The New Jersey Devils received two goals from an unlikely source,as Mike Rupp scored his first two goals of the season in the first two periods,but sadly the rest of the team was ineffective and the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Devils 4-2 and as a result sent the Devils spiraling from first place to third in the Atlantic Division.
The culprit to me was poor defensive play,most notably by Johnny Oduya.
A Oduya miscue in puck handling led to the Penguins game tying goal in the second and started the momentum for the visitors from Pittsburgh.
The timing was even more suspect when you consider that Mike Rupp had scored his second goal seconds earlier and killed any New Jersey visit from 'Uncle Mo".
The other three goals that Pittsburgh scored all were of the mucking variety-Devils defenders unable to clear either the puck or the crease of Pittsburgh invaders.
Poor.Poor.Poor.
The Devils were somewhat hampered by the loss of Captain Jamie Langenbrunner for the evening to the flu (I personally can relate),but Pittsburgh was without Cindy Crosby and they managed OK.
Brent Sutter was not happy with the play of the Parise,Zajac and Gionta line and their lack of opportunities.
“Your best players need to be your best players,” and “That’s what this month has come down to. We’ve had too much inconsistency. Other teams’ top players have outplayed ours.”
That is why I like Sutter-all about accountabilty.
I like all three of those guys,but the facts are the facts.
The Devils return to action Friday at the Rock to kick off February against the Blueshirts from Manhattan.
Bullpen Notes
Sorry,it has been a while since a new post.
There was not much to write about over the weekend and I have been battling the flu the last few days,so please accept my apologies..
We have accumulated some tosses from the bullpen,so we will use them all over the next two posts.
John Edwards will announce his withdrawal from the Democratic race later this afternoon.
More on this as the main object of our next post...
The Cleveland Browns and coach Romeo Crennel have worked out a two year extension of Crennel's contract.
The 60 year old Crennel is now under contract until 2010.
I might not have done this deal yet,but it was not an unreasonable extension in my opinion..
In other Browns news,the team offered Derek Anderson and Jamal Lewis new contracts.
Both players are free agents effective on Feb 28,but Anderson is a restricted FA.
Reports are that Anderson was offered a three year contract and Lewis a two year deal.
Fully behind an Anderson offer,but we prefer a one year for more money deal for Lewis.
The sudden decline of Shaun Alexander has us a bit leery of older backs right now.
Ryan tells us about a rumored deal between the Devils and the Calgary Flames that would swap young stars Zack Parise and Dion Phaneuf.
As much as I like Parise,it seems to be more likely to find Parise's type player than Phaneuf,which would give the Devils what their fans still pine for-the next Scott Stevens.
Saturday's IBF Heavyweight eliminator was an Ok fight,but could have been better.
Alexander Povetkin earned the next shot at champ Wladimir Klitschko with his unanimous decision win over Eddie Chambers.
Chambers won the first four rounds on our card before inexplicably reducing his punch output.
We scored the battle for Povetkin 116-112 ,with the Russian sweeping the last eight rounds.
Finally,former WBA Heavyweight titlist John Ruiz is back and "ready to clean up the division".
Those are his words-not mine!
Hard to take a guy too seriously when his idea of a combination is a jab,a grab and a clinch.
Back later with John Edwards withdrawal and more Bullpen Notes.
Photo Credit
Rupp-Rich Schultz-AP Photo
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