Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Jagr jams Devils past Flyers in Philly 2-1!

Jaromir Jagr
jammed the puck past Steve Mason midway through the final period (21) to break a 1-1 tie and lift the New Jersey Devils to a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers in Philadelphia.
The win moved the Devils to within two points of the Flyers for the final Metropolitan playoff slot and allowed them not to lose any ground in the wild card chase as well.
Travis Zajac scored the games first goal (12) in the first period for the Devils.
New Jersey now hits Florida for a two game run on Friday and Saturday against the Panthers and Lightning.

Hell Raisers

1) First-the officiating is awful.
Not awful as in Devils bias,but more as in awful in general as both teams had to fight off opposing power plays on lightweight penalties that should have never been called.
Clearly the worst game of the season from bell to bell by referees that made themselves the focus of the game not the players...

2) With forty seconds to go and a furious Flyer rush underway,Martin Brodeur made the save,but was pushed across the goal line by Scott Hartnell.
The call was no goal and I thought it looked pretty clear cut,especially considering that that play is not reviewable.
The referee stuck with their call,which infuriated Flyer fan and might have been the only call that they got right all evening.

3) Martin Brodeur's second period goal allowed to Nicolas Grossman was the first of the year for Grossman and kind of a weak one.
Brodeur also got the lucky horseshoe as some pucks just slid by open nets,but I thought Brodeur played very well in net and notched a deserved win.

4) Jaromir Jagr has come a long way from the young sniper in Pittsburgh that shied away from contact.
The 40+ year old Jagr still can fire from the outside,but he has become more akin to digging down and doing the dirty work around the net as he showed on the game winner.
Jagr has been so much more than I had hoped for as a Devil and I admit to being surprised that he still has jump in his step at this point in the year..

5) This win was a huge one considering what the Devils gained in victory or rather didn't lose as they stayed in step with Columbus,jumped Washington and pulled within two points of the Flyers.
The Devils need to at least split these two games in Florida,but a sweep would go a long way in the playoff rush.

6) To most Devils fans,the Rangers are the most hated rivals.
To me,the Flyers are number one and the Rangers are two.
Between the constant thugs and obnoxious fans,the Flyers are my clear choice at the number one spot.
The lovely Cherie watched the third period with Rachel and I and commented "Geez,I can see why you guys hate them so much".
Yup,I sure do.

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