Langenbrunner shakes off rust in return

Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner showed the effects tonight of going nine days without playing a game because of a lower-body injury.

He played 24 shifts for 16:26 in ice time, had two shots on goal and was on the ice for one goal against.

"I felt fine,” he said. “My timing was a little off, but everything else was good. It’s not the way I envisioned it, but we’ve got another game and another opportunity. We saw how desperate and how hard they’re going to play and we’ve got to bring that type of intensity to our game.”

Devils coach Brent Sutter said Langenbrunner got better as the game went on.

“That’s why I played him so much, to try to get him back in the flow of things,” Sutter said. “Especially when we got down three, you’re thinking, ‘Oh well, if this doesn’t work out tonight, we’ve got to have him ready for Game 7."

 

Langenbrunner failed to bring a spark to the team's top line, though. Linemates Zach Parise and Travis Zajac went without a point for the third game in a row.

 

“It’s Jamie’s first game back,” Sutter said. “He’s been out for a week.  At times, that line looked in sync and at times they tried to do too much and tried to force things and got themselves in trouble a little bit because of it."

 

The Hurricanes have been more physical with Parise and Zajac and given them little room to make plays since Zajac scored the OT winner in Game 3.

 

"Zach and Trav, they're obviously very good hockey players and tonight I thought again their play was not the level you need it to be," Sutter said. "It's that time of year where you've got to fight through things and you're going to have to pay a price. They've obvously played them very close and carefully and they've done a good job against them, but they've got to fight through some things, too."

"We weren't good enough tonight," Parise said of the team's play. "We've got to be a better team in Game 7.  We were easy to play against tonight."

 

***

The Devils had done a very good job of holding Eric Staal in check through the first five games of the series, but he finally broke out with two goals and an assist. Entering the night, Staal had two goals and no assists and only one even-strength point -- a goal in Game 4 -- in the series.

 

Defenseman Colin White and Mike Mottau struggled against him tonight, though. Staal's line with Ray Whitney (one goal, three assists) and Chad Larose (two assists) comined for nine points.

 

"They used the back of the net pretty well on the first goal," Mottau said. "We've been trying to limit their time in the offensive zone and they seemed to be cycling the puck a little bit better. We just have to be aware of that and take the body and stop the cycles."

 

 ***

 

If there was a turning point for the Devils tonight -- or a point that could have been one -- it was when they failed to convert on two power plays late in the first period when they were still trailing only 1-0. They failed to manage a shot on goal during either power play. Then, Staal broke the game open with two goals in a span of 2:46 in the second period.

 

"Our power play was brutal," Sutter said. "We didn't even get a shot on net in two power plays. But that's a reflection of the way our whole game was. There was no sense of urgency on it."

 

The other key moment was Dainius Zubrus' retaliatory roughing penalty on Dennis Seidenberg 45 seconds into the second period. The Devils actually had a strong first shift and pinned the Hurricanes in their zone for most of it, but then Zubrus took that penalty and, though the Hurricanes didn't score on it, they built more momentum on the resulting power play.

 

"We started fine in the second," Sutter said. "We had the puck in their zone and then we took a bad penalty that you can't take and then they created momentum off that and we were back on our heels a little bit. You guys saw the game. It wasn't a good performance as far as what our standards are and what's expected. They played a hell of a hockey game and we didn't play a very good game." 

 

***

 

Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice on Staal's play tonight:

 

"It do sense that all great players sense the most critical times to play their best. That's why they're great. They have the ability to elevate their game. I don't know that there's a huge difference. He's had some of those shots that he made tonight and he's had them the whole series. He's just missed the post. He had one in the 1-0 game (in Game 5) that just missed the other side."

 

Comments

[Grand High Exalted Mystic Halo Moe]

If Zach doesn't make a serious impact on Tuesday it's going to be difficult to win.

[Claude Lemieux]

Although Zubrus' penalty was stupid and a penalty you cannot take in the playoffs, it was a bit ridiculous that he was cross-checked no less than 4 times from behind and nothing was called until he retaliated.

[Brandon]

Drury's better.

[Brandon]

Shutup idiot that wasn't me.

[Henrik L]

Dont u understand that ALF is posting under your name

[Brandon]

...i farted

[Henrik L]

k kids, im off, godd night

[RickyM2]

i feel terrible for Marty. He came out strong. He needs to get back for revenge, as does everyone else. All else aside, Zub gave a great effort. i had to say it cause I was hard on him for a while. Again, I feel terrible for Marty. he was fantastic!!!!!! we're lucky it wasnt 9-0. I am proud of martys effort. I hope he doesnt lose hope. I know the guys will come out hard core on tuesday!!!! MARTY!!! HANG IN THERE FOR JUST ONE MORE GAME!!!! PLEASE!!!

[Major Cornholio]

The Devils arrived in Newark at 12:32.

[A Local Fan]

i am a homo

[Tim]

cool...the devils got home before me...that was such a waste of a drive going to watch them play like that!!!

[Matt]

MY Lineup for Tuesday

Parise-Zajac-Langenbruner, Maybe even Elias-Zajac-Langenbruner
Elias-Rolston-Gionta, Possibly Parise-Rolston-Gionta
Clarkson-Madden-Shannahan
Pandolfo-Zubrus-Holik

Greene-Oduya
White-Salvador
Mottau-Martin

I think it just needs to be shaken up. The third and fourth line would possibly be pandolfo, clarkson switch, to the lines they are normally on.

[Brian]

what i don't understand is how all these players say these quotes leading up to game 6 about how they know that they can't let the hurricanes get back in the series and then they come out and play like garbage, minus for gionta and shanahan, and marty for keeping us in the game for as long as he did. i was glad to read his quote in the previous post about how poorly they competed tonight

[Mike]

@ Brian

that's because saying and doing are two different things. They say the right things but they just don't translate on ice.

Also, stop posting as people you aren't :\ TG already said to cut it out before.

[Scratch28]

This is my first post since the end of the game, so if all this has already been said, I apologize. It is painfully obvious that the team as a whole played awful, but here are some standouts in my mind:

No surprise-Rolston, Zubrus.
Surprising-Martin, Zajac.

Martin was somewhat off on game 5 also, I thought perhaps he was getting too much ice time, IDK.

Zajac coughs up the puck anytime anyone makes the slightest of contacts with him (he looks very soft), his timing with Parise also seemed off, and thirdly, please God, don't let him make it a habit of taking dumb penalties. Aside from that OT goal, this kid hasn't scored in ages, not a good time of year to fold.

They really wasted a great opportunity last night, and I hope this loss hasn't had the same effect on their morale as it has had on mine, cause I am down in the dumps and really scared to even watch game 7. I know they can beat this team, I just wonder if they will bring their A game to game 7 or will it be a repeat of game 6?

[Falcone]

Scratch28- Do you watch the Devils play? Zajac had 20 goals and 40 something assists. Dude doesn't score, right pal. However I do think Zajac and Parise need to get that chemistry they had all season. It hasn't been a factor since earlier this series.

Canes are taking the body to Parise and Zajac bc they know they're some of the better players on the team. Parise and Zajac need to step up.

But we also need players to use the body. A good Stevens hit would come in handy.

[Damian]

It would be also nice to see Elias do something in a game 7... he hasn't been a major factor since game 1...

[Mark]

Elias disappears more than he makes an impact and his lack of production is partially because Zubrus is so bad and partially becuase he doesn;t even look to be trying. Gio was the only one going last night. The entire defense looked terrible and the first three goals all resultsed from poor play by our D or Turnovers. Mottau's turnover was amplified beause he got caught and martin essentially handed them the second goal.

The entire team owes Marty an apology for not showing up and honestly, the lack of urgency and casualness this team displayed in both games 4 and 6 when having Carolina on the ropes, hasd me thinking that it will bite them in the rear on Tuesday......we need to dump Elias and his $6M (although I don;t think we can) and Zubrus and get a nasty, tough, D-Man and a true center for Rolston (who stinks anyway) and a resigned for less money Gionta.....can we trade Elias for Marleau and a 2nd rounder? The Sharks are about to go BOOM and might want a shake up too!

[ronmexico3]

This board is getting tough to read. I mean, I expect the trolls and can ignore them, and ALF continues to amuse with his joke lines that have gone on for months.

The hockey talk is good and TG is of course top notch.

But every time the Devils have an off game or come out flat and get outplayed, a lot of you on here break out the Doom and Gloom about how everyone sucks and everyone needs to be traded. Geez man, this is the team that got us into the post season. We got to stop this negativity. Sh*t, if I wanted non-stop naggy depressing talk, I'd talk to my wife.

[TG is the one they call Dr. Feelgood [Salvatore from Garfield]]

ronmexico- Well said.

[DevilsFan38]

TG, do you have any idea why Sutter has done so much line matching in this series? The Devils did very little of it this year and had success that way, so why change it now in the playoffs? And why, with the Devils trailing last night, did the Madden line see so much icetime? Yes, Shanahan was having a good game, but aside from him that line isn't going to do much offensively.

Thanks for taking the time to write this blog (and read all these comments) and if you could shed some light on this or ask Sutter about it I'd appreciate it, it's been driving me crazy the whole playoffs.

[NJ99]

what ron said

cheer up people! see you at the rock for game 7.

LGD

[Mike O.]

I wasn't angry nor surprised last night. I had a feeling the Canes were going to force a game 7...no biggie. The Devils have bounced back after the previous 2 losses this series and I expect the same on Tuesday. There is always a chance to lose the game and the series on a bad bounce but I am supremely confident that we will win.

[BING]

Or her boyfriend...jk...Lets get behind everyone on the team, rally up and be the 7th player on every line. Rock your red at the game, cheer your asses off and will the win our way!

[JJ]

I know everyone hates Zubrus but he was playing hard and that line was one of the few that had any kind of sustained forecheck despite not having many quality scoring chances.

White's stupid pass to not clear the zone was the beginning of the end for us. Then the PP sucked and Zubrus takes the penalty and pretty much game over at that point.

The lack of intensity is VERY disappointing. A team that's looking to win a championship cannot afford to have these lapses. YES the Canes played great but we didn't. Losing is one thing but losing or not even being IN the game because of a lack of urgency is unacceptable and the players should be really upset with themselves. If this costs us the series it'll be 2 years in a row where we didn't have "it" in the playoffs.