Only 20 minutes into this young season, for two teams its
quite obvious their mantra: Score early, score often.
Both the Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins ran up
multi-goal leads in their respective season openers.
While it is extremely early in their respective games and
the season, its quite obvious how much emphasis has been placed on them to have
solid starts to this abbreviated season.
Hopefully, the New Jersey Devils are taking note while they
wait for their clash with the New York Islanders later tonight.
The Devils, who many predict to miss or just squeak into the
post season, are relatively intact from last year’s team minus Alexi
Ponikarovski and Zach Parise. Both played critical roles in their run to the
Eastern Conference Championship and while neither will be easy to replace, the
Devils seek to show the League they are more than just a one-man team.
Tonight, they need to jump on a weaker opponent in the
Islanders, a team they have struggled with, especially at Nassau Coliseum, in
recent years.
One thing that will certainly interesting to watch will be
the Devils’ new power-play attack, introduced by Assistant Coach Matt Shaw.
Said Head Coach Peter DeBoer of the new system, “We’re going to be shooting
more and looking for that perfect look less.”
Last season, the Islanders were one of the least penalized
teams in the league, being shorthanded only 236 times, only 11 ahead of San
Jose’s league best 225. Their penalty kill percentage, however, was a botton-10
low 80.5%.
Hopefully, the Devils, who drew around the league average of
267 penalties last year, will be able to
convert on both even strength and the advance tonight to start their season off
on the right foot.
Adam Larsson, Krys Barch and Peter Harrold will be tonight’s
scratches while Mattias Tedenby will get another chance to prove he’s NHL ready
and will start on the 2nd line with Patrik Elias and David Clarkson.
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