Martin says he's OK after near knee-on-knee hit from Drury

Devils defenseman Paul Martin said his right knee was OK after a near knee-on-knee collision with the Rangers Chris Drury in a 3-2 loss to the Blueshirts at Prudential Center.

The collision occurred between the circles in the Devils' zone with 3:42 left in the first period. Drury's right leg connected with Martin's right leg and both plays went down.

Martin admitted he was initially concerned that he was injured.

"It had a weird feeling about it at first, like a stinger kind of," Martin said. "Then, as the game went on, it loosened up and felt better."

Martin said, "it kind of was" a knee-on-knee collision.

"But I knew he wouldn't do that on purpose," Martin said. "If anything, he might have tried to get out of the way. I'm not sure. I don't think he would have done it on purpose."

Drury said it was not intentional.

"I was forechecking as hard as I could," he said. "I am not trying to hurt anyone or knee anybody. I haven't seen the tape, but our video guys said I didn't really do anything. I didn't stick my leg out. I was just going right at him. He is so shifty, he moved out of the way and I just caught a bad part of him. I'm glad he is OK. I am certainly not trying to go knee-on-knee with anybody."

Martin's defense partner, Johnny Oduya, didn't think it was on purpose either, but he still thought it was a "dangerous" play and immediately jumped Drury. Oduya wasn't sure why he got a four-minute double minor for roughing and Drury only got two minutes for kneeing.

"I think that's a more dangerous play," Oduya said of the kneeing. "I don't think it was intentional, but to come across like that, guys get hurt."

In hindsight, Oduya regretted his actions because Ales Kotalik scored the goal that tied it at 2-2 on the resulting Rangers' power play..

"For sure because they scored a goal," he said. "Afterward, it's not a good thing if they scored goal. I thought maybe I would get two (minutes). But you don't want to get scored on."

Devils coach Jacques Lemaire said Oduya's reaction was understandable and did not seem to blame him.

"He wants to show he's protecting the guys and all of this." Lemaire said. "That's normal how a player wwill think. I was surprised he got four minutes. I was more upset [about] the four minutes than anything else because they're doing the hit that could have injured a player and we ended up with the extra penalty."

***

I'll have more later after I've finished writing my story for the newspaper.

Comments

[NJDevils44]

Thanks TG. Disappointed with the third goal Brodeur let in...

[Scratch]

Bring Shanny back please oh please, someone beg him to come back...this team is not looking good, young guys for the most part invisible, at times plain bad. ZZPops have not found their groove yet, Marty looks average at best and Murphy is like having a Roomba...tiny, all over the ice and just sucks...let's bring Greene back please!

[Mike]

You know this team is in abysmal shape when there's clamoring for Greene to suit up.

[Nik (no C)]

you know, I could have bought matching minors when Oduya smothered Drury after that hit. But Odie getting a double minor after Martin takes a knee on knee, a missed too many men on the Rangers, the delay of game call when I could have sworn I heard the puck hit the glass... But bottom line, the Devils still can't get the puck past lungfish with any consistency.

[Speedz]

Can't we have an adversity free season for once. Last year was enough..

[devilsfan]

Last year will seem like a party compared to this one, way too many holes and guys on the downside of their careers.

[Mike O.]

I'll give the Devils about 10 more games to get their &%&^$ together before I start to get worried.

[modnarm]

we had PLENTY of adversity last season Speedz. or do u not remember 100 injuries + Marty haha.

on another note, YES i would resign martin for 5 years @ 4mil per. call me crazy but i would. Our other options??? NOTHING.

I agree, Drury didn't do it on purpose. He's a solid player and has a clean rep.

[Nik (no C)]

I hear ya Mike, still doesn't make the bitter pill of losing to the Rangers any easier to swallow.

[iamtheprodigy]

"I'll give the Devils about 10 more games to get their &%&^$ together before I start to get worried."

I'm impressed to see another poster here speaking logically. Everyone else around here all jumped off the side of the building, drank poison on the way down and then shot themselves before impact.

[rangerssuck]

F*** this team. Lou is a f****** idiot for not signing anybody and thinking this team now can do damage. This team f****** sucks. Im sorry for kind of cursing but im soooo pissed off!!!!!!!!!!!!

[A Local Fan]

WOO HOO!!!! That was a great game by my boys. Gilroy is the next Leetch. I know that might sound crazy but it's not. The guy is all over the ice, he controls the game. Thank you Mr. Sather.

I didn't do any gloating at the game like my friends did but it was sure was fun. The Rangers skate well, they forecheck well, and the HORRIBLE defenseman are always pinching.

Marty looked old as he let in another softy. I hate watching the decline of a superstar. But you guys didn't look too bad.

[Speedz]

That's what I"m say modnarm, last year, hella drama. This year, the pattern continues.

[Mike O.]

This team misses Elias because he gives the devils a credible 2nd scoring line. All we have now is the ZZPops line.....and a bunch of players thrown together.

[iamtheprodigy]

"F*** this team. Lou is a f****** idiot for not signing anybody and thinking this team now can do damage. This team f****** sucks. Im sorry for kind of cursing but im soooo pissed off!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Good, then leave and go root for some other team. Since signing free agents seems to be your thing, I recommend Chicago for your next team. Have fun.

[C'mon Marty]

That's 2 games we outshot the other team and I really don't think the team played poorly.

I do think that Marty isn't the same Marty since he reached his milestone.

I hope he bounces back because I am looking forward to seeing him when he gets back.

If he doesn't it's going to be a looong season.

[iamtheprodigy]

"All we have now is the ZZPops line.....and a bunch of players thrown together."

People keep saying this, yet I think Zubrus, Clarkson, and Bergfors have been our best players so far this year. So I don't know why everyone dismisses them and says "All we have is ZZPops!"

*shrug*

[RandomHero]

ALF didn't your team start well last year? What did they get out of that.

[Mike O.]

In my opinion...the Flyers and Rangers looked like they were in mid-season form and the Devils looked like they were playing their 1st preseason game.

[iamtheprodigy]

RandomHero: Don't feed the troll. That's exactly what he wants. Let him celebrate... alone.

Or perhaps some of the suicidal Devils fans here will join him now. Wouldn't be much of a loss for our fanbase, IMO.

[TheUnseenHand]

IMO both teams looked lax, uninspired, and uninterested. Both teams have more potential then they showed, both teams will get better. It was a boring game number two of an 82 game schedule. If the Devs look like they did tonight a couple weeks from now I will be very worried. For now I will try to forget about this game that absolutely could have went either way and was not dominated at all by either team.

[iamtheprodigy]

Mike O.: I strongly disagree with that. If that were true, we would have gotten blown out of both games. We didn't. We could have been in the Flyers game had Marty been sharper and we were only one goal behind the Rags. Plus, we outshot both teams. The Flyers and Rags looked shaky too, just not as disjointed as us. It's the beginning of the season and all the teams are finding their legs and building chemistry with the new faces.

[steve]

wow what a bunch of whining wuss-bags. game #2.. move on people

[Frankie D]

I don't understand why Marty has to flop around so much on the first goal to make that save, thus putting him wayyy out of position for the rebound.

On the 2nd goal, you have to stop long shots from the point, period.

One the 3rd goal, yeah it was pretty point blank, but you can't let a low shot beat you. Top corner, fine. But not a low shot right by your foot.

[Nik (no C)]

Niedermayer looked good too, and not because he scored a goal. I said it on the last thread, Marty needs to go back to his old mask, he has been awful since adopting that "MB30" logo. I know he isn't into superstitions, maybe he should start :p