The New Jersey Devils played very well and might have deserved better all things considered,but a goal seems inevitable as the Boston Bruins continued to rain opportunities down on Johan Hedberg and finally Nathan Horton cracked the dam with four minutes to go to tie the game at one.A scoreless overtime and a shootout later,Boston had escaped with a 2-1 win and the Devils had to settle for one point on a night that they might have deserved two.
David Clarkson scored the only New Jersey goal (4) in the second period.
The two game mini-trip now over,the Devils return home Thursday against the Islanders...
Hell Raisers
1) Let's start with this-Johan Hedberg played great in his start.
Hedberg made several great saves and was as much as you could expect from the backup goalie.
If you get that type of efforts from the reserve backstop when he hits the ice,you will win more than you lose...
2) However,the final goal in the sixth round of the shootout that dribbled through the legs of Hedberg was not a strong one.
Things do happen,so it is tough to be too hard on Hedberg for one less than excellent play,but it was a softee...
3) The shootout showed just where Zach Parise will be missed most.
The Devils were the best team in the league in the shootout when they could run a three man start of Ilya Kovalchuk,Parise and Patrik Elias.
Without Parise,the Devils are going to go through a period of figuring out just who will be the third leg of the shootout and that will mean some struggles..
4) Tyler Seguin beat Johan Hedberg on the Bruins first shootout try,but he had to do the backyard style do-over after a fan threw something on the ice in mid-play distracting Hedberg.
It looked like a hot dog to me and the replay was the right thing to do.
Unfortunately,Seguin would again as Hedberg couldn't cut the mustard.Sorry...
5) Matt Anderson was recalled from Albany to make his NHL debut at the age of 30.
No word on how long Anderson will stay with the team,but anytime a longtime minor leaguer gets to play in the bigs,it's always a nice story...
6) Another night of scratching Adam Larsson.
This looks even worse when you see the impact that Dougie Hamilton has had in Boston from the same draft.
This needs to be addressed.
7) Stefan Matteau played his fifth game,so the decision on him must be made prior to Thursday's game against the Islanders.
I lean towards sending him back....
Photo Credit:AP Photo
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