head coach: Jacques Lemaire

roster: C - Doug Gilmour, Bob Carpenter, Bobby Holik, Denis Pederson, Petr Sykora. LW - Dave Andreychuk, Brian Rolston, Valeri Zelepukin, Krzysztof Oliwa, Reid Simpson. RW - John MacLean, Randy McKay, Steve Thomas. D - Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer, Ken Daneyko, Lyle Odelein, Kevin Dean, Brad Bombardir, Sheldon Souray. G - Martin Brodeur, Mike Dunham.

injuries: 10/10 - Scott Daniels, lw (broken left wrist, out 12 weeks).

transactions: 10/8 - Assigned Jay Pandolfo, lw, to Albany (AHL). 10/10 - Scott Daniels, lw, to IRL. 10/15 - Sheldon Souray, d, removed from IRL. 10/16 - Vlastimil Kroupa, d, to Albany (AHL) for conditioning purposes. Patrik Elias, lw, assigned to Albany (AHL).

standings:

Eastern Conference - Atlantic Division   
Team         GP   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA   
Washington    8   7   1   0    14   30   15  
Philadelphia  9   5   3   1    11   25   22     
New Jersey    7   4   3   0     8   20   16    
NY Islanders  7   3   2   2     8   21   17    
NY Rangers    9   2   3   4     8   22   24  
Florida       7   2   4   1     5   14   22  
Tampa Bay     8   2   5   1     5   14   22  

game results:

10/08 Philadelphia  W 4-1
10/10 at Carolina   L 2-1
10/11 Buffalo       W 3-2
10/17 at Ottawa     L 4-2
10/18 Tampa Bay     W 5-0

team news:

by Phil Aromando, New Jersey Correspondent

When playoff time comes around, it’s hard convincing some people that the regular NHL season matters. At this point in the season it’s even harder convincing them that hockey is worth watching at all, especially with the NFL in full swing and the World Series in progress. All the folks that tune in at the end of the season for the drama of the four rounds are valuable fans, but they miss out. They want to read the last page of the book; they want instant gratification. Not me.

How else would you know that the costly battle Scott Stevens and Eric Lindros have at the end of the second period of game seven in the Conference Finals had its roots in a game played October 8th? When Tampa Bay squares off against the Devils in the first round, after having had a horrendous start and a mid-season point gathering frenzy the likes of which garners front page coverage, do you go with Brodeur or Dunham? After all, Dunham seems to master the Bolts whenever Corey Schwab is in net. (Remember October 18th?) It’s the finer points, the subtle details, that are missed out on by ignoring the beginning. Not that these things will happen, but if they did, you wouldn’t have been aware of it; wouldn’t have been enriched by the subplots that develop during the meaningless season and come to fruition under the glare of the competition for the shiniest trophy in all professional sport. At the least, all that knowledge and involvement makes the success or failure of a playoff run all the more dramatic.

The fans in New Jersey will certainly be there for any type of playoff run and it will be hard to get tickets. Unlike last week. 3,000 fans were missing for the Devils home-opener against the Flyers. I like to think it’s the Bill Guerin factor. With him in the lineup, it would have been a sellout. Maybe it also had to do with Brian Rolston. His fans may not have decided to end their holdout yet. No matter. Every time these two teams meet, this rivalry produces ill will and great action.

The Devils came out flat and wandered through the first period as the Flyers controlled play and scored first. Chris Gratton created the first goal by taking the puck away from Ken Daneyko in the Devils defensive end and passing to a breaking Vaclav Prospal who beat Brodeur high, just inside the post. It was the Flyers' third shot of the game. Momentum seemed to favor the Flyers early and with Rod Brind’Amour playing on the Legion of Doom line, in place of the injured Dainius Zubrus, it seemed the Devils were in for a rough night.

But the second period was different. Pat Falloon went off for hooking six minutes into the period. Lyle Odelein scored on the ensuing power play, tying the game. The goal energized the Devils. They drew two more penalties and skated hard, keeping things even. But with less than three minutes left in the period Randy McKay stepped onto the ice after the Devils had just killed a penalty and took it upon himself to break the deadlock. He raced into the Flyers end and in quick succession creamed Coffey then knocked Klatt flat along the boards. The play left the Flyers zone but when it returned, McKay was part of a two-on-one. McKay had picked up the puck that Joel Otto overskated and at the top of the left circle fired a high slapper over Garth Snow’s shoulder for the go-ahead and ultimately, game-winning goal. It was his third goal in three games. He was actually going to pass the puck but he was about to lose his edge; falling, he got the shot off and on net. It was an excellent shift. Randy McKay is playing on a higher plane right now.

The Devils put the game away in the third. Five minutes in, with the Legion of Doom line on the ice (It’s time for a new name for this line; I mean, Renberg is gone. Considering the number of players that see time on this line, I respectfully submit: the Dangerous Revolving Door line.), Lindros, in deep, made a pass to John LeClair parked in the slot. LeClair’s shot went high off Brodeur but an instant after the puck hit him, Lindros, charging towards the net looking for a rebound, ran Brodeur over. It looked much worse than it was but it got everyone’s attention. Brodeur laid on the ice for a minute or so, collecting himself before play resumed. The Devils were given a power play but didn’t score (after Lindros left the box, he was booed each time he touched the puck like some silent film villain.); they scored sixteen seconds later. Bobby Holik stuffed home a rebound after a Stevens shot from the point was deflected on net by Dave Andreychuk.

Ten seconds after that goal, the Flyers gave the Devils another power play and they capitalized. Halfway through the third and the Flyers were down 4-1 and had only one shot on net in the period. Needless to say the Flyers were frustrated. On a goal mouth scramble in front of Brodeur with about six minutes left it came as no surprise that tempers would flare. Obviously the Devils were going to protect Brodeur, especially after being run over earlier in the period. What was surprising was that Stevens and Lindros almost came to blows. If it weren’t for Valeri Zelepukin jumping in, the two captains may have engaged in a rare head-to-head fight. The nastiness didn’t end there - Garth Snow high sticked and bloodied John MacLean’s face with about five minutes to go.

On the whole, the Devils played well and gained confidence as the game progressed. In the third period alone, they had 22 shots - three more than the Flyers had all game. But it was the Flyers giving up too many power plays and the Devils ability to turn those opportunities into goals that really did the Flyers in. On the night they were 2 for 10 and then scored another just after a power play had expired. The rivalry continues to grow more bitter.

From an emotional standpoint, the game against Carolina was considerably less dramatic even though it was historic: The Devils became the first team to ever lose to the Hurricane Whalers. Maybe it was the fact that there were only about 4,000 fans in attendance but the Devils seemed uninterested in mounting any type of sustained attack until the third period. They only had four shots on net in each of the first two periods. Carolina is a skilled and talented team. They pressured the Devils and forced them into playing from the perimeter all night. When the Devils did manage to get in close there were few rebounds to be found.

Randy McKay’s fourth goal in as many games 58 seconds into the third tied the game at one. A misplay by Brodeur on a shot by Robert Kron midway through the period killed what little momentum they had built. Instead of deflecting Kron’s blue line shot to the corner away from the front of the net, Brodeur tried to control it and misplayed it. The puck hit the side of his blocker and fell at his feet. Steve Leach was there to bang the puck past him. It was simply a bad break. Sensing their first win within reach, Carolina played with even more determination and shut the door on any type of comeback.

The Devils' power play is looking good. Doug Gilmour is playing the point with Scott Niedermayer on the first unit and they are giving the Devils much more flexibility. Gilmour controls the puck so well; he sees the ice and doesn’t panic. Lemaire is so intent on taking advantage of the power-play opportunities that Gilmour sometimes stays out for a full two minutes. Niedermayer has good skills and speed. All the talk about him needing to become more offensive minded may be best served by playing on the power play. With Dave Andreychuk standing in front to knock in rebounds and create screens there is no doubt that the power play will become a weapon this season. Bobby Holik, Brian Rolston, Petr Sykora, John MacLean and Steve Thomas are the other Devils on the extra-man attack. The power play is ranked 5th overall at 22.2% (8 for 34).

Brian Rolston ended his holdout and rejoined the team without the benefit of training camp. Through his first three games back, it showed. He doesn’t have the jump that he normally would have. The same cannot be said of Daniel Alfredsson. In just his second game with the Senators since ending his holdout, he singlehandedly took it to the Devils.

Randy McKay’s fifth goal in six games put the Devils ahead 2-0 four minutes into the second period against Ottawa. Normally that would be enough to carry the Devils to victory. But these Senators may end up surprising more people this year than they did last year. Sergei Zholtok brought the Sens to within one on a goal off a beautiful passing sequence from Bruce Gardiner and Radek Bonk. Zholtok had just left the penalty box.

Fifty-three seconds later Alfredsson tied the game, tipping an Igor Kravchuk shot from the point past Brodeur. With less than two minutes left in the period he scored again. This time on a power play off a behind the net pass from Alexi Yashin that caught everyone off guard. Even Brodeur was stumped. In a span of ten minutes the Devils went from a comfortable lead to trailing by one. Ottawa’s three goals came on five shots. What was that about holding a lead larger than one goal deep into a game?

After the game Lemaire suggested that the long layoff (five days) between games may have been a factor in the Devils inability to play a strong and complete sixty minutes. They looked sharp, but some nights there is no beating a team that is just as sharp; especially when they are as offensively creative as the Senators. In each of the Devils three losses they have entered the third period trailing.

Sheldon Souray made his NHL debut in the Ottawa game. The Vlastimil Kroupa experiment has been put on hold for now. He was sent to Albany for "conditioning purposes". If he went for any other reason he would have had to clear waivers. Patrik Elias went with him. They could have used Elias against Ottawa: In his first game for Albany (against Adirondack) he had a hat trick.

The Tampa game was highlighted by a duel between ex-Albany River Rat goaltenders. Mike Dunham made his first start of the season and Tampa went with Corey Schwab. Mike Dunham played so well in posting the Devils first shutout of the season that there was minor rumblings of a looming goaltending controversy in Jersey. Dunham knows his place though: "Marty’s one of the top three goalies in the league… If every game was like this then somewhere down the road I could be number one."

If every game were like this for the whole team then somewhere down the road they too could be number one. Five different Devils scored: Holik, Thomas, McKay (6 goals in 7 games), Carpenter and Gilmour (his first of the season.) They went two for five on the power play and went four for four killing penalties. They scored early and they scored late in the game. They played a consistent defensive game and when the Bolts got through, Dunham was there to stop them.

Literally. On two shots, his positioning alone made the save. And on the Tampa power plays, he stayed focused enough to thwart a number of doorstop shots by gnat-like Dino Ciccarelli. His best save of the night came on a two-on-one break. Paul Ysebaert and Mikael Andersson came in on Niedermayer. Nieder played the passing lane forcing Andersson to shoot. Dunham is a big guy so Andersson tried to go five-hole. Dunham saw the shot the whole way, got down quick and made the save.

Schwab wasn’t so lucky. In one of those weird karmic paybacks, Roman Hamrlik swept a puck into his own net; much like Patrik Elias did against Tampa in the first game of the season.

Lemaire attributed the win to Dunham’s strong play and the new line combinations (listed below) he dreamed up just before warm-ups. That doesn’t mean that Dunham will be playing anytime soon. This month is one of the slowest in the entire schedule for the Devils even though they played three back-to-back weekend sets in a row. They will have had nearly an entire week off before their game against Montreal this coming Thursday. Brodeur will be in net. He thrives on the work and there has been so much downtime already that missing Thursday’s game means that he will not have played in a full week. There is no goalie controversy. It’s early and people want something to liven up the meaningless part of the season.

Here’s a stat to consider during the coming weeks: Since the Lemaire era began when the Devils score three or more goals their record is 130-23-15. The magic number is three. If Brodeur keeps his GAA where it’s at (2.65), the defense continues to gel and the power play scores consistently enough to round out the goal scoring, this year could turn out to be one worth watching from the beginning.

USEFUL BANTER
Although Bill Guerin is nowhere near playing a game this season, his holdout has been recognized as being of All-Star caliber. The NHL has included Guerin and Paul Kariya on the All-Star ballot. Be sure and cast your vote today!

RECENT LINES
Sykora-Gilmour-Thomas
Andreychuk-Holik-McKay
Zelepukin-Carpenter-MacLean
Rolston-Pederson-Oliwa

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
Stevens-Odelein
Niedermayer-Dean
Daneyko-Bombardir

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