Devils handle Habs 4-1.Brodeur injured

In a game that saw Martin Brodeur earn the win despite leaving the game due to injury after one period,the New Jersey Devils easily handled the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 in Quebec on Super Bowl Sunday.
Ilya Kovalchuk led the Devils with two goals (16 and 17 empty net) with Dainius Zubrus (10) and Travis Zajac (9) scoring the other goals.
The Devils host Carolina tomorrow night in the first of three matchups against the Hurricanes over the next eleven days....

Hell Raisers

1) Martin Brodeur injured his right knee in the first period and will not start tomorrow against Carolina.
Johan Hedberg finished the game yesterday and will get the start tomorrow.
Brodeur finished the period and left the game during intermission and watched the remainder of the game from the skyboxes....

2) Brodeur has played so well of late and the Devils have to be hoping that he misses just a short period of time.
Ever since Jacques Lemaire sat Brodeur for a stretch to work on some issues,Brodeur has been back to his dominant self.

3) The likely roster addition for Brodeur tomorrow night will be Mike McKenna from Albany as the emergency need replacement.
This would be the third time this season for McKenna,who played in one game in his earlier stints..

4) Ilya Kovalchuk was the best player on the ice for both teams and if not for two terrific saves by Carey Price,Kovalchuk could have had four goals on the day.
I know most would say that Kovalchuk turns it on when it is meaningless and they might have a point,but I am hoping that he is finally adjusting to what the Devils do....

5) Loved the Devils forecheck yesterday,especially in the first period.
Often times the forecheck is what establishes the tone of the game and New Jersey forced Montreal into defensive mode early by dominating on the forecheck...

6) One more word on a player that didn't start well,but has picked his game up strongly of late in Henrik Tallinder.
Tallinder struggled early in the season,but over the last month has played well and seems to teaching Mark Fayne and Anssi Salmela a bit about being a NHL D-Man.
Tallinder was credited for helping Tyler Myers considerably last year in Buffalo and it was hoped that he would be the same type of tutor for the Devils,which right now he is...

Hope to be back later with some Super Bowl thoughts or maybe Part five of the Danny Rosenbaum interview....

Photo Credit:AP Photo