Rd 2, Gm 3, San Jose 1 @ New Jersey 2
Devils One Step Closer To Finals
The New Jersey Devils continued their run to the GUGie Cup Finals with a tough defensive battle to maintain home ice advantage on the strength of a 2-1 victory over the visiting San Jose Sharks.
There was a buzz around Continental Airlines Arena as New Jerseyeans have caught playoff fever and are in strong support of their team. The first period was well contested as both teams had their opportunities turned aside by some strong goaltending. Neither team wanted to make the first mistake as it seemed like the perfect play would be required to score on either Martin Brodeur or Vesa Toskala.
The San Jose Sharks would connect first. Skating down the right side of the ice, Matt Carle put a low slapshot to the far post. Brodeur got solid legpad on the puck, however he could not direct the rebound away from a streaking Milan Michalek. Michalek squoze his stick a little hard thinking he needed the perfect shot (the Brodeur effect) to hit the empty net and actually rang his shot off the post and off the back leg of the goaltender before he could know what happened. Just two and a half minutes later in the second period, Johnny Oduya forced a turnover and hit a streaking Jay Pandolfo
for a breakaway. Pandolfo, not known for his speed, was given a little boost by the defense with a check from behind. He maintained control of the puck and was able to slam the puck in off of Toskala's legpad as he went down to try to freeze the puck.
In a mirror image of Game 1, team captain Patrik Elias skated in across the blueline, and with a nifty move was able to cut inside of two defenders where he unleashed a hard slapshot into the top shelf for a crucial third period lead. Time could not tick fast enough for the home squad as this woke up the Sharks and they applied constant pressure. The Devils at times were caught chasing the puck and were simply happy to ice the puck to put a pause to the onslaught. In the end, Brodeur and the Devils defense were able to hold strong for a 2-1 victory and a 2-1 series lead.
Immediately after the game, the Devils fan club signed a charter plane to take 150 members to San Jose where their beloved Devils can clinch the series. This series has revolved around the home squad, so this will be no easy task.
1 2 3 Total
Sharks 0 1 0 1
Devils 0 1 1 2
Shots On Goal:
SJ:32, NJ:13
Hits:
SJ: 17, NJ: 48
Scoring
1st Period
No scoring
2nd Period
SJ, Milan Michalek (Carle), 12:19
NJ, Jay Pandolfo (Oduya), 14:41
3rd Period
NJ, Patrik Elias, (Rafalski), 3:53
3 Stars
1. NJ, Martin Brodeur, 31 saves
2. NJ, Patrik Elias, 1 G, 0 A
3. NJ, Jay Pandolfo, 1 G, 0 A
The New Jersey Devils continued their run to the GUGie Cup Finals with a tough defensive battle to maintain home ice advantage on the strength of a 2-1 victory over the visiting San Jose Sharks.
There was a buzz around Continental Airlines Arena as New Jerseyeans have caught playoff fever and are in strong support of their team. The first period was well contested as both teams had their opportunities turned aside by some strong goaltending. Neither team wanted to make the first mistake as it seemed like the perfect play would be required to score on either Martin Brodeur or Vesa Toskala.
The San Jose Sharks would connect first. Skating down the right side of the ice, Matt Carle put a low slapshot to the far post. Brodeur got solid legpad on the puck, however he could not direct the rebound away from a streaking Milan Michalek. Michalek squoze his stick a little hard thinking he needed the perfect shot (the Brodeur effect) to hit the empty net and actually rang his shot off the post and off the back leg of the goaltender before he could know what happened. Just two and a half minutes later in the second period, Johnny Oduya forced a turnover and hit a streaking Jay Pandolfo
for a breakaway. Pandolfo, not known for his speed, was given a little boost by the defense with a check from behind. He maintained control of the puck and was able to slam the puck in off of Toskala's legpad as he went down to try to freeze the puck.In a mirror image of Game 1, team captain Patrik Elias skated in across the blueline, and with a nifty move was able to cut inside of two defenders where he unleashed a hard slapshot into the top shelf for a crucial third period lead. Time could not tick fast enough for the home squad as this woke up the Sharks and they applied constant pressure. The Devils at times were caught chasing the puck and were simply happy to ice the puck to put a pause to the onslaught. In the end, Brodeur and the Devils defense were able to hold strong for a 2-1 victory and a 2-1 series lead.
Immediately after the game, the Devils fan club signed a charter plane to take 150 members to San Jose where their beloved Devils can clinch the series. This series has revolved around the home squad, so this will be no easy task.
1 2 3 Total
Sharks 0 1 0 1
Devils 0 1 1 2
Shots On Goal:
SJ:32, NJ:13
Hits:
SJ: 17, NJ: 48
Scoring
1st Period
No scoring
2nd Period
SJ, Milan Michalek (Carle), 12:19
NJ, Jay Pandolfo (Oduya), 14:41
3rd Period
NJ, Patrik Elias, (Rafalski), 3:53
3 Stars
1. NJ, Martin Brodeur, 31 saves
2. NJ, Patrik Elias, 1 G, 0 A
3. NJ, Jay Pandolfo, 1 G, 0 A
posted by OldTimeHockey at 8:15 AM
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