Saturday, February 7, 2009

Devils host Kings tonight in Newark

The Devils come in to tonight's match-up winners of 10 out of their last 12 and a 5-1 route of struggling Atlanta. Conversely, the kings stroll in to town winners of 5 out of their last 6 games and 6-3-1 in their last 10 road games. Both teams have been scoring goals in bunches and I am really excited to see this match-up. The only other time these teams have played this season the Devils went in to LA and put a 5-1 beating on the home town team. This is a much different Kings team then the last time these teams met. The Kings are getting some great goaltending from Jonathan Quick and are scoring some goals as well, 2 things that were lacking during the first meeting.

Dustin Brown, the captain of the young king squad, has been on fire as of late with 12 points in 7 games. For the division leading Devils, Zach Parise has been just as hot with 11 points in his last 8 games and has a point in each one of those last 8 games. His linemates havent been too shabby either. The captain, Jamie Langenbrunner has 9 points in his last 5 games 7 goals in that span. The center for that line is Travis Zajac and he has been been just as hot as the other 2 players on his line with 9 points in his last 6 games and is an astounding +10 over that span.

The Devils are firing on all cylinders right now. In last night's game Colin White was struck in the hand with a puck and left the game and did not return. When speaking with reporters after the game he kept his hand in his pocket the whole time and said it will be re-evaluated today. Does not sound good at all. If he can't go it will be Jay Leach filling his spot on the blue line. If White misses any significant time, I fully expect Lou to start working the phone and getting a veteran defenseman in here...*cough*Niedermayer*cough*.

Players to watch:

Patrik Elias has been playing well all season but hasnt potted a goal in 3 games and is due for one tonight. He is doing all the little things and made an outstanding pass to Zach Parise for a goal last night. I fully expect him to get on the score sheet tonight.

Johhny Oduya has been outstanding at both ends of the ice this season and is really developing in to a top pairing D-man in this league. He has 4 goals and 16 assists this season and is an impressive +14. Coach Sutter has moved him around with different partners this season and he never misses a step. Look for Johnny to continue to jump in to the offense and get on the scoresheet tonight as well. 2 assists sounds about right.

Scott Clemmensen played what can be considered his worst game of the season Tuesday night against Washington. After the night off last night, he will be ready to go tonight and be eager to shake off the last start. With the Hall of Famer lurking in the wings now is the time for Clemmer to make the most of the time he has left. Like I have been saying all along, he just needs to keep his team in the game and let the offense do its work and for the most part, he has done that all season long.

Prediction: Devils continue to roll in this one. They will go down early but fight back and earn an exciting 3-2 victory. Elias 1 goal and 1 assist, Parise 1 goal, Zajac 2 assists.

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