed, whomever does not see that is blind.

[Swiss]

on lighter side of things, the devils were #1 in top plays of espn...the goal that Gio scored was the top play of the nite.

i didn't see the game last nite so i can't comment on anything. but there was something interesting that Doc said during the Isles game...the Devils' last 10 wins came when they scored two goals either in regulation or overtime...funny how just by not scoring that second goal, the team seems to implode on themselves

they will get out of this funk and cause a splash in the playoffs...Go Devs!!!

[AreJay]

You're right on a lot of levels, Al, but you're wrong on Gomez. If Lou gave Gomez that pay day, we don't have the cap room to sign Parise and Martin.

Then Kevin Lowe comes in here and possibly offers the same kind of contract he offered Penner, and we lose Zach. We'd have Gomez, but no Parise. And we'd be in an even worse mess.

And no way could they afford to bring in Sykora with that contract over their heads.

No, the mistake wasn't letting him walk. The mistake was thinking Zubrus was going to be the player he was in Washington, when there was no AO on this club. It makes it even worse when Elias just became the center, anyway.

I thought maybe Lou would try to bring back Sykora. Then Guerin. Either player would look a lot better than Sergei Brylin missing point blank shots on the powerplay right now.

[Adam]

Sigh... frustrating times all over again.

Marty not being pulled since November and being pulled now, so close to the playoffs, has me deeply concerned.

And I won't even address the lack of offense.

[ALEXNJD]

The funny thing is that every time during the game we got scored SHG up on us, we lost every game. Looks like being a Captan of this team affects players production, Elias and now Langs. Langs was never a Bure but he could put 20 pucks in the net, and this season well you all know. We take to many penaltys this year, atleast 4 per game. Last year average was 2.

[scotty c]

someone hit up cvs and get patty some dayquil and didnt hossa look like exactly the type of player we are missing right now

[mikeford]

This game is either the turning point in the season or the end of it. I really dont see any grey area at this point.

[Adam]

Let's embrace some good.

That Gionta goal was GORGEOUS.

[NJD26]

You just aren't going to win games when basically 14 or 15 of your 18 skaters have no clue how to score goals. I don't get why we keep rolling with Tallackson and Pelley. This team needs offense, it's time to give Vrana or Bergfors a try at least while Elias is out.

Until (if?) Salvadore gets back might as well roll with your best six, that means no Brookbank or Greene. January may be a time to let the kids work through their problems but not now.

[Erick]

This team has been lucky to be in the conversation for first all year... the Eastern Conference has been that weak. But I think tonight, we saw that in the playoffs, this team doesn't have what it takes. It just isn't a Devils team... by that, I mean this team doesn't have that mental toughness.

It used to be you play the Devils, you knew you would have to push past your limit to make them crack first. Now, the Devils crack like an egg all the time.

[Falcone]

Nothing good to say about last night. Marty normally comes back with a big win after getting pulled. I'm most concerned and have been with the lack of O. Patty's our biggest threat and not not have him in the line up hurts. We need him back ASAP. He's got to get his legs back. Additionally everyone needs to find a scoring touch. Everyone.

One post above blamed Sutter for Greene's lack of confidence. I agree to a certain extent. What we need is to have 6 defenders that play everyday. When we need a sub, we call someone up from Lowell. This excess I think is hurting us. Guys are almost too worried about making a mistake and then getting taken out of the line up. They're too tense. Andy Greene is a good Dman, however he needs to play everyday. He needs to know that he's got room to breathe.

We're not in a good spot right now. We're not scoring, and there are a ton of mental mistakes. Plus no D hurts Marty. We should be in a position right now, to be tweeking little parts of our game for the playoffs. Right now, we need to do a complete overhaul. I'm not sure what's going to happen, but we could drop to 6th in the east pretty quick. Only good thing, is that's against Carolina.

[95devils]

Its simple at this point. Bring up Vrana and put him between Elias and Gio or Elias and Parise. Drop Tallackson back down. Playing with better players should make Vrana a little better. At this point I don't think it matters if we come in first second third or eight, because the 7th game at home effect to me just seems minimal to this team. What is our record in front of full houses at the rock? so if the Vrana experiment doesn't work the side effects will be nil.

[MikeP]

Carolina should be the last team we want to face in the playoffs. I don't think we've beaten them in the playoffs since 2000, their speed has always been too much for our team. Our offense stinks because Lou lowballed Rafalski and didn't replace him, which resulted in no transition game. As for the rest of the season, firing the coaching the staff is not the answer, but the current cast is just not going to get it done. It does seem that Zajac does weigh down everybody, as Parise and Langenbrunner have been invisible since Zajac was placed with them.

[Mike]

Wrong. They need a higher seed to host more playoff games at home. They need to win to get some home ice advantage for the first round or else that brand new stadium wont see much action. As it goes year after year since 2003, We will only go as far as Martin Brodeur takes us. Hopefully PAtty comes back strong and ready and we can get a couple of goals a game in the playoffs while MArty shuts down the opposition. Other than that it's not going to happen for us.

I hate to say this but watching this team filled with average players it made me realize something. We need to bring back the trap!

[DP]

i have always supported sutter but it seems like he is just waiting out the goalscoring slump and basically playing it off that the players can score more, but the thing is they cant, and also this is all on lou for his failure to get scoring help

[Chris]

Calm down guys... Lou didnt low ball Rafalski.. the guy left to go play in his home town.. have no fear winning the east in the playoffs is going to be about getting hot at the right time.. thats it.

[Mario]

It is time to shake things up in this lineup. Bring up a couple of kids from Lowell. I know Lowell is lousy but Vrana and Bergfors should get a look. Let's not make these kids defensive forwards but let them do what they are good at. We are overstocked with defensemen and defensive forwards. It is hard for a scorer to gain confidence on this team with the current system and lineup. This was mentioned a few years back by Stephan Richer and his statement is a reflection of the team and it's problems the last 2-3 years. Hossa and Ovechkin don't exactly hangout in the defensive zone but they take care of the offense business which translates to excitement and increase attendance.

As I have stated before, have you noticed that whoever Zajak centers gets into a scoring slump? Am I missing something? It is not all Zajak's fault by any stretch but points to a problem that is much bigger regarding coach and management. Lou is not responding to Sutter's problem which he has started to vocalize lately.

Elias gets the flu 2 times a year, obviously this is a result of his major illness a few years back. Patrick is an excellent player when healthy and is core to the team. His health needs to be watched carefully next year to take all precautions.

Please give the captaincy to Madden, I don't think his play would be affected as it did Elias and now Langenbrunner. John has earned it.

[Shari]

That was a complete embarrassment! I don't blame Sutter for this, He seems to be at a loss as to why He has to constantly remind a bunch of professional Hockey Players that they have to Play Hockey when They are on the ice. The Person that I feel bad for when They play like this is Marty, all of the success that this Team has had is because of Him, He is the reason why they are at the top, and I think that He deserves better then to be embarrased off of the ice like that. Martin and Maddog seem to be the most stable Players out there, but they cannot do it alone. Please Patty come back soon! Greene scored 2 goals last night but someone needs to tell Him which net the puck is supposed to go in,taking Him in and out of the lineup only increases His nervousness, last year He was one of Our most steady D Man. Home Ice advantage means squat right now, if They don't wake up soon and Play as a Team, and do what Sutter is asking of Them, They might not even make it to The Playoffs.

[Mike from Elmwood Park]

Brylin hasn't missed a game statistically, but he is a non-factor night in and night out. It's time to cut times with Sarge at the end of the season. He no longer helps the team.

[Ryan]

These are the lines when Elias comes back on Tuesday that needs to happen:

Parise-Elias-Gionta
Zubrus-Zajac-Langenbrunner
Pandolfo-Madden-Clarkson
Rupp-Brylin-Asham/Tallackson

[Jeff]

Last night was just horrific...and to make it worse, I had to watch it with a Penguins fan!!

I think the last 3 games shows why I said over and over that the Devils needed to make a trade for a top scorer (i.e. Hossa), regardless of what we had to give up. Not only did we lose out on Hosssa, but the Penguins got him and are now the team to beat in the East.

The talent gap between the 2 teams is just laughable. The fact that the Devils built up a cushion is a good thing at this point, but does anyone honestly see this team making it through the 1st round of the playoffs?

I blame Lou for this season mostly because he had a chance to make us better at the trade deadline and took the "less is better" approach, which I disagreed with then and disagree with now.

Sigh.

[CupChamps3X]

Lets keep things in perspective. The penguins beat us horribly last night, granted. We are 4-3 against them this year. I'm not sold the penguins can beat us in a 7 game series any more than I'm sure Carey Price is going to carry the Habs. Pittsburgh hasn't proven they are the team to beat in the east, I'm not sure any team has earned that year.

And to whomever said we are not living up to expectations, I beg to differ. Going into the year I expected us to be in the 4-6 seed range. I didn't think we'd struggle to make the playoffs but I didn't think we'd be leading the conference in late March either. The fact that we have as good a record as we do reflects some of the best goaltending the league has ever seen to compensate for a young, Mediocre defensive core and inconsistent forwards.

Other than Elias and Parise, the rest of our forwards need help to be productive. Gionta has shown he can be an elite player but he's not playing with Gomez anymore.

John Madden should not be one of our top scorers. Brylin should not be in the NHL anymore. We are wasting great goal tending right now. Our problems are well documented and much easier to lament about after a 7-1 defeat. We need a puck moving defenseman and a big time forward to give us two scoring lines again - but thats for the offseason.

For now, we need our powerplay to not be a liability. We need Greene and Brookbank to be wearing Cavalli suits sitting in Lou's box or next to Stevens/Daneyko taking notes on how to play in the NHL. We need Langs to start chipping in the clutch goals like he always does this time of year. We need Gionta to start being the scrappy guy down low looking for garbage goals, and we need Zajac and Zubrus to play like theyre 6'2 and 6'4. We need Elias to come back healthy and ready to impose his will. We need Madden and Pandolfo to keep up what theyre doing on both ends of the ice. And we most certainly need Martin Brodeur. Amen.

[mikeford]

i cant believe all the brylin hate. show some respect for a guy who's probably next in line on the rafters. him rupp and asham have been the only guys showing up for the past 2 weeks.