Last season, Dainius Zubrus’ contract looked like a major mistake and a $3.4 million eyesore on towards the Devils’ salary cap space.15 goals and 25 assists hardly made the salary seem worth it, let alone the length of the deal.
Tonight, Zubrus continued on his quest to silence his critics, this time doing it on his offensive side. With under 2 minutes to go, Zubrus crashed the net on an aggressive forecheck while Zach Parise took a slap shot from the high point. Bruins’ goaltender Tim Thomas got most of the initial shot, but not all of it as the puck squeaked through his pads and settled on the ice behind him, 3 feet from the goal.
Zubrus saw the loose puck and pounced on it without hesitation, as he pushed the puck into the net for the go ahead goal, falling as he began to celebrate.
The Devils never looked back from that point, and held on for the 2-1 victory.
Moments prior to Zubrus’ goal, Devils’ goaltender Yann Danis withstood an onslaught of Bruin shots as Boston pushed for the leading tally. Danis made some fine saves during the rush, but also received a bit of luck as a Bruin shot went over his left shoulder, but bounced harmlessly off the crossbar.
David Clarkson put the Devils ahead early on with his third goal of the season. Clarkson joined a 2 on 1 rush with Niclas Bergfors as the Devils again caught Boston in the attacking zone. Bergfors’ shot was aimed at Thomas’ 5-hole, and as was the case with the game winning goal, Thomas only got a piece of the shot as Clarkson cleaned up the rebound on his way to a jumping celebration against the glass behind the net.
The major black eye to come from this game was the injury sustained by defenseman Johnny Oduya who left the game in the 2nd period with a lower body injury and did not return. While Oduya’s play early on this season has been marred by inconsistency, his loss would be detrimental to an already injury plagued defensive corps.
With Paul Martin our for 4 to 6 weeks, the Devils cannot stand to lose Oduya. If they do for an extended period of time, there is almost no question they will need to go out and find a defenseman who can help lead the team in Martin and Oduya’s absence.
While some will argue they will be able use the current players to fill the void, the shortcomings of the remaining defenseman are abundant.
Colin White, regardless of his current alternate title, has been ineffective for almost the entire season, save for about 5 minutes of solid playing, including two diving poke checks to preserve wins and eliminate scoring chances for the opposition.
Bryce Salvador cannot keep himself out of the penalty box, and besides Oduya, I do not think that anyone else on the team has taken as many lazy penalties as number 24.
Mike Mottau, a former Hoby Baker Award winner, just doesn’t strike me as the type of player who can pick up the defense on his back.
Andy Greene has played phenomenally thus far, but I think the added pressure of being the go to guy on defense will hurt his psyche and possibly kill his current hot streak.
Lastly, Mark Fraser is a rookie, and has only 3 games this season under his belt. To think he alone could pick up the slack is just ridiculous.
Sure, you can say that if the Devils loose Oduya, everyone else can step up and pick up a little piece of the slack, but I think there is far too much slack left to be shouldered by the remaining 6 defenders.
If the Devils loose Oduya, and another proven veteran is not brought in for assistance, the Devils could be in for a long couple of weeks.
7-4-0, 14 points
Next up: Saturday vs. Tampa Bay, 3pm
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