Wild victory in Minnesota (final version)

That was one of the strangest games of the season. It reminded me of the Devils' 3-2 shootout win in Buffalo on Jan 12. They fell behind 2-0 in that one too and probably had no business winning and found a way to pull it out.

This time, the 4-3 shootout win over the Minnesota Wild was good to put the Devils back in first place in the Eastern Conference, just one point ahead of Pittsburgh, Montreal and Ottawa.

"It means we control our destiny in the last 11 games," said Jamie Langenbrunner, who scored the shootout winner. "We've got to play better first periods coming down the stretch here. We're not going to get away with that, but we took the positive in the big game and we were able to get the two points out of it."

In that Buffalo game, Martin Brodeur was unbelievable. Tonight, he appeared to battle the puck for two periods before coming up big in the third period and overtime. His glove stop on Marian Gaborik in overtime was a beauty.

"The bounces were crazy," Brodeur said. "It's been a while since I've had a game like that where things were just bouncing off players' sticks and the boards and glass. It was kind of a weird game."

Patrik Elias took a Sheldon Brookbank slap shot off his left kneecap in overtime and was not available in the shootout. He was still hobbling around after the game, but was sure nothing was broken. He wasn't sure, however, about his status for Saturday's game in Colorado.

"It was just right on the bone," he said. "We'll see how bad it is tomorrow when we get to Colorado. I don't know what is going to happen."

Elias also was shaken up midway through the third period when he accidentally collided with teammate Zach Parise. "I was going to hit (Mark) Parrish and he got away and I hit Zach with my head," Elias said. "It was just whiplash."

Elias stayed down for a while outside the Devils' blue line and the officials blew play dead though the Wild were buzzing around the Devils' net. The Wild fans booed Elias every time he touched the puck when he returned after that and even booed him when he got hit with Brookbank's shot. 

"It's OK," Elias said. "They've got no clue."

Elias' injury in overtime created the opening for Langenbrunner to shoot third in the shootout. The Cloquet, Minn. kid made good by scoring the only goal in the tiebreaker. Langenbrunner thought that Devils coach Brent Sutter remembered that he scored in the shootout loss to Atlanta on Feb. 15.

"I scored last time, so he had a little confidence in me," Langenbrunner said. "He told me right away that I was going third."

**We should give credit to Vitaly Vishnevski, who played a big game tonight after sitting for nearly a month. His goal 5:43 into the second started the comeback, but I thought his big hit on James Sheppard with 5:05 left in the first period provided a spark too.

"I thought Vish played very well and Paul (Martin) coming back made Johnny (Oduya) play better," Sutter said. "Paul played very good tonight. Vish was rock solid. That was a big hit. That was one of the few ones where we actually hit something in the first period."

Martin admitted it was tough playing after nearly two weeks off with a bruised right ankle. "It was all right," he said. "I'm not going to say it felt great, but I was able to get through it and as the game went on you're able to get your timing back and your lungs back."

Martin, a Minneapolis native who had never played in his home state before, said the final count of family and friends at the game was 240.

**It was rough night for Mike Mottau and Bryce Salvador tonight. They were on the ice for all three Wild goals and had major breakdowns on two of the goals. The other one came when Jay Pandolfo went out of position to give his stick to Mottau, who had broken his.

"The first two periods, I thought they were out of position a bit," Sutter said. "They were on their heals a bit too."

**Sutter said before tonight's game that he wanted more out from players who weren't on the Elias and John Madden lines and he got it tonight. The newly-formed Mike Rupp-Dainius Zubrus-David Clarkson line had a strong last two periods. Zubrus scored the big goal to tie it, snapping a 14-game drought. The reconfigured fourth line of Sergei Brylin, Travis Zajac and Arron Asham also had some good shifts.

"I thought Zubes, Clarkie, Rupp, Ash, Trav and Sarge -- those six guys as a group -- were much better tonight,'" Sutter said. "They were involved. They've got to give us a physical presence and they were moving their feet and were very responsive on the ice."

That Zajac has fallen to the fourth line is not a good sign, though.

"He has to get involved in the game," Sutter said. "I thought tonight he did a better job of that. If he wants to get scoring chances, he's got to get in there and not play on the outside. He has to stay with it. He's a kid that is learning still the process of how you have to compete at this level to be a good player and a consistent player night in and night out."

"There are some tougher games than others," Zajac said. "I think right now I've just got to work through it."

**Parise admitted he was very nervous for his first game in his home state. "After the first couple of shifts it was fine," he said. "I forgot about it."

He got a kick out his father, the former Islander and North Star, J.P. Parise, lead the "Let's play hockey!' cheer before the opening faceoff from one of the balconies. "That was funny," he said. "He's scared of heights too, so that was the best part."

J.P. was supposed to wear a Wild sweater over a Devils' sweater and had threatened to take off the Wild sweater when he led the cheer, but backed out and wore neither. "I was surprised," Zach said. "I thought I was going to see something, maybe a North Stars throwback or something, but I didn't see anything."

**Colin White (upper body) won't play Saturday in Colorado either. He skated today in NJ, but the earliest he'll be back is for Wednesday's game against the Rangers.

**Finally, I wanted to expand on the Nick Palmieri news a little. Lou Lamoriello said the Devils would bring him to New Jersey for a physical after his final junior game with Erie on Saturday and then would determine if he would go to Lowell for some games. "He's played a lot of games,"Lamoriello said. "So, we'll see how he's doing."  Lamoriello said the only place Palmieri would play is Lowell -- not New Jersey.

Comments

[brian]

wow!!! tonight the devs palyed hard against a team that has been standing strong against the monster teams in the west. they held on, and battled like a team that has something to prove. still though they are depending rather heavily on marty. the last minute and a half of regulation showed they are still a bit weary in their ways. o.t. was marty vs. the wild. i hope vv stays in cause he does make an impact on their game, haters need to realize. the devs need to keep the momentum for saturday, but they do really need to tighten up the D. keep the shots where the opponents keep ours, fifteen feet out. good to see martin back in the lineup, he really adds to the start of the break out, just keep an eye out on those dumb, blind passes like he had in the last 5 minutes of the third. a comeback, with a shootout win. starting to get the mid season stride back, just in time for the all important last leg of the season. nice to see marty smile behind the mask, and weekes smiling too. lets go!!!!

[JWomp]

TG, in reference to your last post, what exactly is a "postgame pass?"

Also, thanks for the Elias updates. I was watching on NHL Center Ice Online and it was the Minnesota broadcast crew... they barely even acknowledged the fact he was shaken up.

[Patrick D'Amico]

What a painful yet exciting game to watch. I liked Elias' comment, he's a smartass.

[TG]

Players get postgame passes for friends and family that get them downstairs to a visiting area near the locker room after the game.

[Jason]

Glad to see Rupp and Zubes back together. They definitely have some chemistry, and like to crash the net. I think VV really set the tone, and was a big reason the devils won. He set the one early and the devils followed suit with very physical play. Zubrus' best stretches this season have come when he has thrown the body around. I dont know why he was laying off lately, maybe he was sore, but he got involved again tonight. Him Rupp and Clarkson could be a fun line, thought im sure it wont last. When Travis gets his head back in the game, im sure he will get moved back up.

[EJ]

Hey TG,

I think you need to fix something within this blog.

Quote:

"**Sutter said before tonight's game that he wanted more out from players who weren't on the Elias and John Madden lines and he got it tonight. The newly-formed Mike Rupp-Dainius Zubrus-David Clarkson line had a strong last two periods. Zubrus scored the big goal to tie it, snapping a 14-game drought. The reconfigured fourth line of Sergei Brylin, Travis Zajac and Sergei Brylin also had some good shifts."

I'm guessing you meant, Arron Asham? :D

Otherwise, good work Tom!

[perry]

TG,

i'm not sure how lowell is doing but would palmieri only be eligible to play when their playoffs start?

and do you think snetsinger will join lowell when he turns 21?

[jules]

LOL, Patty's great. At least nothing is broken, although playing against the Avs will be tough without him.

Vish played very well, which is nice. Seems like they missed his physical presence. Five hits on the night and a +1. On the other hand, Sal and Mottau should never be together again. So slow.

[Al]

It's time to sit Mottau and dress Greene. It was nice to see Zubrus score after not doing much for a long time. Zubrus needs to be more consistant and next year Zajac better start showing night after night he is a first round pick, or TRADE HIM!! He back checks but he looks lost offensively and that's scary.

[jules]

@perry: If Nick heads to Lowell, he can play with them for the rest of the regular season. They're terrible, though, and won't make the playoffs. Snetsinger is an overager and could have left Windsor to play in Lowell, but the Spitfires lost their captain and will be in the playoffs, so it's more likely that he would stay there anyway.

[Spud]

I'm a real big fan of the reconfigured fourth line of Sergei Brylin, Travis Zajac and Sergei Brylin.

[SC]

TG,

Al Trautwig gave the Devils a "C" for effort tonight, I'm so sick of this guy, Is there any chance we can get this guy off our broadcast? Did you hear about the comment he made last week about the Devils having no fans?

[Brodie30]

Sarge is so good, he plays both wings... at the same time. In Mottau and Salvador's defense, the play on the Wild's third goal was a thing of beauty. But the defensive coverage in general has been a little scary lately. Marty's just having his best month of the year so it hasn't killed them. It's good to have Paul back, he was outstanding in his first game back. Tom took the words out of my mouth, Devils had no business winning this game. A lot of good luck.

[Matty Bucks]

I wouldn't be surprised if Sutter were to get fired. The Devils are not in playoff shape. And only 11 games out of the playoffs. Fire that guy. And start to refocus the defensive effort. We were so far out of defensive position for the first two goals and that nearly ended us tonight. We have played with any offensive spark the past week or two. We don't pass well, we don't shoot well (unless shooting as soon as you're within the blue line is shooting well) and we have over-pursued the puck on defense. All of that comes back to Sutter. Let's stop complaining about our guys and start complaining about our coach. He's the reason they've been so bad lately.

[Teech]

Would like to see Sutter roll 4 lines, ol' school DEVS Style. Fire Sutter no way!

[Elias26]

Nice to see Vish had a good game and some love from the coach.

[TG]

Yes, that was Asham with Zajac and Brylin. I also failed to mention last night that Jordan Parise had season-ending hip surgery. He was at the game last night.

[joe]

Did Scotty Stevens suit up last night? I saw a hit that made me think he was playing. Mottau should be done for the rest of the season after what I saw last night and Salvador doesn't impress me, I hope we don't re-sign him. Doc Emrick slipped a few times, stating Vish turns 37? and Zubrus and Gionta both scored their 20th goals? Don't we wish Zubs had 20. The Wild have never had an empty seat in the new building, kind of impressive, it only took us our 2nd game to break that streak in the Pru center.

[TG]

Some of you may be shocked, but Sutter will probably be a finalist for coach of the year. And I will guarantee that he won't be fired. Then again, I thought there was no way Claude Julien would be fired last year.

[TG]

Xcel Energy Center might be the best arena in the league.

[NJD26]

J.P shoulda worn a Parise USA jersey lol.

I didn't realize the Wild crowd was that clueless on Elias being injured, guess the best hockey fans in the States aren't any smarter than the rest of us.

[joe]

I don't see why Sutter should be fired, Lou should go before Sutter goes. What can Lou or any other coach do in the remaining 11 games that Sutter can't do to prepare this team? It didn't work last season.

[Falcone]

There's no way in hell Sutter's getting fired. If he gets fired no good coach in the league would want to take a Devils coaching position. What message is Lou sending to a coach when, if you're in first place at the end of the year, you'll get fired. Lou already has a "Steinbrenner trigger finger" with coaches. Adding to it won't help.

I thought the first period was a disaster for us. However we came back strong in the second and third. Jamie said it, and its been our problem all season, we've go to play better in te first period and for 60 min.

TG-
Can you do me a favor and ask Clarkson if he'll ever pass the puck? He's not that great a puck handler or a scorer, plus the other team has got to have a scouting report on him. Clarkson's MO: Gritty player, will get under your skin, won't pass, does the same move when he has the puck in the offensive zone and loses most fights. I like DC, but he's got to improve. Holding the puck and not dishing it to other players isn't helping.

[ARR]

to SC I hate Al Trautwig too but he did not say there were no devils fans he said: we will read your e-mails if there are any, devils fans. meaning if there were any e-mails not if there were any devils fans.

[Scott]

Doc said something about the pronounciation of Parise's last name, but I missed some of it. Could someone please clarify what he said about pa-ree-ZEE versus pa-ree-ZAY?

Also, regarding the Trautwig comment. I'm not a big fan of the guy either, but in all fairness, I do believe what he said was taken incorrectly. Quoting from the Interchangeable Parts blog: "It turns out Trautwig said, “We’ll be answering emails if there are any, Devils fans.” The comma makes a pretty big difference, no?" So, although Trautwig may have some loyalty towards his employer, he wasn't (intentionally) taking a slap at Devils fans. See http://tinyurl.com/2sv22m