Devils coach Brent Sutter said after tonight's 4-0 win over Colorado that he did not know yet whether Martin Brodeur will start the team's next game on Saturday afternoon against the Florida Panthers.
He's going to wait until Friday to make that decision.
“I’m not going to go there tonight with that because I want to see where he’s at tomorrow and how he feels and then we’ll made a decision for Saturday and worry about Saturday,” Sutter said. “I go day to day with the decision making on games. We’ll see where Marty’s at tomorrow and make a decision for Saturday.”
Tonight's game was Brodeur first since he tore a biceps tendon in his left arm on Nov. 1.
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On the Devils' second goal -- a power play tally by Patrik Elias 8:43 into the second period that made it 2-0 , defenseman Paul Martin said he shot the puck wide on purpose -- at the suggestion of Zach Parise before the faceoff that preceded it.
"Zach came up to me and said don't be afraid to shoot it short side or miss the net," Martin explained. "They do a good job of getting in the shooting lanes and I saw (Travis Zajac) over there in front, so I figured why not? I don't know if (Parise) got the assist, but he should have because he was the one who came up with the idea."
Martin's shot went wide left, hit the end boards and bounced back in front to Elias, who backhanded it into the net. I initially thought that Zajac might have helped the puck get in front, but Zajac said afterward that he missed the puck and Parise ended up with the secondary assist on the goal.
"I missed the net a little more than I wanted to, but it ended up all right," Martin said.
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Zajac still sounded stuffed up from the cold and sinus congestion that's been bothering him this week, but played through it and had a goal and two assists tonight.
"I was saying I should be sick more often," Zajac said. "I actually felt really good today. Our line played well. We were all moving our feet and forechecking hard and I think that's what we got our goals from."
The line of Parise (one goal, two assists), Zajac and Jamie Langenbrunner (one goal, one assist) combined for eight points on the night.
I saw Parise go up to Martin and say that. Genius!!
Posted by: Steve | February 26, 2009 at 11:35 PM
Wow. What a night. The guys that had been carrying the team offensively continued to carry the team on the same night that our HOF goalie picked up where he left off. Any worries about a letup in the face of Brodeur's return have been mitigated. I know that it is only one game against a weak team, but still.
It may seem an odd time to talk about making trades, but I noticed that Montreal's Mathieu Dandenault has requested a trade. If there was ever a Lou Lamoriello Special, acquiring Dandenault would be it. A 3-time Cup winner with Detroit, he could be had for a draft pick and would be a real improvement over Andy Greene.
Posted by: Just Some Guy | February 26, 2009 at 11:42 PM
And they could still make a deal for Niedermayer. Replace Mottau with Niedermayer and Greene with Dandenault and.....ooh... I'm feeling faint.
Posted by: Just Some Guy | February 26, 2009 at 11:49 PM
Not sure about Dandenault. If I recall correctly, he played a lot of wing with Detroit not defense. He's not great in his zone.
That's usually not a Devils' kind of player.
Posted by: TG | February 26, 2009 at 11:50 PM
For some reason, I really don't see Niedermayer being dealt. They want him to come back next season even if his contract is up.
I think they'll hold on to Niedermayer and Pronger until this summer. If Niedermayer retires or leaves, Pronger stays in Anaheim. If not, he'll be traded.
Posted by: TG | February 26, 2009 at 11:54 PM
Do you think they want to even bother with another offseason of wondering if Niedermayer will retire or not? At least with Pronger they know he's under contract.
Dandenault had been primarily a wing in his early Detroit days but my admittedly foggy memories were of him being a steady defenseman. Probably because any memory I have of Detroit players is that they are at minimum a steady player. Not too many lousy players have worn the winged wheel. I'm seeing Shawn Chambers when I think of acquiring Dandenault. Maybe not with as good a shot, but an improvement over Mottau and Greene in my humble opinion. And a "character guy", to boot. No slight meant to Mssrs. Mottau or Greene.
Posted by: Just Some Guy | February 27, 2009 at 12:13 AM