Devils defeat Isles, clinch playoff spot

The Devils beat the Islanders last night. They now lead the season series 6-1. They have one game remaining on March 8.

Zach Parise netted his career-high 30th goal (PP), and Scott Gomez scored in the second period to make it 2-0. Alexei Yashin scored a power play goal in the second to cut the deficit to 2-1.

David Clarkson scored another power play goal to take a 2 goal lead in the third. Blake scored to make it 3-2 with 6:21 left in the game. Clarkson goal proved to be the game winner.

Elias, Langenbrunner both played over 20 minutes in the game, they both had an assist and combined for 9 shots on goal. Rasmussen also returned playing 15:58.

With Pittsburgh beating Washington last night the Devils remained tied for first with the Pens in the Atlantic division. Both teams have 98 points. They play tonight in Buffalo.


Another win
After the recent slide and injury problems the Devils have experienced, this win must feel good. They have now won two in a row and they will take their 2 game winning streak against the conference leading Buffalo tonight.

Zach Parise
What can you say about Zach? I picked him in the things to look for on the game preview and the kid delivered. Again. He will probably be the leading goal scorer this season. Idled Gionta has 24 goals. He is having a remarkable second year. He scored 14 goals and had 18 assists for 32 points last year. He has topped both categories this year, by a huge margin: 29 goals and 27 assists for 56 points.

Playoff berth
This is it. When you look at the standings, the Devils finally earned a little letter meaning something. Either a Y or a X and usually it means something good. Congratulations to the New Jersey Devils who are going back to the playoffs for the 10th straight season. The Penguins also clinched last night with a win against Washington. They will join the Devils for the first time since 2001. The Race is still on!

David Clarkson
He scored another goal. Called up after injuries to Elias and Madden, the rookie is having quite an impact. He scored a power play goal to make it 3-1. His goal proved to be the game winning goal. He has now scored 3 goals in 6 games. It must feel good for the Devils to see a young player coming in during the season and having this kind of production.

The power play has clicked last night
Parise's and Clarkson's goals were scored on the power play. It is always good to see the power play producing: scoring 2 goals on 3 chances, it has been a long time.

Martin Brodeur
Forget Bernie Parent's record, Brodeur beat his own record. He now has 44 wins this season, closing in on Parents but also establishing a career best.


You can't really see anything bad about last night win. I will only say I hope DiPietro recovers. He missed the game last night cos he was experiencing headaches. I know he is an Islanders but I hate seeing goalies hurt and you will probably understand why. Far too often since the league returned, you see opponents running goalies and when your goalie gets blows to the head you can be in trouble.



"It's great anytime you beat your own record, It's a lot of wins for one season. We have a lot of games left and hopefully we'll get some more." Brodeur on beating his record of 43 wins and establishing a new career high.