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The Devils opened their season in Philadelphia in what was the first game of the post-Martin Brodeur era and, though it wasn't pretty, they got the result they were hoping for.
After blowing a 3-0 lead late in the 2nd period, the Devils regrouped during the intermission and scored three (one empty netter) in the final frame to top the Flyers and move to 1-0 on the season.
10 takeaways:
1. The Devils made some mistakes and it certainly wasn't pretty, but they scored six goals(!) and picked up two points against a division rival on the road, which is all they could have hoped for. Obviously there were some defensive miscues that need to be cleaned up, but they were far from at their best and still won the game. That's a positive, I guess.
2. Speaking of miscues, none were bigger than Bryce Salvador's in the 3rd period. Patrik Elias had just scored to give the Devils a 4-3 lead, and what does Salvador do the next shift? Gets caught on the wall in neutral zone leaving Marek Zidlicky completely hung out to dry on an odd-man rush. Not good.
3. Despite the four goals on the scoreboard suggesting otherwise, I thought Cory Schneider was good. The Devils were on their heels the entire 2nd half of the middle frame, and for a while he kept them off the board. He gave New Jersey a chance to get their feet underneath themselves and get back to their game, but they were persistent buggers and continued playing like garbage until the Flyers finally tied it. He stopped 12-13 in the 3rd to lock down the win, too.
4. I thought Damon Severson was pretty good in his debut. He wasn't great in possession, but playing on the 1st pairing against primarily the top two lines in his first game, I'm not sure you can expect anything else. He made some good outlet passes, was confident with the puck and Pete DeBoer rewarded him with some important minutes down the stretch while trying to defend the lead. He talked him up quite a bit after the game so I think it's probably safe to assume Severson is playing Saturday.
5. Deflections and traffic. DeBoer talked about going to the net more this season, the Devils did that against Philadelphia, and it definitely worked. They scored 2-3 goals that way, so they should probably keep doing it.
6. For my money the line of Dainius Zubrus - Patrik Elias - Martin Havlat was the Devils' best unit. It seemed like they generated a couple scoring chances every shift, and all of them did well in the possession game. They combined for two goals and looked good doing so. Keep that unit together.
7. Speaking of offense, Ryane Clowe - Adam Henrique - Michael Ryder combined for two goals and six points. Given Clowe's injury history and Ryder's struggles last season, it was nice to see them get going and contribute early. DeBoer has Henrique centering the 3rd line, per se, to give them three balanced scoring lines and make them tough to match up against. So far so good.
8. The 4th line was a tire fire. Completely awful. Tuomo Ruutu was the best of the three, I think, as he helped create a chance or two and had five hits, but he wasn't great, either.
Shot attempt numbers (for/against) for that line:
Ruutu 3/10
Jordin Tootoo 3/12
Stephen Gionta 3/16
This while starting 2/3 of their shifts in the offensive zone. Yikes is the word that comes to mind.
9. Sticking with the 4th line, why not try four skilled units and roll with Ruutu - Jacob Josefson - Damien Brunner on Saturday against the Panthers? They have the personnel to roll four skilled lines, so they may as well take advantage of it.
10. If I had to guess, I think Adam Larsson will be in the lineup on Saturday. We'll see.
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