Devils Upend Sens;Marty Breaks Record

First off, I would like to congratulate Martin Brodeur on setting another record on Friday night; he went ahead of Patrick Roy in the most games played as a goaltender against the Senators. Now on to the game itself, they faced the Ottawa Senators on Friday night, who came into The Prudential Center having lost their last eight to the Devils. This latest contest between the two would be an up and down affair that didn’t have an obvious winner until the latter parts of the third period.

It was a hard fought battle in Newark on this night, as the Senators, who are really looking to make that next jump as a serious contender in the East, played a great game. The first period was much of a defensive struggle between the two, but the first penalty the Sens took, the Devils would capitalize (thank you!). At 11:09 Alexandre Picard was called for interference. This was a crucial point in the game believe it or not because of the failures the Devils had on the power play in their last game; they did not want to continue those struggles tonight. Thankfully just 44 seconds after the penalty was whistled, Jersey got the first goal of the game on a gorgeous play set up by Andy Greene (wow has he been good!) Andy received a pass from Jamie Langenbrunner as the Devils rushed into the zone, then swooped in down low and made a tape to tape pass across ice, back to Jamie who tapped it in past Brian Elliot (11:53 into the first).

The first would end in a Jersey lead, 1-0. The second period however, would see play open up a bit. The puck hadn’t dropped more than 39 seconds into the period when Alexandre Picard knotted things up at 1 a piece on a sniper from the point that Marty could not see at all (no 104 record tonight, drats) (0:39 into the second). The Devils are a team that responds well, one of their strengths, and they perceived that notion by scoring their second goal on a Brian Rolston slap shot (1:53 into the second). This was a goal that came on a face-off win by Patrick Elias; the puck went back to Mark Fraser, who dished it softly to Rolston along the boards where he blasted it in past Elliot. The Devils now held a 2-1 lead and were looking to be in control. But, this was meant to be a crazy period because minutes after going ahead, the Sens matched it. Chris Kelly made a long, lead pass to Jarkko Ruutu, who then broke into the Devils zone, getting past the unsuspecting defense,  shooting on Marty as he was being put into contact and it went in, a very pretty goal (6:06 into the second). The next goal would be the game winner and it would not have happened if not for the superb play of Rob Niedermeyer. I will try my best to describe it, but to appreciate it, it’s best to watch on the highlights below. He muscled through two Senators before wrapping around the corner and making a behind the net pass to Jay Pandolfo, who was there to bang it home (14:30 into the second).

The second ended very differently than the first did, so what would the final period bring? Well, a Devils victory of course! Although they were up by a goal coming into the third, it is always imperative to get that two goal lead in the third, especially against us. Well, you know things are going well when you get another fluke goal on a goalie mistake. About half-way through the period Bryce Salvador just took a routine blast onto goalie Brian Elliot before even entering the Ottawa zone. The puck took an awkward on Elliot, however, going directly up into the air. At this point Elliot had no idea where it was and it came down to the ice behind him and slid in. You really hate to see those happen against you, but you love to see them happen for you. That is how you know things are going well right now.

A few game notes: Zach Parise has gone nine games now without scoring (what!?) Hopefully that changes soon. I can’t complain, after all, we are still winning and kept pace with Pittsburgh for first in the Atlantic. Next game up is tonight on the road in Atlanta, the Trashers won the previous meeting this year.