Not Wild enough

Martin Brodeur continued his strong run with 35 saves and led the New Jersey Devils to a 4-0 win over the visiting Minnesota Wild.
Devils goals to Patrik Elias (29 and 30),Brian Gionta (18) and Johnny Oduya (7).
The Devils get to take tomorrow off before consecutive road games on Sunday and Monday in Boston and Philadelphia....

Hell Raisers

1) A win in Boston would go a long way towards catching the Bruins in the Eastern Conference battle for the number one seed,while a win over the Flyers might just knockout any chances that Philadelphia has catching the Devils for the Atlantic Division crown.

2) The win over Minnesota trimmed Boston's lead over the Devils to just three points,so that games result will have a four point swing in the standings as Boston will lead by either 1 or 5 points after the conclusion.

3) Patrik Elias reached thirty goals in the win and I must admit I was not sure that the Devils would see the Elias from before the lockout ever again.
Elias had struggled since catching Hepatitis in Russia,where he played during the lost season and that is the type of chronic illness that saps strength...
Glad to see that Patrik has proven me wrong and shows by this seasons performance that he still has gas in the tank...

4) The Devils activated Jay Leach from his "conditioning" assignment at Lowell before the game,but Leach was a healthy scratch along with the suddenly redundant Jay Pandolfo.
Colin White missed another game as well and still considered day to day.....

5) The Brodeur shutout was number 101 and moved Marty to within two of the career shutout mark held by Terry Sawchuk.
So Brodeur needs two shutouts in his final eleven games to tie and three to pass.
Possible,I suppose....

Bonus Round

Andy Greene took advantage of the White injury and played very well.
Long term,I still see Greene as a solid part of the Devil defensive corps even if he is the odd man out for now......

Bullpen Notes

Congrats to Maryland and Xavier on their first round wins.
Maryland takes on Memphis today while Xavier will play Sunday against Wisconsin.

Ohio State's season ended in double OT against Siena.

Vitali Klitschko defends his WBC Heavyweight title in Germany today against former Cruiserweight champ Juan Carlos Gomez.
Gomez has the boxing skills to make this VERY interesting,but I think the power of the champion will make the difference,although I give Gomez more of a chance than many.

Our Prediction
Klitschko KO 8

Photo Credit-AP Photo