Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise each beat Jonathan Quick in the shootout for two quick tallies and substitute netminder Johan Hedberg made both saves as needed as the New Jersey Devils grabbed a win and two points in a 2-1 win over the visiting Los Angeles Kings.Patrik Elias (1) tied the game in the first period for the Devils only regulation goal.
New Jersey hits the road for the first time this season tomorrow night in Nashville at 8:00.
I might not have as detailed coverage as I would like with work and the dreaded eight o'clock start,but I'll try my best....
Hell Raisers
1) Martin Brodeur tweaked a shoulder midway through the first period after a save.
Brodeur left the ice and returned to finish the period,but was replaced by Johan Hedberg for the second period.
No word on whether Brodeur is expected to play tomorrow against Nashville,but the injury is not expected to be a long term problem..
2) Johan Hedberg was tremendous,especially when you consider that he entered the game with little warmup.
Hedberg's sprawling overtime save kept the game moving and his overtime stops were not bad either.
Very nice effort in this under the circumstances by the veteran...
3) Ilya Kovalchuk led the team in ice time with a shade under thirty minutes as he played on both his line and the checking line with Rod Pelley and Brad Mills.
Kovalchuk has so much talent with the puck that he almost overuses it.
The issue there is that with so much puck possession,he increases the chance of losing it and creating offensive situations for the opponent.
That happened twice in this one and it needs to stop.
4) Play of the game-A Devils miscue sends the puck down the ice where just one King stands in the way of a breakaway against Johan Hedberg in the third period.
Hedberg busts his hump gets out of the net and narrowly beats the King to the puck and gets the biscuit out of the zone.
Heads up play as well as a hustling one.
5) The learning curve continues for the poised Adam Larsson.
Larsson was involved in the only Kings goal by Simon Gagne on the periphery by not getting entirely in front of Gagne even though he was not his man,Larsson was still closest to Gagne.
In the second period,a similar setup happened and where was Larsson?
Moving to the puck and helping out near the net.
Good stuff....
6) Nice game tonight by the veteran pairing of Anton Volchenkov and Bryce Salvador.
The team of physical veterans will not score a ton,but I wager that they will have an excellent plus/minus rating on the season as well as dealing out some welts to the opposition.
The inbox needs cleaned BADLY and I plan on doing that later today!
Photo Credits-AP Photo
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