Game Over- Rangers 2 Devils 0-- Devils cannot find a way to take advantage of power play opportunities and fail to even their record in the 2-0 loss. This it the Devils third shutout of the season, most in the league. When a team has four PPs and cannot score on any of them, it's almost heartbreaking.

3:39 Rangers take a 2-0 lead on another Dawes goal and fans begin their chant of Marty... not good news for the Devils, who will go 3-5-1 unless they can score two in the last 90 seconds

4:50 Sergei Brylin is called for  penalty... questionable call, maybe a penalty by Roszival as well... if the Devils kill this off, they will have less than three regulation minutes to tie the game

6:27 1966-1967 was the last time that a coach was not relieved of is job during the season... interested thing to know (thanks announcers)

As Neil Young says, "Time is running out..."  7:00- Now, I am not being greedy by asking for one goal...

8:10 Still Rangers 1-0 lead... Devils cannot score on their PP opportunity and are now 0-4 tonight

14:15 Devils are short-handed... almost score a goal SH but are rejected by Lundqvist... I thought a penalty would be called against the Rangers but for some reason the refs are swallowing their whistles now... at least the Devils kill the penalty...

15:30 Five minutes of my life just went by, still 1-0 in favor of the Rangers... You have to give props to the Rangers defensive units tonight who have been solid tonight

BEGINNING OF THIRD- the caps are necessary because the Devils need some motivation and hopefully they heed Sutter's words in the locker room

Ken Daneyko is the man by the way... nice suits, nice Stanley Cup ring around his finger... not signature (Yes, I have his autograph... actually it's a funny story, but my mother told my brother and me that he's in the mall, taking pictures and signing autographs so went and the rest is history)... now, he's an inbetween period specialist... if there is such a role/position and he's doing a mighty fine job of that

Thoughts going into the third... hmm... it's really tough... I'm just not sure... maybe score a goal... who knows... maybe even score two, if that's too much to ask....

Much better period, but no goals to show for it... after two, here are the important team statistics:

Power Plays
Devils 0-3
Rangers 0-2

Shots on goal
Devils 15------------------------- some teams can smash 15 per period... especially with three man advantage chances... jeez!!!!
Rangers 23--- Defensively, the Devils are obviously losing this battle badly...

Faceoffs
Devils 13 won 16 lost --- but (11 won 7 lost in the second period)
Ranger 16 won 13 lost

Goals
Devils- zero after two periods of play
Rangers- one... a pretty goal, but one that would not have occurred if the Devils passed first grade defense school

0.000000000 No time left in the second period... Let's you are probably thinking the same thing that I am... the Rangers still lead 1-0... Martin talks about matching intensity, not getting caught up in distractions (ala Scott Gomez), and a tough time capitalizing on three power play opportunities...

50.1 second to go... Martin almost went the distance, but an offsides is called...

1:48 left in the second... Rangers kill off their third PK... pathetic PP once again for the Devils

4:18 The power play starts with an offisdes call... and then a Rangers clear... and another clear... 1:18 left on the Devils PP

5:00 Devils will go on another manhunt... I mean man advantage... as Oduya is boarded/crosschecked/interfered with by Ryan Hollweg... CMON NOW- another PP, no more bullshit

7:00 What do you know Gomez still has not scored... but neither have the Devils... still 1-0 Rangers... lets go Devils...cmon now Gionta is also scoring, we need him to get going... he played well in the last contest... but his lack of consistency is not helping a 3-4-1 team right now...

8:26 Martin Brodeur just kept my wish alive with two remarkable saves as we go to our second tv timeout of the second period... he's still that good... I definitely heard many oohs and awes in the crowd as they watched his glove stonewall the shit out of the Rangers offensive chances...Jay Pandolfo definitely had a sick chance right in front... but was robbed by Herik Lundqvist, who should be arrested tonight for all of his robberies... FUCK

9:00 Devils have so many good scoring chances that I feel the next goal coming... it's a matter of minutes...

13:10 Our first television commercial of the second period... Devils are 0-2 on PP... what else is new... It is definitely one of the keys to this game and their success in the league... and if they continue to struggle offensively and defensively, there's not much else they can ask for... Brodeur has just stopped short-handed breakaways, and a bunch of other difficult shots... He is definitely going to get in a groove.. It's a matter of time for him... but he needs the team to score at least two goals maybe even three for a victory... the competition is stronger this year than in year's past and the Devils need to score... It's that simply- head coach brent sutter even made the public aware of his feelings toward Elias and others who are playing like shit...

15:30 I like the fast-paced action but the Devils badly need a goal, and last time I checked... they are on the power play... pathetic

16:00 Brodeur has not played since last Thursday when he was outplayed by the other Martin (Biron) of Philadelphia... and the Devils draw another power play after a Ranger bumps into Brodeur... more on him in a minute

17:00 What I do not understand is that the Devils are struggling on special teams, actually not horrendous on the power play (18%) but love passing to each other instead of putting the puck on net during PP

18:40 Devils have good puck movement on the man advantage but forgot to shoot so far...

Beginning of the second period: Devils need to fix their second period woes, as they have been outscored 13-3 in the second period of their last five games. Finally, the Devils relentless attack results in a power play.

The Devils are losing 1-0 in the first period of their contest at Madison Square Garden. Nigel Dawes scored merely 57 seconds into the game, another one of the Devils defensive lapses this season. Two Devils defensemen were changing at the same time, leaving goaltender Martin Brodeur to fend for himself.

The Rangers are also winning the faceoff battle right now, leading 9 to 2. What do you know- they also had two power play opportunities, but the Devils somehow held the Rangers to zero goals on those chances. The Devils are still 68% efficient on the penalty kill, good for last place in the league. This, a Devils team known for its defensive prowess and low-scoring games.

I mean head coach Bruce Sutter has a new offensive-minded style of play, one that the team is slowly adapting. Games like 1-0, 2-1 are in the past, while 6-5 and 5-4 are more commonplace. For Brodeur, this will hurt his numbers and chances of breaking the all-time record for shutouts and maybe Patrick Roy's all-time regular season win record (551).

Stan "The Maven" Fischler called the defensive lapse "a first grade fire drill." Regarding the horrendous penalty calls by the refs, he thinks that they will loosen up eventually. The second call on Arron Asham, a hook, was the right call, but would not have been called in hockey's prime.

I do not think that hockey's decision to tighten up on penalty calling, by literally blowing your whistle 15 extra times a game will increase the fan base, television contracts. People want to see scoring, I agree, but this is the wrong way to go about the "lack" of scoring and excitement in hockey.

Another thing that bothered me is the talk about facing Scott Gomez for the first time since he signed with the Rangers in the offseason. I mean he won two Stanley Cups with the Devils and was a winner since the beginning of his career. Unfortunately, there is no loyalty in this organization, and Gomez chased the money, $50 million in all. I personally think that Gomez made a  financial decision more than a loyalty or victorious one. If he knew anything about the Rangers though, he would have realized that they are a pathetic team, that has only four Stanley Cups while being one of the original six teams in the league. The Devils won three Cups in a 10-year span. Go figure. Holik, McLean, Sykora, Driver and many others left the Devils organization after being raised and nurtured within this successful team. Not many of them won championships afterward, excluding Sykora and Neidermayer, two players whom I respect for their decision-making. But, for Gomez to head over to the hated Rangers... that's not something I can ever get over! I expect Devils fans to have banners, posters, chants, everything possible to make his visit to the Prudential Center a living hell. Am I disappointed that others left? Of course, but in the modern era, sports is a business and there is a turn over rate. Players like Brodeur, Elias, and even players on other teams have been loyal to their teams and fans, but then there are people like Alex Rodriguez who only care about money. He will never win a World Series ring. You can quote me on that. The same applies to Kevin Garnet,, both talented athletes, even if they are the best at their respective positions. But, they ride the money wave, not the winning ways. The Yankess tried buying championships and have been unsuccessful to say the least. Back to Gomez... he will not win on the Rangers, maybe he will make some money, but no more Cups. Mark my words.

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