RWB

Thrashers a goal ahead of Penguins and Devils well and truly taking care of Islanders. Still not sure where we'll finish. Still 2 places to be won as well. Rangers v Flyers should be worth a watch tomorrow at 8pm our time I think. There were a couple good fights in each of these games as well. Not to mention the very short fight that saw Kane knock down Pens bad guy Cooke with one punch (and another as he was on the way down). Some achievement by Boston earlier. 3 short-handed goals. Not bad in itself but they were all on the same penalty kill! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thrashers held on to win so Devils win the division (again) & Penguins settle for 4th place to play Ottawa in the play-offs. Devils finished 7-1 winners so a horrendous finish to the season for the Isles. 7-2 loss to the Pens the other night and still another game v Pens to finish with. Devils (2nd) play Buffalo (3rd) tomorrow to decide 2nd place. Chances are we get rivals Flyers or Rangers to start with so not ideal. Would prefer Boston but Montreal is still possible I think! Decent wee hockey night in on Sunday with some earlier starts.

Man we're good tonight. 4-1 Although Pens are a shambles. Can't believe we've hit them for 4 yet again. Almost 5 as Crosby deflects it onto his own post. - - - - - - - - 5-2 final score with empty net goal at end. Usual grind for Devils after the burst in the 2nd. Some achievement though to whitewash the Penguins or for any team to win all six meetings in a season. Fair question on a Devils forum - "When's the last time the Devils, or any team for that matter has chased 3 goalies within a 1 week span? Henry, Thomas, now Fluery" Ach, had to do it.

P A U L M A R T I N Welcome back

2 game ban for Ovechkin. And the guy that put Boston's Savard out for the season didn't even get a penalty let a lone a ban. [Edit : Lots of talk about this with the Boston coverage tonight. Cooke of Penguins was the guy that took out Savard and those teams meet up on Thursday. Could be feisty.] Just tuned in for start of Devils tonight and missed the first period! Daylight saving in US already? Anyway, a matter of seconds into the 2nd and it's 3-1. Here we go. Boston got it to 3-2 with a 6v5 and just missed out making it 3-3. Murder from Lemaire. Why bring in Kovalchuk and still grind out 1 goal wins after being 3 up.

Mmm. Having watched Devils go 4-0 up at Sharks the other week I'd be wary! Good fightback that night too from Sharks but not enough. Can't be relying on the forwards every game. Couple of other teams in the West with +50 odd goal difference will fancy their chances too.

Devils revert to current form and crash 4-2 to some team from a crumbling old stadium. Good start, then downhill from end of 1st period. Our generally slow, sloppy defence were easy for the hard working Islanders who pinned us back with their continual checking helped by some stupid penalties. Strange that the defence has actually produced a good amount of points recently. Not a good game for Danis in goal either. No wonder Brodeur plays almost every game. No chance for Devils in the play-offs if they can't string 3 reasonable periods together. Even then...

GIRFUY Fife Saint. 5 out of 5 against Pens this season. Couldn't quite get the usual 4 goals this time but the plucky Penguins held us to three. Pens came to mix it tonight and still couldn't find a way to beat us. God knows how with that ropey defence of ours. Lots of shots for Brodeur to deal with (he's picked up again the last two games) but I wasn't that aware of Malkin & Crosby in this fixture yet again. Fair bit of work for Fleury as well at the other end too. 3rd goal was a belter. Lucky (illegal) stick poked the goalies hand out of the way and the puck flew in instead of a glove save. At least Kovalchuk did something right by shooting. He's a liability with his carefree wheeling about and long risky passes. Not the Devils way! 5 minute major for the Pens guy wasn't the right call but in the same week they discussed new rules about hitting I suppose officials are more aware. Loved Langenbrunner taking the 'fight' into the Penguins bench. Bottom line is Penguins will go further in the play-offs than Devils. They skate & pass better and have more flair. Just seem to have a major issue with Devils this season. (Caught Pens on back to back games a few times) Still, only 3 goals v Devils in five games! Is that right? [Edit: Yes it is!] Mental.

The Devils looked like they were let of the leash for a change last night in the 6-3 win v Rangers. Defence still awful, but for once they got bodies in front of the opposition goalie and we get the deflections and rebounds. Much more life about them anyway. Long overdue. They reverted to defending in the 3rd which is not so clever but shut Rangers out. Lundqvist got pulled after the 4th goal. First time in his career v Devils at our place. He's usually a major obstacle for the Devils. Couple of great goals by Rangers I have to admit. Wee snippet from the match report on NHL.com Six players scored goals. None were by Kovalchuk. Ten players had points. None were by Kovalchuk. Twenty-seven shots on goal -- just one by Kovalchuk. Punt him! Next up? Penguins on Friday night. They've picked up lately so I doubt they'll be the easy 2 points they've been so far! Wonder if Skoula will try anything against his old team? Maybe helping our terrible defence would be a start. PS. Apparently there were 'one or two' incidents in the stands and on the way out which seems fairly common with our neighbours. Words, beer & punches thrown.

Devils bad form continues. From a 4-0 lead at Sharks to a 4 goal deficit at Flames. The other way around would be more understandable. Shipping goals to the West as usual. Don't think either keeper will be happy about their displays in the 5-3 game. So many Devils fans on HFboards thought this would be easy as Flames 'are a mess just now'. Hey ho. Marty needs to sharpen up. Too many rebounds. Hopes not high that Skoula is going to fix the fragile defence. Watched Canucks cave in to Chicago as well. Bad memories of Devils doing the same thing not so long ago. Too many penalties for Canucks early on and then a quick goal rush.

Canucks at Blackhawks. 5 players in the box after 37 seconds. Think they were waiting for each other much?

Watched a fair bit of that game with the new fangled online ESPN player. Good strikes by Comeau, always in the right place. Commentators could hardly stop talking about Roloson maybe going to 'Hawks as they were so bad for goalies just now. Good news for Isles that he stayed by the looks of it. I think 'Hawks picked up a GK elsewhere. Watched Pens at Rangers too. Fair old battle with Penguins unrelenting, especially in the 3rd period, to come from behind and win 5-4 in OT. 50+ shots to Pens, Rangers had 15 or so and Fluery got hooked. A bit harsh. Noticed that even the bitter, moaning faced Pens commentator got a laugh at everybody's favourite player Sean Avery acting the clown as he was sin-binned for 'fighting' Talbot. PS. I watched Avatar this week and spent the whole film thinking the main guy looked like someone. I know who it was now!

I haven't been on here since the Olympics started so my delayed answer is I follow the Devils because of the Clyde colours. (See user name!) That simple for me. I got into the PC game a number of years ago and wanted a team in that. Had no idea who New Jersey Devils were or how they ranked. Could've been Chicago or Ottawa but I'd played as Devils for a bit and my allegiance was set! We had to swap home & away kits 2 or 3 years ago, as all teams had to, so we now play white shirts away from home. I think I 'bonded' with the Devils with the game and also when I started to listen to NHL radio commentaries online. It was something different and sounded great/confusing. Incredibly in the first season I did this (02/03) Devils went all the way to the final to win the Stanley Cup. Amazing feeling despite my general lack of knowledge and no vivid impression of the games! Of course I now know they're a negative team set up to trap & counter. No skill or ability, just thugs and journeymen. Year after year. That's the general attitude Devils get slung at them anyway. Some truth to it but not as bad as they once were. Usually assured of making the play-offs every year. One fail in last 20 years or something. Having picked up a PS3 over a year ago NHL 09 was high on my (very short) list. Played a lad at work on that a fair bit and he follows NY Rangers for the obvious reason. Was good fun. Bought NHL10 too but not been gaming as much. Signed myself up for ESPN online this season as last year. Pleased to see their service has gone higher resolution post Olympics and we can also pause/rewind live coverage now. Always good to have the archive to watch the late face-offs at another time.

Devils on another streak. Sadly it's defeats these days. Two 3-2 losses this week to Flyers after being 2-0 ahead in both. Salmela took a big hit in that first game as our defender scored a short-handed goal. Only just rejoined Devils from Thrashers along with Kovalchuk. He shoots, he scores, he's unconscious! Lucky to get away with a minor injury after being face down on the ice for some time. Can't say it was a bad hit to be honest. Unfortunate but GET CARTER! Decent 5-2 win on Friday against Predators only to crash 5-2 to Hurricanes last night. Power-play and penalty kill isn't good enough this season and undoes most of the decent work that's going in to try and win games. It's increasingly worrying how easy it is for other teams to hit the net with long pot-shots while we struggle to set anything like that up. The break might help them to regroup but not a chance we'll get near the Cup this season.

F*** me. 3-1 down to Leafs and won 4-3. Where the hell did that come from? Been sitting feeling miserable watching another poor show from Devils then bang, bang, bang. One with 3 mins to go and two in the last minute. A much needed win and it showed with the players celebrations at the end. Like the look of Kovalchuk. Moved well and looked dangerous and should add much needed options to our power play. Didn't realise we'd traded with Atlanta until I tuned into the game. Was hoping for something to happen to shake things up. Sorry to see rookie Bergfors going as he got off to a great start and always seemed to score v Penguins.

I've been keeping a low profile in here lately! Devils did alright bar the scoreline and one goal seems to kill us. No matter how many shots we throw at goal just now, the other side fire one or two better efforts on target and score. Quality over quantity. Good 3rd period but by then Leafs were happy to maintain the lead and make sure of defence. Very Devils like (on normal form). Parise was kept very quiet after his all action game v Leafs on Friday. Need to sort this bad run that has swept right through the Atlantic division for some reason. Maybe a more settled team might help as the line-up changes on a frequent basis, even during games. As for the commentator, the whole thing was like a horse race with little discussion for the most part and some annoying pronunciation of Devils' players Mottau and Pandolfo. Getting grumpy.

Just watched the full re-run there (without knowing the score) as I'm now officially fed up watching the Devils live on current form! Very good win on the back of poor form, a poor record at the Islanders and the home sides winning streak. A game of three halfs as well! Started well then had some luck with 3 or 4 off Brodeur's posts in the 1st. Only one shot for Devils in the 2nd and then only three for Islanders in the 3rd. The big swing in fortunes partly explained by White (of all people) taking a major penalty and being thrown out the game. That cost us two goals in the 5 min pp in the 2nd. Commentary mentioned he'd only had 4 minor penalties against him all season. Not bad for a top line defender. Can't believe the NHL.com tag on our game -'White ejection provides spark.' Yeah, to Islanders! 2nd period I think I was beginning to feel physically sick watching that it was so bad. Then the possible turning point as Devils got a fortunate late pp goal and maybe just took the wind out of the sails of the then dominant home side. 3rd period Devils really settled down and once again one side dominated in the shots. Good to see Salvador score to make up for his og. Parise notched the empty netter for almost a shock 4-2 win. The Islanders certainly have every chance of making the play-offs. Like Devils, I wonder if it'll be worth it! Senators on a good streak now. Devils next game unfortunately.

Originally I didn't but after you asked I did a search. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Game was a sell-out as well apparently. Devils hadn't failed to score in regulation time until the 0-0 last week with Rangers. Now another blank against an Atlantic team. Sabres could be top of the East soon, they've hung in there.

Aw jeez, was looking for a feed on adthe.net for Newcastle v WBA and noticed the Devils game was on early. Hadn't realised this so clicked in and it's 4-0 Islanders half way through the 3rd. Devils are having a Penguins like dip in form just now. Think teams have maybe worked us out. Pace usually opens us up. The only upside is an earlier night!

Back on the NHL I watched a rousing 0-0 before the shoot-out win at Rangers last night. Play-off hockey with bags of action, tense finish and an amazing 51-45 shot count in favour of Rangers. Fair to say the keepers did well despite offering a few nice rebounds. One narrow angled shot even slid under Marty and took the slightest touch to trickle it onto the post and away. For all the combative hockey it was a pretty clean game with few penalties. Anyway, Elias was the match winner finally putting a shot passed the glove of Lundqvist at 2:40 am. Who were the teams that took a dozen or so rounds to win in shoot-outs recently? As bad as me on NHL10! Edit - "Lot of shots that went wide that just hit me, or my glove, or my knob. But they were pretty wide. But we'll take it. It's good for the save percentage." Marty shows how tough goalies really are.

Used to love watching the hockey at the Winter Olympics in the dim and distant past but it was usually an action packed round-up rather than extended highlights. The latter stages had reasonable coverage but there was more chance of seeing a ski-jump event. Gave up looking for glimpses of it over the years. Will look for feeds on the net to keep up. Not too bothered about who wins it but just hope the Devils guys stay clear of injury.

Some schedule they've got coming up. 8 out of 10 at home then 14 away!

Anybody seen the antics of Ott of the Dallas Stars? Likes to wind up opponents as much as possible. He includes a routine of presumably asking an opponent who they are then going round behind them to read their name. He picked on a Devils rookie with this and Niedermayer went for him. Sadly Patrick Elias of all people snapped and took 2 penalties for hitting him. One was in a face off where Elias just gubbed him one in the face before the puck dropped. God knows what Ott said! The beauty of it was that Devils survived the pp and as Elias stepped out the box, he took a loose pass (from Ott behind the Devils net) and skated in to slam it into the top corner for 2-0. Perfect outcome. Elias wasn't finished though and got into another minor scrap with Ott later on, this time defending a team-mate. The 4-0 score before the end of the 2nd seemed to shut the guy up though. Great show from Marty for 3rd shut-out in 7 games. Dallas keeper didn't look too hot but an enjoyable high tempo game last night.

Minnesota born Langenbrunner scored his 1st ever hat-trick last night for Devils in Minnesota. Coasting at 4-2 until a Wild forward headed in a 3rd late on! Jammy git. Wild obviously went for it and came close but got sloppy and Jamie intercepted to skate away for the empty netter (again). Untidy win. Any other headed goals out there?

Run down the front banging the glass with a "Pie & Bovril" sign to prove it.

Ouch. Almost as sore as Devils worst result of the season. Just watched a full re-run of the 5-1 loss at Blackhawks. Same as we caught Pens on back-to-back games the Hawks did us in quite easily. I'll let them off with the schedule giving them Caps, Pens and Hawks in space of 4 games. Would have been 5-0 but their guy pissed about wasting time in front of his goal with the clocking counting down and the crowd cheering. Langenbrunner stripped the puck and scored. Quite funny and maintained the record of scoring in every game. Saw some of Canadiens at Florida last night. The visitors finished a run of 7 straight away games with their 6th win. Some turn-out from the away fans too. Could have understood that for a more local road trip but Florida! Made for a better atmosphere anyway. Was confused for a while as the away team cleared their lines on a PP and the crowd kept cheering.