Kovalchuk shoots down Rangers!

In a game that had a playoff type atmosphere,Ilya Kovalchuk's breakaway goal (21) off a Marc Staal error in the second period was the only one of the contest as the New Jersey Devils won their sixth game in a row with a 1-0 win over the visiting New York Rangers.
Johan Hedberg stopped all sixteen Ranger shots to earn the shutout.
The Devils start a four game road swing that will truly decide whether the team has any real hopes of a miracle playoff spot or will be active sellers by the trade deadline tonight in Raleigh against the Hurricanes.

Hell Raisers

1) It was great to see the Rock,well Rockin with a sellout crowd and the fans really into the game.
The Ranger games usually do sell out as Ranger fans come and often times are louder than the home fans.
Not on this night and give lots of credit to OUR fans for not allowing the visitors to take over as they often do.....

2) Ilya Kovalchuk continues to amaze me with his play of late.
Every game,it seems like Kovalchuk does something incredible as he did last night as his romp up ice off a simple clear that bounced off Marc Staal's skate and what basically was a penalty shot for the game winner.
Kovalchuk is finally in form and assuming the Devils can find a way to keep Zach Parise,the league had better be ready next season for sure....



3) The Devils defense deserved a lot of credit in this one as the defense simply clamped down on the Rangers and didn't allow them many scoring chances.
The only exception was the third period shot by Ryan Callahan that almost went in but hit the crossbar.
Other than that,no problems...

4) Andy Greene played an excellent game and looked very confident in moving the puck.
Greene's play has been a major reason for the Devils much improved defense along with major improvements on the Devils backchecking....

5) Tim Sestito cleared waivers,but no word as of yet whether he will stay with the Devils or be shipped to Albany....

6) I hate giving credit to Rangers,but Henrik Lundquist was great in this one.
This game could have been a 3 or 4 goal win for the Devils without strong netminding by Lundquist....

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