The New Jersey Devils have a chance to advance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs Sunday night. They've won two of their last three without captain Jamie Langenbrunner, who has been out with a lower-body injury.
Heading into Game 6 against Carolina Sunday, the Devils expect to have their captain back in the lineup. It's a huge boost to a team that has been involved in close game after close game so far in this series.
The New Jersey Devils lost home-ice advantage Friday, and they lost their captain in the process. Game Two of their series against the Hurricanes went to Carolina in overtime. That leveled the series at a game apiece, and Game Three is Sunday night in Raleigh.
After a rather lifeless performance Wednesday in Game One, the Carolina Hurricanes were on a mission Friday night. They were out to prove themselves a worthy opponent for Eastern Conference third seed New Jersey, and to even the series on the road.
They got it done. After the teams traded some great scoring chances but only one goal apiece in regulation, the Hurricanes took charge in a short overtime. The extra frame was ended by Carolina defenseman Tim Gleason, whose blast beat Martin Brodeur for a 2-1 Carolina win.
Exactly 1,230 regular season games have been played. We're down to the best eight teams in each conference. The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin Wednesday night with four series lid-lifters.
In the Eastern Conference, the Boston Bruins rallied from a bit of a swoon around the All-Star Break to easily win the top seed. Even if you subscribe to the idea of Boston being favored because of their strong overall record, there are no sure things in these here playoffs. Who will threaten to knock the Bruins off their pedestal?
You might not have noticed while the Devils have made a case for themselves as legitimate Stanley Cup contenders, winning 16 of their last 19 games and residing squarely amongst the league's top-10 offenses, but the team has gone through a bit of crisis of identity with their offense lately.
Basically, the line of Travis Zajac, Zach Parise, and Jamie Langenbrunner had been carrying the team. Entering Saturday, that line had combined for four of the team's six goals in the team's last four games including two ugly shutouts by Florida and the Islanders. Coach Brent Sutter reshuffled his bottom three lines in the most recent contest against the Panthers. Judging by the box score of Saturday's 7-2 win, it seems to have worked.
Devils 4, Avalanche 0: After missing most of the season with an elbow injury, legendary goalie Martin Brodeur returned to the New Jersey lineup on Thursday and did not disappoint, posting the 99th shutout of his career in a 4-0 win over Colorado.
Brodeur turned aside all 24 shots he faced, while Jamie Langenbrunner, Zach Parise, Patrick Elias and Travis Zajac all scored goals in the win. The Devils have been one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference all season, and adding one of the best goaltenders of all-time back into the lineup makes them a dangerous team going forward.
We're less than one year away from the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Once again, the NHL will take a mid-season break and allow its players to participate in the Games.
After a wonderful run to silver in Salt Lake City back in 2002, Team USA was nothing short of disappointing in Torino three years ago. The Americans went just 1-3-1 in pool play, including an inexplicable tie against Latvia, before dropping a 4-3 decision to Finland in the quarterfinals. Heading into 2010, general manager Brian Burke has plenty of decisions to make, mainly surrounding the question of age.
Devils 6, Sharks 5: In hindsight, NBC's decision to make the Rangers-Flyers game the national showcase on Sunday afternoon probably wasn't the best move the network could have made. Especially since the Sharks and Devils, the teams that were bumped, put on a goal-scoring clinic, including a three goal third period rally from New Jersey in its 6-5 win.
Rangers 5, Capitals 4: Thanks to his two-goal effort on Wednesday night, Mike Green has now scored in seven straight games which ties an NHL record for consecutive games with a goal by a defenseman. During the current streak Green has tallied nine goals and seven assists. He's simply on a different planet right now.
As for the game itself, despite Green's efforts, the Capitals dropped a 5-4 shootout decision to the Rangers. Ryan Callahan scored his 13th goal of the season in regulation for New York, and then added the game-winner in the fourth-round of the shootout.
Capitals 5, Devils 2: The Washington Capitals took advantage of their three power play chances on Tuesday night, converting on all of them on their way to a 5-2 win over the New Jersey Devils. Mike Green and Brooks Laich scored a pair of goals with the man advantage just three minutes apart in the first period, while Michael Nylander picked up his second goal of the game at the 10:59 mark of the third period.
Jose Theodore stopped 32-of-34 shots in net for Washington, including 16-of-17 in the third period. The loss for New Jersey snaps its eight game winning streak, despite receiving another goal another Jamie Langenbrunner, who has now picked up seven goals in his past four games.
The New Jersey Devils have a chance to advance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs Sunday night. They've won two of their last three without captain Jamie Langenbrunner, who has been out with a lower-body injury.
The New Jersey Devils lost home-ice advantage Friday, and they lost their captain in the process. Game Two of their series against the Hurricanes went to Carolina in overtime. That leveled the series at a game apiece, and Game Three is Sunday night in Raleigh.
After a rather lifeless performance Wednesday in Game One, the Carolina Hurricanes were on a mission Friday night. They were out to prove themselves a worthy opponent for Eastern Conference third seed New Jersey, and to even the series on the road.
You might not have noticed while the Devils have made a case for themselves as legitimate Stanley Cup contenders, winning 16 of their last 19 games and residing squarely amongst the league's top-10 offenses, but the team has gone through a bit of crisis of identity with their offense lately.
Devils 4, Avalanche 0: After missing most of the season with an elbow injury, legendary goalie Martin Brodeur returned to the New Jersey lineup on Thursday and did not disappoint, posting the 99th shutout of his career in a 4-0 win over Colorado. 
We're less than one year away from the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Once again, the NHL will take a mid-season break and allow its players to participate in the Games. 
Devils 6, Sharks 5: In hindsight, NBC's decision to make the Rangers-Flyers game the national showcase on Sunday afternoon probably wasn't the best move the network could have made. Especially since the Sharks and Devils, the teams that were bumped, put on a goal-scoring clinic, including a three goal third period rally from New Jersey in its 6-5 win. 
Rangers 5, Capitals 4: Thanks to his two-goal effort on Wednesday night, Mike Green has now scored in seven straight games which ties an NHL record for consecutive games with a goal by a defenseman. During the current streak Green has tallied nine goals and seven assists. He's simply on a different planet right now. 
Capitals 5, Devils 2: The Washington Capitals took advantage of their three power play chances on Tuesday night, converting on all of them on their way to a 5-2 win over the New Jersey Devils. Mike Green and Brooks Laich scored a pair of goals with the man advantage just three minutes apart in the first period, while Michael Nylander picked up his second goal of the game at the 10:59 mark of the third period. 
