Devils pick up a unlikely W in Tampa

Very little to write about other than the game from Thursday,so I figured that I would wait until today to cover the Devils 3-2 shootout win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Devils played an absolutely miserable first period as they fell behind two goals and seemed to be on their way to a dismal trip to Florida.
But power play goals in the second and third periods by Brian Rolston (11) and Zach Parise (35) sent the game to overtime and then the shootout.
Parise and Patrik Elias scored the winners to override Vincent LeCavalier's only Tampa tally.
The Devils are in Long Island tonight for a tilt against the Islanders and then will have five days off before their next game at the Rock against Colorado.

Hell Raisers

1) Whatever Brent Sutter used after period one,I hope he saves some for the playoffs because that was a totally different team after the first intermission.

2) Ryan Malone scored both Tampa goals and the second one looked awfully bad as Kevin Weekes looks to have just missed it,but Weekes claims that he had the puck,but his glove tore its webbing on the shot.
That works for me as an excuse....

3) Zach Parise battled through a high temperature and a case of the stomach flu (which I used to get about 4 times a year when I lived at home and haven't had since I left there) to score his goal and shootout helper.
Nice case of guts (Pun intended) for Parise to battle through the illness and play at such a high level.

4) Bryce Salvador played through the same flu against Tampa,but may have miss tonight's game with the same illness.
That especially hurts with Paul Martin being expected to miss his 4th game in a row.

5) I was happy to see Anssi Salmela being given time and not just a scratch in his recall from Lowell.I thought the Finn looked pretty sharp,especially on PP action.
Salmela is going to be a major help on the advantage in the future....

Bonus Round
Former Devil boss (and current Devils scout) Pat Burns attended the game and met the team.Burns is still scouting for the Devils and works on opposing team that come into Tampa.
Sadly,it appears that Burns knows his time is short and seems quite accepting of his fate.
Best wishes to Burnsie and the Burns family.

Bullpen Notes

In an announcement that could shake up the NFL draft,Texas Tech pass catcher Michael Crabtree will miss any further workouts/preparation for the draft with a stress fracture that will leave him out for 10 weeks.
The foot injury complicates the first round where Crabtree was graded as one of the top four picks in the draft.
Does Seattle have the guts to take Crabtree anyway despite the injury?
Or does the top wideout slide to a better team that is more willing to take the risk???

The Pirates picked up John Russell's option for 2010.
Not sure that is a good idea at this time,considering that we haven't seen anything for 2009 yet.
I am not saying that it is a bad idea,just that it seems way premature..

Battlin Bob sends us this article on prospect Shelby Ford.
Ford will likely start at AAA Indianapolis and could be up sometime during the season,especially if Freddy Sanchez bounces back and raises his trade value.

Photo Credit
Parise:AP Photo