Lemaire still not completely satisfied with Devils' play

After watching his team wrap up the preseason with a 4-2 win over the Islanders tonight, you would think that Devils coach Jacques Lemaire would be pleased.

The Devils finished the preseason with a 4-0-1 record and got good production from their top line of Zach Parise, Travis Zajac and Jamie Langenbrunner, which scored two goals, including Zajac's game-winner in the second.

Still, Lemaire didn't see the consistency he wants his team to play with when it opens the regular season Saturday night against the Flyers at Prudential Center.

"Highs and lows, [that's] how we played," Lemaire said. "Two good shifts. Two bad shifts. One good shift. One bad shift. The thing that is happening is we don't have five guys working together. That's why we don't have consistency in our game."

Lemaire's displeasure was somewhat understandable. The Devils were outshot 8-3 in the third period after taking a 3-2 lead in the second. They did add to their lead in the third with Brendan Shanahan's goal, but Lemaire felt they spent too much time in the defensive zone, particularly his top three lines. He credited the fourth line of Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond, Rod Pelley and Andrew Peters for playing more in the offensive zone.

The Parise-Zajac-Langenbrunner busted out with two goals after not producing the previous two games, but Lemaire was left wanting more from them as well.

"They moved the puck two good shifts, three good shifts, two bad ones," Lemaire said. "But I could see that when they moved the puck and they worked together, you see the difference right away. They're really dangerous. But they have to give this all the time and they've got to get support from the defensemen."

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Lemaire stressed that he didn't want to see letdowns in intensity.

"Its not a relaxing game anymore," he said. "It's very intense. You can see it. Both sides it's intense. As soon as you're not intense, one side takes over. It's black and white. Black and white. At a time, I played the first three lines a couple of times each and didn't use the fourth line and then we were all in our end, struggling, getting in the neutral zone, but no offense whatsoever. Then, I put the fourth line and we went in their zone and played there and then went back to the top lines and everyone was still in [the defensive] zone.

"You're looking from one side that you can't get out or you're having a hard time getting out or a hard time making plays and go and have sustained pressure in their zone to totally the opposite. You see that as soon as they get together and they work together they look good." 

***

Lemaire said the lineup tonight was "pretty close" to the lineup he'll dress in Saturday's regular season opener.

"One or two players could be different," he said.

Other subjects Lemaire discussed after the game:

On Rob Niedermayer's play: "First game pretty good. I didn't like the penalty (high stick in second period that led to Mark Streit's 5-on-3 goal), but it's part of the game. I'm sure he didn't like it either."

On moving Dainius Zubrus between Brendan Shanahan and Niclas Bergfors and having Rob Niedermayer center Brian Rolston and David Clarkson: "I just wanted to see the difference. Rollie could check the top line too and I heard that Clarkson was in pretty much a checking role last year too. So, I felt that let's try them together and see how it's going to look.

On whether the lines will remain the same Saturday: "Saturday we'll know."

On how he'll handle the alternate captains (Zubrus and Paul Martin had the A's tonight): "I don't know yet. I haven't talked to the coaching staff. I haven't talked to Lou (Lamoriello) about it. We'll sit and discuss it."

On the five fights: "It was a scrappy game."

On whether he liked how his team handled itself: "Oh yeah. Very much."

On Mike Mottau in his first game back from an upper-body injury: "He's fine. He was out for a couple of days, but I thought he played fine. He battled. A little bit you could see it at times that all of the defensemen had a little tough time with the puck at different times. Other times, they were just great, making the right play, getting the puck out, skating with it. It's only when they take it and they want to send it up. Sometimes you don't send it up. You've got to skate. And it's up to them to find that out. You can control it, but you have to find it out. There's a time to skate and there's a time to send the puck up. It's up to the individual to be able to do this the best they can."

On PLL Leblond's play tonight: "I was pleased with the way he played. Not a liability defensively. Does his job. I liked that line."

{The end}

Comments

[iamtheprodigy]

Good, nice to see that Jacques is not going to settle with a win but push for really good, solid play.

[Noam N. Kogen]

Lemaire is already a lot better than Brent "Turncoat" or "Quitter" or "Phony Baloney" Sutter.

[gambi99]

I feel that another move or moves are coming later today or tomorrow. Lemaire saying that they are looking at all avenues to get better, yes that could be a generic answer but I just have a funny feeling that somebody we don't expect might be on their way out (that could be to make room for Halischuk).

[gambi99]

Also it seems that there is no way Lemaire wants to keep both Murphy and Greene with his "they are both here until other moves" and "we don't know when". Seems like one is on their way out.

[GG]

How do waivers work during preseason? If multiple teams place a claim, does it go by the reverse order of the previous season's regular season?

[Topshlf]

I doubt that Murphy will be going anywhere. 4 points in 4 games should have garnered him a spot in the lineup to see what he can do.

[RickyM2]

What Lemaire said about "5 guys not working together" is EXACTLY what Sutter needed to do to win the EC. Those inconsistent shifts were killing us. Now he finally addressed it, but this time PRESEASON!! I think we will be on to a great season.

[Steven]

TG, how did Rob Niedermayer look tonight?

[kstatik]

Lemaire is also doing all his line juggling early too - very good idea. Find out who's showing chemistry.
He's clearly taking stock to see what he has at his disposal, he's very calculated and smart about it.

[modnarm]

hm.. do we see a trade.. or just a move? I think one of the players that will be different saturday is the addition of Pandolfo in the lineup. Maybe his presence was missed on the PK?

[Maxwell]

On the five fights: "I was a scrappy game."

kstatik - you gotta Photoshop Lemaire's face on the head of a, say, quail? Maybe as a pirate as well?

Arrr... I was a scrappy game!

[A Dark Knight]

some thoughts from the game:
-1st period was sloppy, had a hard time controlling the puck
-2nd period was great, other than the penalties we were able to recover and get some goals
-ZZPops line found its chemistry again...Zajac's goal was REALLY nice, great set up by Parise (Zach could've scored a couple more goals tonight if it wasn't for the puck bouncing off his stick a few times)
-Rolston's goal was a soft one by Roloson, however Rolston should get a lot of credit for this one, he made a nice bounce pass off the boards to himself ala Ovechkin (except it was slower and he wasn't faced backwards)
-Reilichz or whatever his name is is a joke, first he tries to fight White (who we all know doesn't do that anymore, and then he comes back later after a different fight and pushes him down, he shouldve been thrown out
-Marty was Marty

[Drew G,]

I am a bit lost, why has Jay Pandalfo not played the last two games? I expect him to be playing when the season starts, but it was really strange not seeing him in the last two games. Is he hurt or did he just not play? I was wondering, because I found it a little strange seeing as I expected to see him in the final preseason game after him not playing on Saturday.

[Anhkheg]

I love LeMaire's approach, similar to Burns. The coach knows if the team plays to perfection, they will always win more than they will lose. This is exactly what the Devs need as a coach. Lemaire doesnt expect the team to win every game, but he expects them to play consistently. I love it.

[modnarm]

hes still 'sore' .... or packaged in a trade that will give us cap space for SCOTT NIEDERMAYER and roster space for Halischuk

of course i'm not serious but... its fun to dream. .. and disheartening.

[TG]

That was obviously a typo by me on the fight quote. I have corrected.

[TG]

On Pandolfo: he was a late scratch in Saturday's game because he was, in Lemaire's words, "sore". He also skipped practice Sunday. He skated on Monday and today, but looked to be testing a leg injury when I saw him take the ice at first on Monday morning.

Anyway, no need to rush him into a preseason game today. Let him recover fully and be ready for the start of the regular season.

[BF]

I like that Lemaire doesnt have a man crush on his own players like someone else that we remember from the last two years.

[NeilS]

GG in the preseason for sure, and I believe up to a certain point in the regular season, waiver priority goes by the prior season's standings, so the Islanders get the first claim, etc etc etc.

I really like what we're getting from Lemaire, he's a perfectionist and that could be just the push this team needs. Sutter was too set in his ideas to see they weren't working or making the team better.