Blues @ Devils: Storm of Goals on a Snowy Night in Newark

Jan 21, 2014; Newark, NJ, USA; The New Jersey Devils celebrate a goal by New Jersey Devils right wing Damien Brunner (12) while St. Louis Blues goalie Jaroslav Halak (41) shoots the puck in frustration during the third period at the Prudential Center. The Devils defeated the Blues 7-1. Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

My night was made when my high school rang my landline officially calling off school tomorrow.  Thinking my night couldn’t get any better I tuned into MSG+ to see the Devils put up a 7 spot on a very good Blues team on the night Damien Brunner returned from injury. I’m not going to give you a typical recap, I’m going to limit your reading and keep it simple.

St. Louis Blues

• came into Newark with a 33-10-5 record
• coming off tough win yesterday vs. the Red Wings
• known for physical play and scoring spread out quite evenly
• after tonight have lost 3 of last 4
• started Brian Elliot

1st Period

• Devils create their own luck, coming out with energy and being rewarded with two favorable bounces which led to 2 goals in the first three minutes of play
• The Devils seemed to have the game in their hands when the Blues answered the bell with a goal about nine minutes in
• Didn’t take long for Reid Boucher, who played a stellar game, to make a beautiful pass to Jagr who finished, making the game 3-1 and recording his 697th goal for his career
• Despite the early goals, Elliot did show a lot of fight in net but, he was yanked in favor of putting Jaroslav Halak between the pipes
• Halak was forced to make some nice saves early into his campaign in net
• The Devils got to go on their first power play with 4:32 left in the period and they managed just one shot
• The Blues would see themselves in the sin bin again with 39 seconds left which saw the Blues beginning the 2nd period with only 4 skaters on the ice
• The 1st period was filled with excitement and saw the Devils finally finishing some chances.  Beginning the 2nd on the power play gave them the opportunity to really put a damper on the Blues’ chances of winning.

Player of the Period: The entire team for coming out with the energy to jump out to an early lead against a great hockey team.

Box Score(via Yahoo Sports):

Scoring Summary

STL 0 – NJ 1

STL 0 – NJ 2

8:47   Alexander Steen 25 (Assists: Jaden Schwartz 18, David Backes 19)

STL 1 – NJ 2

STL 1 – NJ 3

Penalty Summary

19:21   StL- Alexander Steen (Cross-Checking – 2 min) drawn by Andy Greene

2nd Period

• On the power-play, the Devils score and early goal 1:03 into the period
• Devils moved the puck well throughout the game and were playing well physically also
• With 15 minutes left, the Devils took their first penalty but, the 2nd best penalty kill in the league was successful in fending off a good Blues charge
• Devils just seemed more into the game and despite a blizzard hitting New Jersey, some fans made the trek to the Rock and were rewarded by being allowed to move down to whatever seat available
• the second period saw great physical play by both teams
• When the Blues took another penalty the Devils capitalized by scoring a beautiful goal from Henrique assisted by a beautiful pass from Gelinas making the game 5-1 in favor of Jersey’s Team
• With basically a full, healthy Devils lineup they seemed to click in every way possible building some excitement to follow tonight’s game
• With 2.2 seconds remaining, the Blues took another penalty, allowing the Devils to begin the 3rd like the 2nd, on the power-play

Player of the Period: Eric Gelinas- a young, sprouting superstar defenseman impressed me with his all-around play on the ice in the 2nd

Box Score(via Yahoo Sports):

Scoring Summary

STL 1 – NJ 4

14:55 Barret Jackman (Roughing – 2 min) drawn by Ryan Carter

19:57 Alexander Steen (Slashing – 2 min) drawn by Mark Fayne

3rd Period

• The Devils open on the power-play and Damien Brunner, in his first game back in the lineup returning from injury, scores to make the game 6-1 and the Devils power play was then 3 for 4
• The Devils seemed to be having fun in the 3rd, moving the puck and playing solid defense, it seemed to be a good boost for Cory Schneider who hasn’t seen much goal support this year
• The last goal of the game came off Eric Gelinas stick but, it was by far the strangest of the evening. The puck looked to be aimed at the boards when it hit a Blue defenseman and barely found the back of the net.
• The Devils nearly added an 8th but, the Blues should some toughness stopping the Devils on a good opportunity with about 1:15 left

Player of the Period: Damien Brunner- Welcome back #12, you provided the spark your team rode to victory tonight

Box Score (via Yahoo Sports):

Scoring Summary

1:18 Damien Brunner 9 (power-play) (Assists: Patrik Elias 20, Travis Zajac 16)

STL 1 – NJ 6

STL 1 – NJ 7

Penalty Summary

3:40 Stephen Gionta (Tripping – 2 min) drawn by Alexander Steen

2nd- Gelinas (1G, 2A)

3rd- Elias (2A)