Going Up?

All the Penguins want for Christmas is a win over the Devils! Tonight will be a battle for first place in the Atlantic Division, the Eastern Conference, and the best record in the NHL as the two hook up in Mellon Arena. This will be the final meeting between these two teams at the Mellon and the previous two have been resounding 4-1 victories for New Jersey. Even though the Pens will face the Devils three more times in Newark this year, Pittsburgh has to be hungry for a win over New Jersey in their final regular season meeting ever at Mellon Arena. If you need something more to grab your attention, this game pits two teams that are also currently playing some of their best hockey of the season with New Jersey on a four game winning streak and the Penguins have won five in a row. Some keys to tonight’s game for the Pens will certainly involve breaking the dreaded neutral zone trap so often employed by Jacques Lemaire’s clubs that has already befuddled Pittsburgh twice this season. Playing the puck down the wall will be vital in trying to circumvent that trap as will the dump and chase game. Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur has been setting records on a daily basis recently and the Penguins will have to try to throw him off of his game by getting some traffic into his line of vision and deflecting the puck when possible. Brodeur has been a stalwart for the Devils between the pipes and his track record speaks for itself, but his one vulnerability has always been dealing with congestion in front of his goal crease.

Marc-Andre Fleury will be in net for Pittsburgh and he is riding a high as well with a GAA of 1.85 over his last 7 starts. The Flower has been the main reason for the Penguins December success and as always his presence in the cage gives the Pens a chance every time they suit up. One scratch for the Penguins tonight as Mark Eaton will be out of the lineup tonight with an undisclosed injury that Dan Bylsma says is not a long term issue. Although any injury is a bit worrisome, it sounds optimistic that Eaton will be back on the ice sooner rather than later. This one gets started with an early scoring chance for Sidney Crosby as Bill Guerin feeds one to him and his shot just hits the outside of the post by Brodeur. A brilliant shot from the left point by Bryce Salvador gets by Fleury’s glove hand as he just couldn’t react quickly enough before the puck went over his shoulder and into the twine for a 1-0 Devils lead. Pittsburgh has overcome adversity before, but it is going to be an uphill climb coming from behind against a goaltender the caliber of Brodeur. A great shift from the line of Evgeni Malkin, Tyler Kennedy, and Ruslan Fedotenko as they hold the puck in the zone and pressure the Devils defenders for an extended period of time investing as Bylsma would say. Fleury makes a key pad save on Zach Parise as he gets a good look at the Pens net before Salvador trips Kennedy to give Pittsburgh their first try with the man advantage tonight. There are only 30 teams in the NHL and the Penguins power play is dead last in the league ranked 30th and they do nothing to improve that stat on their first try of the night coming up empty as Salvador comes out of the box. Brodeur shows why he is in the conversation for best netminder ever as he somehow stops a blast from DuPuis at the point that comes through a mess of traffic in front of the net. The Devils breakout in the neutral zone after a Penguins turnover forcing Alex Goligoski to take a penalty for tripping as he upends Patrik Elias before he can break in uncontested on Fleury.

The 1st period comes to a close and the Devils power play will carry over to the 2nd period as will their 1-0 lead. New Jersey comes out flying to start the second frame as Niclas Bergfors comes storming down the right wing boards and rips a shot from the point that is camouflaged by a screen of Brooks Orpik and Fleury never sees the puck until it is behind him for a 2-0 Devils lead. Things go from bad to worse quickly as Crosby is penalized for interference, but the power play for the Devils doesn’t last for long as the even up call is made on Vladimir Zharkov who is called for interference as well. A scary moment as Jordan Staal takes a puck to the face and blood pours out of his nose as he is helped to the locker room by trainer Chris Stewart. The Devils cycle the puck beautifully in the Pittsburgh zone and take target practice on the Penguins net before a puck off of the post by Dean McAmmond comes out to Elias who buries it behind Fleury for a 3-0 Devils lead. Just relentless attack from the Devils as Parise comes out from behind the net and throws a puck off of Fleury that comes out to Mark Fraser who scores to make it 4-0 New Jersey and that will end Fleury’s evening as Brent Johnson enters the game in relief of the Penguins goaltender. The pressure continues as Jamie Langenbrunner rings a puck off of the post to welcome Johnson to the game. Brodeur continues to stand tall in the Devils net as he denies Mike Rupp’s backhand shot and then survives a flurry of chances as Sergei Gonchar’s slapper glides harmlessly through the crease somehow staying out of the net. Penalties are called after a skirmish along the boards a Maxime Talbot is given a misconduct penalty as is McAmmond for New Jersey while Elias is given an extra two minutes for roughing and the Pens will end the period with another power play opportunity.

Pittsburgh has failed to get one behind Brodeur through two periods of play as the 2nd ends at 4-0 New Jersey and about the only notable aspect of this game is the statistic that the Penguins are going to potentially be on the wrong side of as Brodeur is poised to become the league’s all-time shutouts leader if this score holds up. With that in mind, the Pens should come out with some desire in the 3rd period to try and prevent being the team that gives him more history. A great sign for Penguins fans as Staal returns to the bench with a full mask helmet on and a large quantity of stiches in his noses where it was lacerated. Only in hockey would someone play through such an injury as the final period begins with a penalty call against Salvador as he holds Malkin and the Pens will be on an early power play. Brodeur is really showing some of his best stuff tonight as he makes a handful of saves on the Penguins before the penalty to Salvador expires. The Pens are going to be on the penalty kill as Malkin is in the box for hooking and this is his eighth straight game with at least one penalty as his undisciplined play continues. Johnson stands tall on the penalty kill as Malkin leaves the box and the Devils hold the puck in as Langenbruner gets a good shot on goal that is blockered away by the Penguins netminder. Johnson turns away a breakaway chance for Jay Pandolfo with his right pad and continues to look quite solid in relief of the Flower. Crosby has one of the better chances of the night for the Pens in the closing moments of the game ringing the puck off of the post but Brodeur remains unscathed on the night. An exclamation point for Brodeur to finish off the shutout as he makes a brilliant glove save on Malkin as the game comes to a close with a 4-0 Devils win.

The distinction of league supremacy goes to the Devils for the time being as they were clearly the better team out on the ice tonight outplaying the Penguins in every aspect of the game. Pittsburgh really needs to address their power play deficiencies if they want to alleviate these random egg laying’s that they have been vulnerable to at times this season. Although a fair amount of the egg being laid tonight has to go to Martin Brodeur who was by far the best player on the ice tonight as he moved into first place alone on the all-time shutout list with 104 career clean sheets to pass the great Terry Sawchuk. His dominance between the pipes has influenced many young goalies around the globe as Pittsburgh’s own Marc-Andre Fleury even admits his undying admiration for the Devils netminder. Pittsburgh’s will be at home for Christmas as the next game is on Wednesday against the Senators so hopefully their inefficiencies will be resolved by that point and Mark Eaton will be back in the lineup.

Tags: Alex Goligoski, Bill Guerin, Brent Johnson, Brooks Orpik, Bryce Salvador, Chris Stewart, Dan Bylsma, Dean McAmmond, Evgeni Malkin, Jacques LeMaire, Jay Pandolfo, Jordan Staal, Marc Andre Fleury, Mark Eaton, Mark Fraser, Martin Brodeur, Mike Rupp, New Jersey Devils, Niclas Bergfors, Patrik Elias, Ruslan Fedotenko, Sergei Gonchar, Sidney Crosby, Terry Sawchuk, Tyler Kennedy, Vladimir Zharkov, Zach Parise