Martin gets first; going fourth with Brookbank

Devils defenseman Paul Martin scored his first goal of the season in tonight's 3-1 win over Florida and it was a pretty nice one.

After taking a pass from David Clarkson, Martin faked a shot, causing Florida's Richard Zednik to slide by him in the right circle, before cutting to the middle and ripping a wrist shot over goaltender Tomas Vokoun's right shoulder. That put the Devils up 2-0 5:49 into the third period.

"Clarkie just made a great pass coming out of the (left) corner," Martin said. "He had his head up and gave it to me. I was going to go and shoot it and (Zednik) went down and when I walked around Johnny Madden was in front with a great screen and I just put the puck to the net and Vokoun didn't see it."

There's been a noticeable difference in the Devils' defense in the three games Martin has played since returning from an upper body injury. He played 24:23 tonight. Only his defense partner, Bryce Salvador (25:04), played more.

"He's top two or three guy on any team when he's playing and playing well," Devils coach Brent Sutter said. "He's getting himself back into the form that we need Paul in and playing minutes. He;s a player that plays under control and is pretty poised when he plays with the puck. That's why he plays the minutes he does,"

***

Sutter said he was pleased again with the play of defenseman Sheldon Brookbank at right wing on the fourth line with rookie Nicklas Bergfors and Mike Rupp.

"I'm very happy with him," Sutter said. "I thught that line (approximately) seven minutes into the third or whenever it was, they went out and created some things. They were finishing checks and they played the whole shift in Florida's end and that kind of changed some of the momentum of the game."

***

As I mentioned during the live game blog, the Devils' one-shot second period was the eighth one-shot period in team history. The last time they did it was on Nov. 24, 2007 in Tampa Bay. The team record of no shots in a period was set in the third period of a 2-2 tie with Boston on Jan. 7, 1983.

The Devils were outshot 10-1 in the second period tonight, but came out of the second period leading 1-0 thanks to Scott Clemmensen.

“It was Clemmer,” right wing Brian Gionta said. “Clemmer played great. He made a lot of big saves. There were a couple of backdoor plays, cross-ice plays, that he got across and made the saves on them for us. That was huge for us. He held us in there.”

Comments

[Pearl Jammed(RJ Arditti)]

I love the play of Paul Martin this year. I think as Devils fans we should get behind him and vote for him as much as possible for the allstar game. I think he has more than earned it, as it seems this season he really has turned the proverbial corner in his development(its always said it takes Dmen longer to develop and Martin is a perfect example).

[DanT]

@ PJ. i think there is little chance that martin would get noticed for an all star berth. not to say i dont think he is great.

[Pearl Jammed(RJ Arditti)]

i never said he was, but we should try and push him amd parise i feel. Zach should make it on his own, but i think its worth a try. all it is, is a trip to NHL.com, and if everyone that reads this just goes over to NHL.com and voted twice a day it all adds up and if we start soon enough we could put him in contention at least.

[Xander Crews]

Yea as much as i love Martin, Allstar votes are based on popularity not skill. ESPN had an allstar vote thing and every position was lead by 3 players from the Habs...

Not to mention Martin probably isnt a top 2 in the entire east even if it was based on skill... but hey i still vote for him but im a homer.

[Pearl Jammed(RJ Arditti)]

besides who is a dominant defenseman in the east other, than Chara and Mike Green, that you would consider a lock at getting an allstar nod? maybe Rozival? i know that a guy like Jay Bouwmeester, based on his play this season, doesn't deserve it.

[Pearl Jammed(RJ Arditti)]

I did forget Markov

[Pearl Jammed(RJ Arditti)]

I did forget Markov

[Pearl Jammed(RJ Arditti)]

I just think this could be something that we could get behind. were always talking about how the team never markets itself, and this is something that WE can do to get a little positive notice out there. Every Devils fan here has heard some insult from a rags or flyers fan about us not having any fans, or the 500 fans that go to Devils games(sadly true tonight). So i think we should make our own statement to the league. I bet this page gets thousands of hits a day, so if everyone that took the minute or 2 to look on here took a minute or two go and vote everytime they come here we could put him in the running. its not impossible to get him into the top 3 if we tried.

[Pearl Jammed(RJ Arditti)]

http://fanballoting.nhl.com/

thats the site

[Pearl Jammed(RJ Arditti)]

actually looking where he is i think we NEED to get behind Zach or he might not make it.

[Halo Moe]

Bouwmeester isn't playing well because he CAN'T wait to get out of Florida....boy, would he solve a lot of our problems.

[modnarm]

Martin-Salvador
Bouwmeester-Corrente
Oduya-Greene

what? wheres white!? oh he.. he was placed on wavers. oh.. so was Mottau

[rico]

gentlemen and ladies...you know the best part about these injuries? our devils will be forced to pick up the offense and our team confidence will be over the top....then at the end of the season we will get back marty b and we will shut the door. the bottom line is even if we get the 8th place seed we will have a great shot at the championship in the east (even without marty b). once we are healthy, there isn't a single team we can't beat.....forget the wings, the sharks will take the west, and we will take either team in the series...WE WANT THE CUP.....and it's upsetting that most fans don't realize our potential once healthy. we are playing with last year's team right now (miracle we did as well as we did), and this season is not even a question...the bruins are good but not the best...the habs are on paper the best team, but they lack the special something....rags will be average by the end of the season....even without marty b we will be in shape to take the conference which i said we would at the start of the season.....and btw, no talk about trades, we dont' need it. we are the sh** this year, i can't wait to spend a few hundred on stanley cup tickets this year, even with the economic environment, i will be honored to pay 2 if not 3 times the price.

[Brodie30]

I almost think Sutter is selling Martin short calling him a "top 3 defenseman on any team". Like Parise, he is only going to get better. We are lucky to have him.

[Orrduya]

So glad I got a Martin jersey when customization was free on NHL.com.

[Falcone]

Not sure if many here remember, but Neidermeyer was hated when he first came up. Was always out of position, coughed up the puck, and was getting all this praise from management and coaches and we as fans never understood it. But as years went on, it became obvious. The same will be said about Paul Martin. He might not be Neirder good, but in my opinion he'll be close.

[devscupchamps]

I think Martin is, hands down, our best defenseman. I also agree with TG that there is a noticable difference when he plays. Kudos to the team for a great win last night. I still don't agree with playing Brookbank at rw. If Sutter really doesn't want Vrana out there for defensive reasons then why not call up Pelley. I liked what I saw from him last season. Its good to see that Elias line putting he puck in the net. Hopefully Elias getting hot doesn't coincide with Parise cooling off. If both those lines are playing well then we shouldn't have as much trouble putting the puck in the net as we have had.

[NJSwampdragon]

I think Martin would be considered a number 3 on a few teams like Anaheim or Calgary. Nonetheless, he is our #1 guy, and a good one.

[DL]

TG-How was Clemmer not one of the 3 stars?

[TG]

He's probably be No. 3 on Detroit too, though I think he would fit very well in Rafalski's spot next to Lidstrom.

Then again, a lot of guys could.

[V]

TG - Record website in two places says Devils won 3-0....not 3-1.

[Alzheimers]

DL: It looks like they just voted for that whole line. I don't think it was anything against Clemmer, they just wanted to recognize that Elias, Gionta, and Zubrus were finally living up to their contracts.

Personally, I thought Clemmer was the #1 star and has legitimately earned his spot. Last night I felt more bad for Weekes than anything, but it looks like the position has been filled.

[Salvatore from Garfield]

Yeah yeah. Everyone has the man-crush on clemmenson right now, but the moment he has a bad game, everybody will be pointing to weekes.

TG- Any thought on why the media(Stan fischler) after last night's game kept trying to start a goalie controversy??

[Kevin]

Living up to their contracts? I think fans need to realize if you want to blame someone for a player relative under acheivement, the blame should fall on management. The fact of the matter remains, Elias gave up more money to play in NJ. The market dictated his worth above what he signed for, and Lou agreed with the market. Elias is on pace for a very normal season by his own lofty standards, give a look at his projections. This of course if not to mention he is an outstanding second half/playoff performer...

I may never understand how a typical fans mind works. It's so reactionary it boggles the mind. The guy has produced, at a very high level, for several seasons. Last year, on a team with little talent surrounding him, his numbers slumped while he centered a line. To say the guy is washed up or overpaid is inaccurate. He is still our best play maker even if he doesn't lead the team in goals currently. But as the season wears on and he approaches 30 goals, I will remind the naysayers of their comments made about how he should be traded!

[mikeP]

everyone is making good points about Paul Martin, but he has been one of our top d-men for a few seasons now. Two seasons ago White and Martin formed our top shutdown pairing, while Rafalski was racking up all the points on the 2nd pairing. Last season Paul was breaking Johnny Oduya into the league, and JO broke out with a career year. This season he's been paired with Salvador and are far and away our best "D" pair. Now if Paul could only start contributing more offensively then those old comparisons to Niedermayer wouldn't be so far fetched.
I still don't understand why Sutter plays Salmela over him on the top PP. Switch Jamie L over to the left point, and let Paul run the right point on the top PP with ZZ and Elias.

Hopefully Elias/Zubrus/Gio (they really need a nickname!) can keep this chemistry going and ride it out for a while. It makes you think though, where will Rolston play when he returns ? I wouldn't be surprised if he started out with Madden and Pandolfo, and then switch spots with Zubrus if Elias and Gio go cold.

From what Chico and Doc were saying last night, by early to mid-December our forwards should be fully healthy, and we'll have some very good depth, so that Brookbank won't be counted on as a forward anymore. Then Bergfors could get quality minutes in Lowell instead of a couple of minutes a night in the NHL.