Devils pick up the pace!

The New Jersey Devils had a pretty lousy first period all around falling behind 2-0 and generally looking flat until Travis Zajac tipped (13)a Mark Fayne shot into the net with roughly a minute to go in the period.
From then on,the Devils controlled the pace and the puck as Patrik Elias (16) tied it up in the second and Jacob Josefson's goal (2) in the third was the game winner.
Ilya Kovalchuk mopped up with an empty netter (26) to finish the 4-2 win.
The Devils have back to back outings on Thursday and Friday with a trip to Ottawa and a home game against Washington....

Hell Raisers

1) The Devils had a makeup call go their way late in the game.
Unfortunately for Atlanta,the call made up for the game winner last week in the Devils loss to Ottawa.
Evander Kane touched the puck with a high stick with Atlanta having six skaters on the ice and his goal was waved off.
It was close,but a good call.....

2) Travis Zajac tied the Devils consecutive game record held by Ken Daneyko in the win.
It was the 388th game in a row for Zajac,who will set a new standard in Ottawa Thursday.

3) Jacob Josefson and Mattias Tedenby are both Swedes and former first round picks,so it was thought that they would have chemistry on the same line at some point.
That has come quickly and the result was clear on the game winner as Tedenby set up in the corner and hit Josefson perfect in the circle for the bullet that doomed Atlanta.
These two look to be stars for the Devils for quite a while and they are going to fun to watch grow and develop...

4) The win moved the Devils into a tie in points with Atlanta and Toronto at seventy,but with the NHL's new tie breakers that places more weight on non-shootout wins,the Devils would win that one over both teams.
Carolina's win over Buffalo leaves the Devils six points behind the Sabres for the final playoff spot.

5) Martin Brodeur didn't have to be great in the final two periods,but he sure did in the first.
Despite allowing two goals and ending the Devils scoreless first period run,it was Brodeur stepping up and keeping things close with his work in the first period that meant the difference in this game..

Hope to be back later or tomorrow with a few different posts and finish the Pirate prospect series....

Photo Credit-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images