The New Jersey Devils needed this game badly... especially after an awful showing against Pittsburgh on Monday night...after allowing the game's first goal, the Devils clamped down defensively, allowing 14 shots on net... solid Devils-style defense... giving Martin Brodeur his 499th career win (wow!)... one away from 500, which puts him in a class with Patrick Roy (551)... I'm not gonna get ahead of myself until Brodeur gets closer, but I will definitely keep you afloat...

Danius Zubrus earned his first, maybe second paycheck this season... he scored his first and second Devils career goals, after signing with the organization in the offseason... still don't understand why GM Lou Lamoriello signed him to a six year contract... but since the Devils won 4-1 tonight, we are going to focus on positive happenings...after the next comment...

Who scored first?

The Flyers on the power play... which definitely upset my stomach and the fans in attendance who began to boo... well, of the 14,948 (84.8% full) "in attendance," apparently many of them were watching the game in the fancy bathrooms, or lounges... can the team stop hiding these incorrect figures? please... it only makes things worse... and why the Nets are playing 10 miles away in the Izod Center on the same night... that's gonna annoy me until the season's over... The Nets only managed to fill 13,267 seats tonight, way short of the 19,000 plus capacity... point well taken...

Shots on Goal
Devils 39
Flyers 14

Special Teams
Devils 0 for 5 on PP- still having problems, even with a four-minute double-minor giving them a 5 on 4 for four straight, unadulterated minutes...
Flyers 1 for 7

Huge win for the Devils... Brian Gionta tied the game in the first period after Mike Knuble gave the Flyers 1-0 lead on a power play effort.  Zubrus followed up Gionta's tie-breaker with two goals of his own...the second coming shorthanded with 30 seconds remaining in the first period... very nice to see... Rod Pelley added the final score, his first career NHL goal in the second period, chasing Flyers goaltender Martin Biron from the net (three chases last season, most recent of which occurred on March 31 against the NY Rangers... go figure)... doubly important since Biron shutout the Devils in the previous game this season...

Devils definitely need to finish on the power play... head coach Brent Sutter must find some combination that works... Langenbrunner is a week or two at most from returning to action and will probably command a spot on the man advantage as a fourth forward/ second defenseman like last year... and captain this team??

Otherwise, a tremendous and well-needed effort for an entire 60 minutes by the Devils over a drained Flyers team finishing an eight-game road trip...

The Devils return to the Island for another matchup with the other New York team, one which defeated them in overtime on a Billy Guerin power play goal... Kevin Weekes started that game on Oct. 20th, his last start... Will Weekes be in net for Saturday's contest? I'll let you know as soon as I know... Again, the Devils- big night, four goals, win, drive home safely...

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