Slaughter in the Capital!!!

The New Jersey Devils dominated the Washington Capitals from beginning to end at the MCI Center in Washington and were never threatened in a 5-0 whipping of the Capitals.
Zach Parise scored three goals (25 power play,26,27) before leaving the game in the second period after receiving a high stick.
Parise was ruled fine for tomorrow's game against the Islanders,but was not needed to return in this one.
Patrik Elias (21 shorthanded) and Dainius Zubrus (16) also scored for the Devils in the triumph.
The Devils take today off before a afternoon clash at the Nassau Coliseum against the Islanders tomorrow.

Hell Raisers

1) Zach Parise's hat trick came in under two periods and Parise narrowly missed a fourth goal before being hit with a Brooks Laich high stick.
Parise was dynamite in the win and fortunately passed the NHL mandated concussion test afterwards,so he should be ready to go for the Islanders tomorrow...

2) Dainius Zubrus finished the game with a goal and assist that came complete with a somersault after the goal.
Looked to me that Zubrus slipped and just added something silly in mid stream as the flip was did not bring back memories of Olga Korbut to me!

3) Johan Hedberg earned the shutout in the rare start and was not threatened too often,but his first period stop on Troy Brouwer set the stage for the evening as Hedberg slammed the door on Brouwer and did not allow Washington to create any offensive momentum at all....

4) Another shorthanded goal by the Devils,this time by Patrik Elias in the second period as the Devils continue to add a dimension that they have not had in quite a while-the ability to have breakaways with players that can finish on the penalty kill.
Washington was desperate and sloppy on that man advantage and it showed!

5) The Devils so truly dominated Washington that the Capital TV crew had so little to say about a prospective comeback that they were talking about everything but the game.
In other words,what so many announcers do in blowouts!!!

6) Nice to see,the Capital fans supporting their team as more times than I can count saw the fans adding boos,Bronx cheers and a ton of them left really early.
Every team has their terrific fans,but the Capitals seems to specialize in the fair weather fans more than other franchises.
These types of wins against Washington tickle me so much more than the average win with the exception of Flyers and Rangers wins...

7) The win enabled the Devils to hop Ottawa in the Eastern Conference standings and tie Philadelphia for fifth in just one night.
Just three points separate 4th place Pittsburgh from 7th place Ottawa in the standings,so these positions are still very fluid.

Sorry,I missed last night's Cavalier loss to the Bulls,but I hope to make up for it later tonight!!!!


Photo Credit; Patrick McDermott-Getty Images.