World of Warcraft for the uninitiated. An online, multiplayer game in which some people actually play. As opposed to my general reaction to tonight’s blowout on I-95, which can be summed up as: Huh? The Devils offense disappeared tonight, possibly suffocated by Martin Biron but more likely just not executing as crisply as it did in generating 11 goals in the last two games. Biron is good, but not that good; tonight featured a lot of 06-07 rewind moves like shots going directly into shins, rebounds that escaped Paul Martin at the point, and a dogged determination to get in one last pass. Shoot the puck. I hate to quote Gretzky, but if you don’t shoot it, it doesn’t go in.
Power play was ugly, mostly due to bad passing, too much passing, and a persistent Philly checking presence.
But let me ask the question that all members of the Church of Red and Black are asking tonight: Why didn’t Weekes start tonight? Marty looked miserable. Granted, once again the defense didn’t help out (on the second goal, I noticed Vishnevski stopped skating at the top of the slot. Cousin – the guy with the puck was ahead of you. Not good). But weird bounces, shots from beyond the 3-point arc (and the Spectrum is next door to the Wack-HOV-ia center), and a general lack of sideways motion converged. Maybe it’s me, but Brodeur doesn’t seem to have the lateral motion he did last year. He’s coming out a lot more, and challenging shooters, which he wouldn’t do if he were comfortable stacking the pads and sliding cross-crease. I’m merely an overly loud fan who now has a wall full of dents due to pens, pencils, cable remote control, SecurID token card, cell phone, calculator, and a small carving of the god Ganesh being thrown in the general direction of Devils broadcasts, but something’s not quite right here.
At least the Rangers lost. Someone had to sacrifice their pride for Atlanta, and I can’t think of a better team for the honor.
