Turnovers and Doubling Over
Expectations were high tonight for Devils fans: Briere was going under the knife, Marty was in net, they hadn’t lost to the Flyers at home since 2004 and well, the Flyers haven’t won since last season. After a first period of weird bounces, the Devils were nursing a lead, but then it came unglued. Marty looked half-asleep in net, the Flyers never stopped skating, and there was a parade of goals for the bad guys in white. Langenbrunner left the game with an unspecified injury (not Langs, on top of Rolston and Holik?) and the rest of the team seemed to forget how to play Devils hockey. I’m just about doubled over after watching this one.
The top line looked good in the first few games but has been invisible since Rolston’s injury. Elias hasn’t touched the twine since Game 2, and despite 8 shots on net versus the Stars he didn’t get on the scoresheet. Tonight he was a turnover machine, for no apparent reason — Vrana has speed on the other wing and Zubrus is making room in the slot - why not control the puck if your linemates are creating space and time for you? When asked to take a penalty kill face off in place of the penalized Madden, Elias was lost - lost the face off, lost his check, and lost the battle that turned into the tying goal 6 seconds into a power play. Call me cynical, an arm chair coach, a dilletante manager, and merely an adult player, but Elias seemed to be mailing this one in. Langenbrunner would yell at him if he was on the bench - and perhaps that’s part of the issue.
Down low, on defense, it seems like simple things are eluding the Devils - picking up a loose guy, lifting the stick, controlling the flow in the low slot. White’s slamming his stick into the net after the 5th Flyers goal kind of says it all - don’t blame Marty, Colin, figure out how you and Madden managed to get out muscled in your own zone.
We can only hope that tomorrow is better, and that there’s some serious hollering going on under the low-numbered seats at the Rock right now. And that Langenbrunner is merely bruised and not bent. And that Marty gets a night off to just rest up for next week, and doesn’t insist on playing less than 24 hours after a fistful of goal thrashing.
All streaks must end - Flyers going winless, Devils beating them at home, forward lines remaining consistent over multiple games. And each new streak, each new good thing, starts with something simple — mostly those things that were missing tonight.