Nieuwy25 Posted January 17, 2003 Share Posted January 17, 2003 NY Daily News article Thought I'd post it, since it really is positive for a change. Devils make Isles their latest victim By DARREN (N)Єverson DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER Collision Course: Devils' Patrik Elias (r.) collides with Islanders' Brandon Smith during second period at Meadowlands Arena. The scorers are starting to score. The goaltender and the defense never stopped defending. And so, the Devils aren't just winning right now - they're rolling. They and the Islanders have both been hot lately, but when the teams met for the first time this season last night at the Meadowlands, one clearly got smoked. Powered by a revitalized offense, the Devils routed the Isles, 5-0. The Devils (25-12-3-3) have scored 11 goals in their last two games, have gone 4-0-1 in their last five and have reclaimed first place in the Atlantic Division from Philadelphia. It all seems to be falling into place for them, although you shouldn't say that to Pat Burns. "I don't think anything fell out of place," the Devils coach said. True, the Devils have hung near the top of the East all season, but many nights they hung by a thread, playing close, low-scoring games. All the while, their star forwards grew more frustrated by their inability to score. By the two-minute mark of the third period last night, the only shred of suspense was whether Martin Brodeur would get his 60th career shutout, which he did. (His has the third-highest total among active goalies, three behind Ed Belfour and one behind Patrick Roy - in three and eight fewer seasons, respectively.) "I kept on repeating it every night," Burns said. "I kept on telling you guys, it's a question of time. It'll come. If you're getting the number of shots we were getting before, whether it be from far out or close in, we were getting them. That means we were in control of the puck. Sooner or later it's going to find a way to go in." Patrik Elias scored a goal for the third straight game and Jeff Friesen had a goal and an assist, extending his point streak to five games. Jamie Langenbrunner also had a goal (his 12th) and an assist to remain tied with Elias for the team lead. Joe Nieuwendyk once again came awfully close to scoring his 500th career goal, but Oleg Tverdovsky's power-play score through traffic early in the third was judged not to have deflected off the veteran center. A referee asked Nieuwendyk to make sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MantaRay Posted January 17, 2003 Share Posted January 17, 2003 Hate to burst your bubble, but the village idiot is MARK (N)Єverson, not Darren who covers the Islanders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackjack Posted January 17, 2003 Share Posted January 17, 2003 I knew it was too good to be true Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nieuwy25 Posted January 17, 2003 Author Share Posted January 17, 2003 Darn it! Well, I tried . . . with everything else going well, I thought just maybe even Neverson couldn't come up with anything bad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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