Bruins buried by Devils' onslaught
In practically every fashion, the manner in which the New Jersey Devils play is the style that coach Dave Lewis would like to meld into the Bruins.
The Devils, who claimed a dominant 5-1 win over the Bruins last night before 13,476 at TD Banknorth Garden -- they outshot the home team, 42-20, while not allowing a single power play -- play sound defensively.
They have a suffocating checking line that also can play offense, evident by the goals scored by defensive wings Jay Pandolfo and Sergei Brylin.
They employ a 1-4 trap that busts opposing offensive opportunities, creates Expressway-like traffic jams in the neutral zone, and closes every shooting lane that might seem open.
They have talented snipers like Patrik Elias, Jamie Langenbrunner, and Brian Gionta -- forwards who don't miss opportunities and regularly manage to agitate opposing defensemen.
And they also have one of the best goalies of his generation in Martin Brodeur, who cleans up the few mistakes they might commit.
"He's one of the best goalies who's ever played the game," said Lewis. "He's going to be in the Hall of Fame immediately. He is really important to their psyche. He plays all the time. He's never tired. He makes big saves and they know that."
Last night, however, Brodeur didn't need to be the game-changer he's been his entire career. The Bruins committed too many mistakes to make Brodeur (19 saves) a factor.
"It was a game where we had some guys give subpar performances," said Lewis.
The Boston coach didn't include Tim Thomas in that category, despite pulling the starting netminder after the first period. Thomas (12 saves) allowed a pair of first-period goals, to Pandolfo and Langenbrunner, before exiting in favor of Hannu Toivonen, who saw his first NHL action since Nov. 4.
"Disappointing, of course," Thomas said of the 20-minute workload. "But I also did understand.
"It looked like the bounces weren't going my way."
Lewis might have been speaking about Paul Mara (minus-1) and Brad Stuart (minus-4), who were on the ice for both first-period goals. Hunting for a spark, Lewis went with Toivonen to start the second period. He busted up the Mara-Stuart pairing for the final 40 minutes. Mara played with Milan Jurcina, while Stuart skated with Jason York. Lewis changed the forechecking formation.
In the third period, Lewis took Phil Kessel off the fourth line and skated him at left wing alongside Marc Savard and Glen Murray.
At first, the moves appeared to work. Toivonen turned aside all 14 shots he saw in the second period, saving his best for the final minute of the frame when he kicked out an Elias one-timer with his right pad.
Toivonen was on the bench for Boston's only goal, having sprinted off the ice during a delayed penalty on New Jersey. Savard, who rolled over the boards once Toivonen skated off, went right to the slot.
Jurcina gained control of the puck along the right-side wall, skated to the middle, and uncorked a hummer through screens by Brad Boyes and Marco Sturm that thudded off Brodeur. But Brodeur left a fat rebound for Savard, who potted his seventh goal to make it a 2-1 game. Jurcina was credited with his first assist of the season.
But the game turned at 10:10 of the third period when fourth-line plugger Erik Rasmussen barreled down the right side and sent a bad-angle backhander on goal. Toivonen whiffed on the shot, which made it 3-1.
"We knew coming in that New Jersey's a team that thrives off mistakes," said Mara. "That's how they've generated all their wins this year. They thrived off our mistakes tonight."
After that, the Devils, who won their second game in two nights, slammed on their signature trap, converting more Boston errors to add two stat-padding goals by Elias and Brylin to their scoresheet.
Toivonen blamed himself for the loss, pointing to the third-period softie to Rasmussen as the backbreaker. Lewis shrugged off the statement, chalking Toivonen's comment to youth. Lewis knew the real reason his club recorded its fourth loss in the last 14 games: too many mistakes against a club that's 5-0-1 in its last six games.
"We had a lot of players who had subpar hockey games," said Lewis. "You're not going to beat a team like that when you play below a standard that's important to play in this league."
