Patrik Elias (8) broke a scoreless tie in the second period and the New Jersey Devils were threatened no further as they cruised to a 3-1 win over the Florida Panthers at the Rock in Newark.
The Devils would add third period goals from Paul Martin (1) and Brian Gionta (4) before allowing a Florida power play goal to conclude the scoring.
The Devils host the New York Islanders tonight at 7.
Hell Raisers
1) Scott Clemmensen played well in earning the win and points to Brent Sutter for seeming to grasp the concept o
f using the goalie that is on the hot streak between Clemmensen and Kevin Weekes.Too many coaches would be committed to playing the veteran and lose out on the Clemmensen type playing a few solid games..
2) The Elias goal came off the backhand and was the Devils only shot of the period.
Elias has now scored four goals in three games since the Larry Brooks article that suggested that he be moved elsewhere....
3) Two assists for the suddenly rejuvenated Dainius Zubrus in the game and his line with Elias and Gionta looked good as well,perhaps this line can stay together for a while???
4) Anssi Salmela continues to give me some hope that the Devils may have finally found their puck moving defenseman.
I hate to jump the gun on a guy that has yet to score a goal,,but the Finnish blueliners play has impressed me over the last few weeks....
5) The Devils really need to win both of the back to back home games against weaker competition and the back end tonight against the Islanders looms large.
The Devils need to scrap for every point at this time as point deficits can be hard to make up once things are out of control.
Plus after tonight's game,the Devils will not play again at the Rock until Dec 10th!
That means five games on the road.
Bullpen Notes
To the Buckeye fans out there,Please do not take tomorrow's game lightly.
This is the type of game in the rivalry that the underdog wins,so I am not assuming anything until the game is over!!
Tomorrow looks to be a great sports day here as the Ohio State-Michigan game is followed by Penn State-Michigan State (which would mean nothing with an OSU loss) and Texas Tech-Oklahoma at night.
Plus with tape rolling of the Rotten Apple Cup between 0-11 Washington and 1-10 Washington State and the IBF Jr Welterweight title at 10 between Paul Malignaggi and Ricky Hatton,looks like a great day!
Now,if I only was off work!!!!
My favorite Devils blog In Lou We Trust has joined the blog colossus and gives the Devils their own SB Nation blog.
Some of the best team blogs are located on SB Nation,but pick and choose for yourself,the Seahawks blog there is tremendous,while the Browns is below mediocre...
Speaking of the Browns,the Bill Cowher talk continues as MSNBC (now there is a great sports source) says that Cowher was approached and offered a contract for 8-9 million per year.
Sorry,putting the former Steeler stuff to the side-no coach did less with more than Bill Cowher did and if you land him,this appears to right out of the Parcells/Johnson book.
That book was entitled "I really didn't want to do this,but they just threw too much damn money at me to turn down".
Until tomorrow with Devils-Islanders and our annual OSU-michigan post.
Photo Credits
Elias:AP Photo
Clemmensen:Bruce Bennett-Getty Images
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