Gionta tip tosses Detroit

Stephen Gionta's redirection of Mark Fayne's shot with 36 seconds to go eluded Jimmy Howard and allowed the New Jersey Devils to defeat the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 at the Rock.
The Gionta goal (4) was really a three point goal as it gave the Devils two points and kept a team that the Devils are chasing from gaining one,when it appeared they would do just that.
The Devils received goals from Adam Henrique (19) Marek Zidlicky (10 power play) and Travis Zajac (10) in the victory.
The rematch takes place Friday in Detroit.

Hell Raisers

1) Of course,the story was the media talk about this being the final start of Martin Brodeur as a Devil.
Brodeur is rumored to possibly be traded later today at the trade deadline,although I'm not totally convinced of the rumor.
Brodeur was decent enough in net in earning the win.
He was screened on the third goal and the second was on a deflection,so some excuses were in order.
However,he had the benefit of some luck too in avoiding goals,so things average out...

2) The Devils came up storming with Adam Henrique's goal 27 seconds into the game and even though that type of pace is difficult to maintain,the drop in performance from then on until the third period was inexcusable.
The ups and downs in the teams scoring is understandable considering the makeup of the squad.
The ups and downs in effort aren't.

3) It was nice to see a hard working player like Stephen Gionta get the game winner.
The Devils got to the net,creating some havoc and worked hard-it does show results and I've often been puzzled why they don't do more of it.

4) Johan Franzen of the Wings was the best player on the ice.
Put aside the two goals,Franzen was fast,worked hard and always seemed to be in the right spot.
Nice player....

5) I wonder just how big these two points were in the mind of Lou Lamoriello.
The win moved them 2 points out of both the wild card and the 3rd place Metropolitan division slot.
A loss would have kept them at four and maybe Lou doesn't pull a deal today.
Something to ponder before this afternoon.

I will be back later with any Devils deals,if the team does not make a move,the plan is for the Browns targets of my choice at free agency to be today's post.