Fire & Ice

Power play adjustments; Halischuk or Bergfors?

Injuries and a lack of success has the Devils still looking for answers on the power play.

They lost another pointman with Andy Greene now sidelined with a broken right hand for four to six weeks. For practice today, Paul Martin and Johnny Oduya worked the points on the first unit and Martin and Mike Mottau worked with the second unit.

Right wing Jamie Langenbrunner did not practice today for what GM Lou Lamoriello called "personal reasons", but will work the point on one of the two power-play units in Saturday's game against Atlanta.

"Jamie is still going to play the point on the power play and you've got Paul and you've got Motts and probably in all likelyhood Johnny is going to get an opportunity to play on that too," Devils coach Brent Sutter said.

Up front, the Devils used Patrik Elias, Dainius Zubrus and Brian Gionta on the first unit and Zach Parise, Travis Zajac and David Clarkson on the second unit.

Greene out four to six weeks with broken right hand (updated)

Devils defenseman Andy Greene will miss four to six weeks after breaking his right hand in Wednesday's shootout loss to Toronto.

Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello said Greene had surgery this morning.

Defense partner Mike Mottau said Greene was struck in the right hand with a shot by Toronto's Pavel Kubina in the first period. Of course, it was Kubina (then with Tampa Bay) who hit Scott Stevens in the left side of the head with a shot during the 2003 playoffs.

"It hit him on top of the hand," Mottau said. "He immediately came to the bench and it was swollen pretty good. But he played through it and had a great game."

In fact, Greene had a career-high three assists in the game.  

X-rays taken Thursday revealed the break.

"I knew he was banged up, but I didn't know and he didn't know until (Thursday) how significant it was," Devils coach Brent Sutter said. "It's too bad with Greenie because Greenie was playing very well."

Although Greene was a healthy scratch for the first three games, he leads all Devils defensemen with six points (one goal, five assists) in six games. That also ties him for third on the team in points with Travis Zajac.

Greene joins a growing list of injured Devils that already included Brian Rolston (high right ankle sprain), Bobby Holik (fractured right pinky) and Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond (cracked orbital).

Halloween tip of the cap to Gionta

The big day for the kids to dress up in their constumes is Friday, but the Devils had their team Halloween party on Sunday. The overwhelming consensus was that Brian Gionta had the best costume.

The 5-foot-7 right wing went as a jockey.

"It was great," Mike Mottau said. "He even had the little cap and the whip."

When I asked him about it, Gionta just laughed and said, "uncomfirmed."

Kevin Weekes also received compliments. He went as anthem singer, Arlette.

Mottau said he and his wife went as Greg and Marcia Brady. Jamie Langenbrunner said he went with his wife as the Spartan cheerleaders from Saturday Night Live.

Time to refocus

Rather than have a punishment skate today, the Devils had a team meeting and reviewed some video of Wednesday night's 6-5 shootout loss to Toronto.

Then, they players had the "option" of skating or working out off the ice. Jamie Langenbrunner, Petr Vrana, Matt Halischuk, Nicklas Bergfors, Sheldon Brookbank and Kevin Weekes were the only players to skate.

"I wasn't happy with the way we played last night," Devils coach Brent Sutter said. "I haven't been happy with our last two home games and there's a reason why it's happened and we have to get our focus back. The easiest thing for me today would have been to come here and have no pucks in practice and the skate the living (expletive) out of them, but that to me isn't the answer right now. To me, the answer is getting these guys refocused and we've got some guys that are a little banged up and we felt this was a day where we'd go through some things as a team off the ice and try to correct some of our problems and get refocused and come back here tomorrow ready to go and start preparing for our game on Saturday (against Atlanta).

Late start to practice

It looks like the Devils are having a team meeting before today's practice. They were supposed to start practice at 11 a.m. and it's 11:15 and they still aren't on the ice.

There's probably a lot to talk about after Wednesday's 6-5 sloppy shootout loss to Toronto.

Now we're being told it's an optional and only half the team will be skating and half will be working out off the ice.

Halischuk earns first NHL point in first game, Elias OK

Devils rookie Matt Halischuk was happy to earn his first NHL point in tonight's 6-5 shootout loss to Toronto. He would have preferred a victory, though.

"It's always exciting," he said. "But it's kind of disappointing as well with the loss."

Halischuk, 20, assisted on defenseman Colin White's goal in the second period. He planned to talk to his parents after tonights' game because neither of them were able to make it from Mississauga, Ontario down to Newark. A Toronto native, Halischuk didn't think facing the Leafs added anything to his first game.

"Maybe when you first hear about it," he said. "But once I got out there it was like playing any other game for me against any other team."

Well-deserved bike ride

The Devils earned their first post-game stationary bike ride of the season with tonight's 6-5 shootout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Niklas Hagman scored the deciding goal in the shootout, but the damage had been done in regulation, in which the Devils gave up a season-high 48 shots and three power-play goals in blowing leads of 2-0 and 4-3.

So, after briefly speaking with the media after the game, the players had to do a 15-minute ride on the stationary bicycle.

"A lot of players in there have to play better than they have the past three games," Devils coach Brent Sutter said afer his team's third consecutive loss. "That's just basics, getting back to what they're supposed to do. Certain guys have certain roles and they're getting away from our game plan and what each individual has to do. Saturday (home game against Atlanta) can't get here quick enough."

Live blog: Tied 5-5 in wild third; Elias returns after being injured

Zach Parise's rebound goal at 11:17 has pulled the Devils even at 5-5 with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the third period.

Alexei Ponikarovsky's power play softie at 10:25 has given the Maple Leafs a 5-4 lead.

Jamal Mayers rebound goal 9:15 into the third period has pulled the Toronto Maple Leafs into a 4-4 tie tonigh

Rookie Matt Halischuk recorded his first NHL point in his first NHL game with an assist on Colin White's goal at 13:42 of the second, which gave the Devils a 4-3 lead.

It lookes like Jamie Langenbrunner has taken Halischuk's spot on the checking line to start the third. Zach Parise is playing with Dainius Zubrius and Brian Gionta and Patrik Elias is playing with Travis Zajac and David Clarkson.

Devils coach Brent Sutter does not look happy with this sloppy effort and appears to have cut down his rotation to three lines.

The newly formed fourth line of Mike Rupp, Petr Vrana and Halischuk was on the ice for Mayers' goal.

Elias was hit by the puck in the face and went off for treatment. Leafs rookie defenseman Luke Schenn took a shot that appeared to deflect up and strike Elias under the right eye.

He returned mid-way through the second period.

Langenbrunner: "I'm pretty certain I'm playing"; Halischuk to make NHL debut

Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner said he feels well enough after today's morning skate that he expects to play in tonight's game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"I feel good," he said. "I'm pretty certain I'm playing."

Langenbrunner missed Saturday's game in Philadelphia with what he said was "close" to a charley horse. When he just spoke to the media, however, he had bandage on his left knee.

With Langenbrunner playing, rookie right wing Matt Halischuk will play in his first NHL game tonight and Nicklas Bergfors will sit.

Langenbrunner said he is not worried that he's rushing back, though the Devils have two more days off after tonight's game that would have provided more time for him to heal.

"If I feel good enough to play, why (wait)? he said. "Anything can happen at any time. I feel good and I don't think I'm putting myself at any more risk by playing."

 

Assuming he plays, Langenbrunner will play with Zach Parise and Travis Zajac and Petr Vrana will center the fourth line with Mike Rupp and David Clarkson on his wings.

Halischuk will play on the checking line with Jay Pandolfo and John Madden and Brian Gionta moves to play with Patrik Elias and Dainius Zubrus.

 

Vasyunov signed, assigned to Lowell

Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello just confirmed to me that the team has signed left wing Alexander Vasyunov and assigned him to Lowell of the AHL.

Vasyunov, the Devils' second-round draft pick (58th overall) in 2006, was playing for Yaraslavl Lokomotiv (the same team as former NHLers Alexei Yashin and Josef Vasicek) in the Continental Hockey League in Russia, but wanted out because he only played two games.

Lamoriello said it was important to get Vasyunov to North America to play in games because he was not playing in Russia.

"That was our feeling, yes, that we wanted him playing in games," Lamoriello said.

There is no transfer agreement between Russia and the NHL, but Lamoriello would not discuss how the Devils and Vasyunov, 20, were able to get around that.

"I'm not going to get into any of that," he said.

Lamoriello did say that Vasyunov was "no longer playing for his Division 1 team" That might have created the opening for him to come to North America without getting out of his KHL contract. Lamoriello did not indicate any concern over a potential legal battle with the KHL, so there must have been some kind of agreement or loophole that allowed Vasyunov to come over legally.