Merrill bullet exxons Oilers in OT!

Jon Merrill picked a great time for his first NHL goal as his bullet eluded the grasp of Edmonton's Ilya Bryzgalov in overtime to lift the New Jersey Devils to a 2-1 win over the Oilers at the Rock in Newark.
Andrei Loktionov scored the first Devils goal (4) in the first period before the Oilers scored a few seconds later for the only regulation goals.
Cory Schneider made 20 saves in the victory.
The Devils travel to Washington tomorrow night for the teams final game before the Olympic break.

Hell Raisers

1) Let's make no mistake. This was not a well played game.
Other than a few hit pipes,the Devils didn't play all that well on offense and have to feel fortunate that they were playing the Oilers..

2) Way too many odd man rushes allowed and even though Cory Schneider made just 20 saves,the defense was less than strong.
Edmonton is loaded with speedy skaters and some of the rushes was to be expected,but more than a few breakdowns weren't Oiler plays,they were caused by braindead decisions...

3) Peter DeBoer likes Jon Merrill.
How do I know this?
Merrill is here while Eric Gelinas and Adam Larsson are not and that says a ton about the DeBoer style.
I didn't realize it until tonight,but I rarely hear negative notes on Merrill while I heard lots of smarmy retorts on the pair now in Albany.

4) The refs missed an obvious hook on Adam Henrique in overtime that caused Rachel and I to howl from the coach,but that missed call allowed play to continue and set the Merrill goal.
What I am sure was not anything called,but in basketball parlance-spreading the floor for Merrill.
The Oilers flowed to the opposite end of the ice,leaving Merrill all alone for the shot.

5) The Andrei Loktionov goal was quite visually pretty as Jaromir Jagr took advantage of a double team,passing the puck to Bryce Salvador and then to Loktionov for the goal.
Loktionov played little after the goal,but at least he was able to get something out of his limited time..