A pleasant surprise

When you consider how poorly the New Jersey Devils played on Wednesday vs Buffalo and add to that the fact that Yann Danis was playing in goal in place of Martin Brodeur against the Boston Bruins at their rink,one had to be underwhelmed by the chances of winning.
But I was pleasantly surprised by Danis,the Devils play and getting a few breaks as the Devils EARNED a 2-1 win over the Bruins.
Dainus Zubrus slammed a rebound off a Jamie Langenbrunner/Zach Parise shot (2) with less than two minutes to play with the game winner.
David Clarkson scored the game first goal (3) and only other Devil goal.
The Devils will be in Tampa tomorrow for a rare 3:00 matinee'.
As they used to say in the old days of TV,Plenty of good seats available for that one!

Hell Raisers

1) One had to like what they saw from Yann Danis last night.
Danis had 31 saves and the goal that he allowed was not his fault as a Bruin shot shattered Johnny Oduya's stick and Boston eventually helped the loose puck find its way home.
Sensational evening for Danis.

2) Oduya was sent home to New Jersey with a "lower body injury" and will miss tomorrow's game in Tampa.
The Swede is expected to be ready to play for the Devils next game against Washington.

3) Both Devil goals came off rebounds,which follows my view of winning hockey,but the Clarkson goal came off yet another Nicklas Bergfors fly down the ice,fire and the goalie is then out of position for the putback.
If Bergfors can continue to mature,he is going to be a key part of this teams for years to come.

4) Doc Emrick often refers to the "Unseen hand" when looking at things that affect games and I am sure he said it last night (I watched on NESN) when with Boston having pulled Tim Thomas,someone smacked what looked like a sure goal off the top crossbar behind Danis that would tied the game.
I suppose the unseen hand wanted Danis to be rewarded for his outing.

5) The shorthanded Devils defensemen played extra with the loss of Oduya and played well all things considered.
Cory Murphy will likely see game action in Tampa in the place of Oduya.

Bonus Rounds

The Devils played Illka Pikkarainen more than usual.
I didn't see anything to get excited about,but he did have his best game of the season,even though he didn't have a point.

Yes,even though the Devils do have the best play by play man in hockey,I did watch on NESN.
The NESN overall team of Kathryn Tappen,Mike Milbury in studio and color man Andy Brickley more than covers for the limits of play by play voice Jack Edwards and it is fun to mix it up a little.NESN does such a good job,I think because they only have the Bruins in the winter as a competitor has the Celtics.
Besides,it gives me a chance to use this picture again from last season!

Back later or tomorrow with Pigskin Picks and my thoughts on a topic that three readers sent me the same link to!

Photo Credits
Zubrus:Charles Krupa-AP Photo
Danis:Elsa-Getty Imes
Tappen:NESN