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| "You mean this isn't a practice? You can understand my confusion, though, right?" |
The Devils are an abysmal 1-4-1 this season, which must be especially disappointing after the much-hyped and much-groaned-about off-season acquisition of superstar Ilya Kovalchuk (two goals, five points in six games). Enter the Habs and the fact that the Devils are 7-1 against them in the two teams’ past eight encounters and 16-4 in their last 20. This goes beyond psychological warfare. If there were such a thing, it would be a psychological natural disaster of epic proportions, most notably because, short of simply bracing for the inevitable, the Habs seem powerless to do anything to counteract the Devils’ dominance over them.
Like clockwork, it’s happened without fail nearly every time. The Devils either score the first goal or eventually get a lead and then collapse into the defensive shell for which they’re best known and the Habs in turn just collapse under the pressure. Sure, they might get their chances here and there, but for the most part it starts to look a lot like an entire team of Benoit Pouliots just going through the motions after a while. It's not exactly pretty to watch, even if you’re a Devils fan.
The only solace for Habs fans going into tonight is that when this most recent woeful eight-game stretch started two seasons ago, they had 10 different regulars heading to unrestricted free agency. The eventual acquisitions of Mike Cammalleri, Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta, etc. make this a very different team that theoretically shouldn’t let supposed curses and superstitious nonsense get them down. And then there’s Devils goalie Martin Brodeur who always seems to bring his ‘A’ game against his hometown team. Brodeur’s got a career 38-16-5 record against the Habs with a 1.78 goals-against average. With numbers like that, you’d be justified to question their accuracy and my ability to properly research historical statistics. But I assure you the only thing worth questioning is the Devils’ sub-par record so far this season.
Technically, at 3-1-1, the Habs are the better team, but on paper the Devils are in spite of their inexperienced defense with Anton Volchenkov and Bryce Salvador both injured. It doesn’t matter how it gets done, meaning while the Habs will likely outplay Jersey at the start the end result of this game is almost pre-ordained.
Brodeur will get his swagger back if only temporarily at the ripe old age of 38, Kovalchuk will get back to the point-per-game pace to which he’s grown accustomed, Zach Parise will lead his team to victory, and the Habs will fold like a fresh load of laundry done by your mother at Thanksgiving, your freshman year at college. The one thing the Habs will be thankful for after tonight will be the two months until their next game against the Devils.
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