What went wrong?

I don't know that I've ever seen anything like the end of the Devils' 4-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes tonight in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals at Prudential Center.

It is probably the worst defeat I've witnessed in hockey.

When I talked to Jamie Langenbrunner afterward, he was still at a loss for words. I asked him if he, as captain, said anything in the postgame locker room to his teammates before the room was opened to the media.

"No one did," he said. "It was stone silent in here. I don't think any of us knew what to say, to be honest with you. If you think of something, tell me."

I haven't, yet. 

Left wing Zach Parise sat with his head in his hands for most of the time the media was in the locker room. He didn't even look up when I asked him about what he was feeling.

"We're all a little bit in shock right now about what happened, being so close to the second round," he said.

"It's shocking," goaltender Martin Brodeur agreed. "We did everything we could. We worked really hard in this game. Guys performed really well. There's nothing to be ashamed of in losing like that. It's definitely shocking. That's the bottom line,. We had them on the ropes. We had a four-minute penalty with a one-goal lead and we had tons of decent chances..We had a couple of them from the outside, but we had two or three of them right in the goalmouth there and we just couldn't put it in. When you leave a team playing the way they play hanging around they're going to score. They make plays, But it's really disappointing."

The search for reasons why the Devils collasped and gave up two in the final 1:20 tonight will continue well into this summer.

The immediate answers aren't simple, but I'll try to go through them best I can without reviewing the game again, which I'll try to do tomorrow.

It started with the four-minute high-sticking double-minor on Tim Gleason against Parise with 2:40 left in the second period. The Devils ended up with six shots on that power play and could not convert against Cam Ward, who was excellent again tonight in making 33 saves.

Somehow many Devils' fans were cheering the Rangers' loss to the Capitals while their team was wasting its chance to put away the Hurricanes.

Langenbrunner had a couple of chances with about 3:00 left and John Madden had two shots on separate 2-on-1 rushes and Ward stopped them all.

"I was in close. I was in tight. I couldn't get it up," Langenbrunner said. "In hindsight, yeah, it would have been nice to pull it across and maybe deke him. We have some 2-on-1s, that I'm sure it would have been great if they would have gone in."

"We had our chances to put them away," Brodeur said. "We left a team that luck follows them against us hanging around and again the puck bounced on their side again."

***

The Devils starting sitting back well before Jussi Jokinen scored the tying goal with 1:20 left. Devils coach Brent Sutter said it was the last three minutes.

It caught up to them on that extended stretch when the Devils could not get the puck out of the zone -- though the Hurricanes never pulled goaltender Cam Ward. Niclas Havelid intercepted one pass in front, but sent the puck back to Tim Gleason at the right point. Zach Parise blocked Gleason's right point shot, but Gleason was able to keep the puck in at the blue line.

Finally, Joni Pitkanen made a cross-ice pass to Jokinen for a one-timer from the right circle that beat Brodeur between the pads. Jokinen scored the winner in Game 4 with 0.2 seconds left in regulation.

"We had our chances to get the puck out on that shift," Brodeur said. "They were putting a lot of pressure on us. They were just all over us and they had a hard time getting the puck out and we went running around and they round a lane for a one-timer and [Jokinen] made a good shot, but it just went through my legs, hit the far post and went in."

"Unfortunately, we got caught on that shift there." Langenbrunner said. "When you get caught tired, bad things are going to happen. For whatever reason, we were still reeling there and they shot for the winner."

Sutter called a timeout with 44.4 seconds left after a Devils' icing, but that didn't do anything to settle the players down. Sutter still had his checking line of Jay Pandolfo, John Madden and Brendan Shanahan on with defenseman Colin White and Mike Mottau against Eric Staal's line.

They alllowed Staal to enter the zone with speed on the right wing. With Mottau pressuring him to shoot, Staal let go a wrist shot that beat Brodeur between his blocker and pants.

"Seven hole," Brodeur said. "I was in good position. He made a better shot and beat me. I was right where I was supposed to be. Good players with that much speed. They're going to make some shots."

"That last rush, it wasn't intellegent decisions made in the neutral zone that allowed them to come through with speed," Sutter said. "That was something we took away the whole night. I really don't know what to say. It was a breakdown in the last three minutes of execution -- I guess the last minute and a half. I thought we were on our heels too much in the last three minutes trying to protect the lead and I guess to some degree that's an instinct that you have.

"It's what happens when you get to a Game 7. Anything can happen and it seemed another thing happened."

***

According to whowins.com, the Carolina comeback in the final 1:20 is the latest by a road team in a Game 7 in NHL history. The 1993 Toronto Maple Leafs held the previous record from the 1993 Norris Division Semifinals in Detroit, when they scored the tying goal with 2:44 remaining in regulation and won on Nikolai Borschevsky's goal 2:35 into overtime.

The latest that a team trailed in a Game 7 and won was with 1:15 left in the third period. The 1979 Monrtreal Canadiens scored the tying goal 1:14 remaining against Boston in the league semifinals and won 5-4 on Yvon Lambert's goal 9:33 into overtime to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Comments

[Dave]

Yeah, Brent, another thing happened.

[Pearl Jammed]

totally disgusted..... there needs to be some accountability for this. Its the worst playoff loss ever, and they need to apologize to their fans. I, for one, and tired of putting down my hard earned money to watch these guys choke against a lesser team EVERY YEAR.

[Baggy Spandex]

unreal. Simply heartbreaking. FML.

[Dave]

But thanks for a great season of coverage, TG. Also, thanks to the Devils players for a lot of great moments this year. It's heartbreaking that it slipped away like this. I live in Los Angeles now, and part of me thinks that if I had been able to get to the game and add one more voice screaming at the top of my lungs, maybe it would have made that difference, haha. The only game I got to see in person this year was the loss to Toronto the last week of the regular season, while I was back home for Passover. But it was still great to get to the Rock and feel like I was back among my (extended) Jersey family again.

Here's hoping to Ducks-Devils in the finals next year! So I can help turn the Pond into home ice...

[Jim B]

Nothing to be ashamed of? Marty are you f**kin kidding me?

[Marcus Crespilho]

WOW

[Thanks for nothing losers]

What went wrong, lets see. Overated Marty chokes, Sutter with his stupid line matching effed us again. Lou with your crappy old slow loser aquisitions an AHL defense and a powerplay that couldn't score in a whorehouse with $100 bills lining the floor might sum it up.

I am so sick of seeing 100 point seasons amount to nothing.

Thanks for screwing the fans you losers. Why bother making the playoffs if you are just going to tank again. I am so sick and tired and upset that I spend so much time and emotion following this team to have them screw me again. I can't take it anymore.

Thanks for wasting my time and giving me a freaking heart attack, I want to kill something right now.

[LIDevsFan]

In this series we saw, once and for all, that this D-unit is not good enough. My view for 2 years is that until this crew stares down a playoff onslaught and comes out on the other side of it, we'll wonder about them regardless of what they do in the regular season. To my surprise, though, it wasn't Oduya, or Mottau, or Greene who made the critical mistakes. Game 6 was lost after Colin White's bonehead pass to a not-looking Pandolfo led to goal #1 and Paul Martin's missed "fair catch" led to goal #2 (did anyone else out there recall Eric Weinrich vs. Pittsburgh circa early 90's on that one?). Paul Martin looked like he had no sense of urgency tonight in Game 7, made numerous mistakes, and Colin WHite decided that he'd stop being a stay-at-home defensive defenseman with an eyesight problem in the last minute of a tied Game 7 and pinch with Eric Staal on the ice. Brilliant! Having these 2 guys at the top of the D-depth chart is a problem.

There are 5 million reasons that Brian Rolston was a disappointment this season.

I'm sorry, I respect Lou a lot, but what he was thinking when he gave that contract to Zubust (or Zubum) is beyond me. I can't think of one thing that Zubum/Zubust does well. Not one.

By the way, where was Elias after Game 1?

Those of you who on here who rag on Langenbrunner are nuts. The guy plays hard, he scores big goals, he agitates, and he sticks up for his teammates. Last year, I thought he was THE choice for captain. Now, I can see Parise with the "C" someday soon.

I've been going to games regularly since 1984 ... and after tonight, now I have seen it all.

[Braddock]

Can you smell what the Rock is cooking?

[A Local Fan]

The team is joke. Gut the team and start over. Does anyone think that this team could've beaten the Caps let alone win the Cup even if we would've won tonight? The team is old and slow and made up of gutless players.

Take notes from the Rangers. They played a great game in Washington and after they lost I had to sit there and watch the end of the Devils with my Ranger fan friends. They were so down but when the Devils choked they were jumping around. Thanks for putting me through that you gutless pukes. Marty is no longer a clutch goalie. Fatso let up 3 softies tonight. I'm furious that my hockey season is over. Screw the Devils.

[Ben]

Sorry folks, Marty is spot on when he says they let the Canes hang around the entire series. The Devs outplayed them a lot this series. You can't let teams hang around.

(Just watching highlights now - White was sooooo out of position on Whitney's goal, the Canes 2nd one).

[Sergeich]

Gotta love it, Marty is the only talkative one... one lousy goal one minute into the game and one lousy goal *77th hole* one minute before the end of the game: 50%. I wasn't gonna blame him for the obvious reasons as the whole team was playing "i hope nothing bad happens if I cross my fingers and pussy out"... argh.

Broken-hearted... and looking forward towards the next season. Go Devils!

[Brad K]

Worst game I've ever been to, and I've been to every single playoff game since 1993. This one hurts just as much if not more than the losses in the Cup Finals. I used to think how bad it would have been to be a Flyers fan in 2000 or a Senators fan in 2003 when we won Game 7 in their building with just a couple of minutes left. But they didn't have the lead with under 2 minutes to go! This team, Lou in particular, needs to take a good look at this roster and not just tweak it this offseason. There is a serious character issue - winning teams don't have trouble showing up in Game 6 when they can eliminate a team, they don't lose with 0.2 seconds left, and they certainly don't lose when they have a one goal lead with under 2 minutes to go. The only thing that gives me some peace of mind is to know that we really weren't going anywhere this year - even if we managed to hang on against the Canes these issues would have reappeared against the Caps. I don't know what the answer is, but it's not my job to figure it out. Lou and Brent need to figure out why this team looks unbeatable in front of Clemmer but plays so sloppily in front of Marty. It's going to be a long night, and an even longer offseason. Thanks TG for all your work on the blog this season. I really enjoy reading your updates and look forward to even more during the summer.

[Pearl Jammed]

I really hope EVERYONE reads this post because i honestly feel its the truth.

there will be plenty of blame flying around here over the next few months, and rightfully so. But its important to remember that ALL of the blame does not lie at Brent Sutter's feet. This team has TONS of playoff experience with guys like Jamie Langebrunner, Patrik Elias, Colin White, Brian Gionta, John Madden, Jay Pandolfo, Brendan Shanahan, Bobby Holik, the list goes on.... at what point do we hold the PLAYERS accountable for a collapse like this, infact when do we hold the PLAYERS accountable for many of the recent embarassing playoff losses. All i am saying here is that this is NOT all Brent Sutter's fault, although he has his own share of blame in this for sure.

[embo slice]

i will start by saying that marty is the best goalie of all time....but his play when it counted was only so-so....he played great on the 5 on 3 tonight and in game 5 from start to finish, but overall he has been average....i do love him, but i don't want to hear his interviews where he says the offense didn't do enough, as he usually always does after a loss.........umm we scored 3 tonight, in order to lose we had to give up 4......and marty did

[jeff]

That looked like it should have been a routine save by marty, and now i have nothing to cheer for till next season... Is the era of Marty truly over?

[RickyM2]

ALF!! GO F YOURSELF!! I've had enough of your crap. Go screw an hooker and die of AIDS!!!! Time to give it up!!! Rangers blew a 3-1 lead!! Devils played a real series. With the best hockey Ive ever seen. We will rebound next year because thats how we are!!! Rags will make excuses and try to get an extra draft pick because their last pick passed away. They are a shame to this planet!!!! As for Devils, i love you guys!!! The loss was horrible, but we as your true fans are here with you!!!! Shake it off, its over, and let's get that 2010 cup!!! After I finally shaked off the anger, I realized how many great moments you gave us. THANK YOU FOR AN EXCITING SERIES and an even more exciting year!!!!!! It's over for now. We've been through this before. We have to hold on and just deal with it!!! DEVILS FAN FOR LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[A Local Fan]

Marty is not done but now he is just an average goalie. Couple that with the fact that this team has NO defense and I star forwar and it equals alot of losing in the future.

I look back to November to when Marty went down and I actually was getting used to the idea of not being a playoff team and having a top pick in a great draft. Now we get a horrible pick and the pain of this loss. Thanks Scott Clemmensen.

[A Local Fan]

We will rebound next year because thats how we are!!! -Rickym2

Didn't we say that last year when the Rangers won in 5?

[jonathan]

When I was ten years old, I cried at Madison Square Garden when my dad and I dealt with losing to the Rangers in game seven in 1994. I have not cried over the Devils since. Tonight, I cried.

[Pearl Jammed]

ALF go party in the village with Gavery and get the pig flu you f#$k. You talk about the Rangers like they did so much better, they CHOKED bigger than the Devils did, they blew a 3-1 lead, and at the end of the day THEY BOTH LOST. get over yourself and go root for the Rangers full time like you have been threatening to. WE WON'T MISS YOU

[ZZPops9]

I still can't believe this. The way it ended was one of the worst feelings I've ever had - it ranks between Rivera on the mound in Game Seven of the 2001 World Series and the Nets blowing it against the Spurs in 2003. What a season, though, huh? It started by getting excited with the homecoming of Rollie, then turned to despair with Marty going down, and then we witnessed Parise become a star and Clemmer showing us to never stop believing, and we watched Marty make history. Then we tasted the President's Trophy before slipping into the late-season swoon. Then we had this - heartbreak of all heartbreaks. Not once - Jussi's goal with 0.2 left - but twice, tonight. Die-hards always mend their shattered hearts and always come back. This one is going to take a while, though.

[A Local Fan]

If Lou doesn't get some real players in here and this team keeps tanking in the playoffs, then I feel like Parise will want to leave. This kid is a star and he seems to have a tough time with all the losing.

This is Lou's fault. Lou please get some star power in here, preferably on defense or go retire down in Florida you old goat.

[.B.C.]

This one hurts. BAD.

[A Local Fan]

By the way I know everyone hates the Rangers but did anyone see what they did tonight? They played their best prospect in a game 7. Lou and Brent don't want to play our best prospect in a regular season game. I HATE LOU RIGHT NOW.