The Devils didn't play particularly well tonight, but they did just enough to beat the Islanders, 2-1, with Joey MacDonald in net in both teams' season opener at Prudential Center.
"We did a lot of good things," Devils coach Brent Sutter said. "Our PK was good. We scored a power-play goal. We played a very intelligent third period. We worked hard. We played the third period particularly better. We kept making smart plays. I thought we had turned too many pucks over in the second period. Our goaltender played well. He made some great saves. It was a good start."
The Devils looked a little rusty after having a six-day layoff following their final preseason game.
"Excuses, excuses," said center Brian Rolston, who had an assist on Patrik Elias' game winner in his first game back with the team. "We weren't as sharp as we could be at times on the power play and things like that, but I thought we worked hard.
The Devils improved to 19-8-7 all-time in regular season openers and spoiled Scott Gordon's debut as Islanders coach.
The Devils went 1-for-4 on the power play. The Islanders were 1-for-6.
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Defenseman Colin White didn't have a great night. He took two minor penalties -- one for hooking Mike Comrie that led to Doug Weight's first period power-play goal in the first period and a delay of game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass with 8.4 seconds left in the second. He also tripped Kyle Okposo to give the Islanders rookie a penalty shot in the first.
Okposo had blocked White's left point shot and headed off in the other direction on a breakaway. White dove and tried to swipe away the puck with his stick, but ended up tripping Okposo instead.
"He was in (shooting) land, he blocked it and it bounced straight back," White said. "It bounced to a good spot where he already had a step on me. All I tried to do was reach around and get the puck. It looked to me like it jumped over my stick when I swiped at it. That's the ref's decision. It's either a penalty or a penalty shot."
White actually went to the penalty box, thinking it was a tripping minor, though the referee immediately signaled for a penalty shot.
"He still got a shot off, so I thought I got two minutes," White said. "I know I got a piece of his skate with my stick. If you hit the puck first and then the guy trips, it's a good play, but I just missed the puck."
Fortunately for White, Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur bailed him out by making a glove save on Okposo.
"It was just one of those nights," White said. "I'm glad it's over and we start fresh tomorrow. But I'm glad we got the win."
***
Brodeur said he gave Okposo high glove side and the rookie shot for it.
"I gave him a little bit of my glove side and I know he's got a hard shot and he's going to try to overpower me rather than make a move and he did," Brodeur said. "He made a good shot. I just got a little piece of it, but it was enough."
Some of you may remember that Okposo scored his first NHL goal -- a game-winner -- off Brodeur on March 21 of last season.
Hey TG, nice work! What happened to the free shuttles from the train station to the arena?! I was never told that they would only be for one year! That is ridiculous! As a season ticket holder, you would think I would get some notice. Do you know why they don’t provide the shuttles anymore? I almost missed my train tonight!
Posted by: ben | October 10, 2008 at 11:31 PM
To be honest, I know nothing about that shuttle. Are you talking about the one from Broad St. Station. I heard something about them not having it anymore, but didn't know it existed in the first place. I'll see if I can find something out, but probably won't be until before the next home game.
Posted by: TG | October 10, 2008 at 11:36 PM
A win's a win, and considering the rust from so many days off, not horrible.
R&R Pt. 2!!
Posted by: jules | October 10, 2008 at 11:49 PM
Tom, did you happen to notice that gentleman in the green unitard and mask, imitating Charlie's "Greenman" character from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia? While it wasn't a sellout, it was probably a much more lively crowd than any non-Ranger game last year.
Posted by: Steve Lepore | October 11, 2008 at 12:07 AM
i saw that green guy a few times. but who the heck was that guy dancing his a$$ off and throwing tshirts the whole game. he was hilarious! he must have worked for the devils or prucenter, he seemed to have unlimited tshirts.
Posted by: justin | October 11, 2008 at 12:14 AM
yeah the dancing dude must be employed by the devils... he seemed fairly successful at getting the crowd going... good for him and good for the devils.
rock and roll part 2 is back!!!!! so much for gary glitter songs being banned. haha.
Posted by: Frankie D | October 11, 2008 at 12:35 AM
Yes, 'dancing dude' is a employee of the organization.
And I was Soooooo happy when I heard Rock and Roll part 2 start playing.
Posted by: Mikedeadworks | October 11, 2008 at 02:00 AM
I thought they played a decent game for a season opener. Yeah, there was a little rust, but they still outplayed the Isles for most of the game. Salmela played okay and seems to have a lot of potential. He seemed to settle down after the misplay in his first shift. Salvador was quite impressive. White had a bad night. Rolston was fun to watch. Marty was well Marty. Elias and Parise both played a very strong game, as did Zajac.
Also, the Devils powerplay looked quite good tonight compared to past years.
Posted by: Puckster | October 11, 2008 at 02:16 AM
I saw the green guy on the big screen for a moment. I have no idea who he is
Posted by: TG | October 11, 2008 at 08:19 AM
Did anybody see Patty sit on MacDonald's head after he scored? Hilarious!
Posted by: Tim | October 11, 2008 at 09:28 AM
ROCK AND ROLL 2 IS BACK !!!!!!!!!!!! HEY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HEY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: KNUCKLEPUCK HEAD | October 11, 2008 at 09:30 AM
That never happened Tim, stop lying. Or Jamie is going to rough you up on the train like last night!
Posted by: Kevin | October 11, 2008 at 10:03 AM
Can someone please explain to me why they're not using the big giant scoreboard as a scoreboard? Trying to make out all the info (especially the penalty times) on that little itty-bitty ring at the bottom is exceptionally aggravating. My eyes hurt. Can they really be getting that much money to put a bunch of ads up there the whole time? Ads nobody will ever be looking at because when people look at the scoreboard they tend to be actually looking for, you know, the score? And time? And things which actually have to do with the game?
Posted by: Brian D | October 11, 2008 at 11:50 AM
I agree Brian. It's annoying. I don't even bother trying to look at the scores of the other NHL games around the league anymore. It's just way too small.
Posted by: Puckster | October 11, 2008 at 01:57 PM
Well Kev, Patty did sit on MacDonald's head ( http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/recap?gid=2008101011&prov=ap ... check the second picture on the page).
And for the rest of you, there were two guys, who I'm pretty sure weren't Jamie Langenbrunner and Bobby Holik. This pair had a penchant for rebelrousing through their uncanny ability to combine strands of sentences using 4-letter words. Many of the passengers were upset by this behavior, including me. Does anybody have any tips for handling such crass company?
Posted by: Tim | October 11, 2008 at 02:31 PM
Ben- I was shafted by the invisible broad street shuttle too. When I got off at broad st. station, I thought there wasn't any b/c we got there early. I only found out after the game; another fan told me. From now on, if I'm going, I'm taking the train by my house... and on the weekends.
Posted by: Salvatore from Garfield | October 11, 2008 at 05:19 PM
here's an update for ya. The devils website now states there is no longer free shuttle service from broad st station. Thanks!
Posted by: Salvatore from Garfield | October 11, 2008 at 05:30 PM