Devils 4 Senators 1 The Devils couldn’t laugh last, but they managed a smile.
Full revenge was beyond their power. The most they could do was salvage some wounded pride, and halt the erosion of their reputation as contenders.
Mission accomplished – without Martin Brodeur.
“We had doubts,” Ken Daneyko admitted after the Devils beat the Senators 4-1 last night at the Meadowlands and averted being swept by the team that upset them in the playoffs last season.
“This was real important,” Daneyko added. “It’s a great feeling, and even though it’s only one game, it was getting in people’s heads. If we went 0-4, we would have wondered if we could beat this team.” It was their last chance, having lost three times to Ottawa this month. This time, the Devils negated the Senators’ speed while Chris Terreri proved stalwart, giving New Jersey its first three-game winning streak of 1999.
“It was a real good performance, an important performance for us. You don’t want to lose to a team four times,” Robbie Ftorek said.
This time, the Devils scored early and never looked back.
Brodeur arrived at the game with a stiff neck, pressing Terreri into action for only the third time since Dec. 5. Any rust vanished quickly, like Alexei Yashin’s shots from the goalmouth into Terreri’s glove.
“[Terreri] made some big saves. Too many big saves,” Ftorek said.
Terreri had already stopped Yashin twice when Jay Pandolfo put the Devils in front 13:31 into play. Deep on left wing, Pandolfo grabbed Lyle Odelein’s left-point rebound and fired it off Damian Rhodes’ left skate and into the net for his 11th.
Brendan Morrison had missed practice with the flu Monday, but recovered enough by last night to hit a post, and then give the Devils a 2-0 lead at 18:21 of the first. Krzysztof Oliwa helped Morrison separate Patrick Traverse from the puck in the right circle, and Morrison wheeled to whip his sixth over Rhodes’ glove on the short side.
Brian Rolston made it 3-0 with his fourth shorthander of the season 4:58 into the second. Rolston stole the puck from pointman Wade Redden and beat Rhodes with a backhand deke on the breakaway for his 13th.
Rolston’s fourth SHG of the season tied the franchise record, shared by Stephane Richer and Doug Brown, and Rolston has 37 games left to set the mark. He also trails only Joe Sakic’s five in the league this season.
“We just played well tonight. We weren’t giving the puck away in the neutral zone, and we were actually making them turn over the puck,” Rolston said.
The Devils stretched their lead to 4-0 on Vadim Sharifijanov’s eighth at 18:12 of the second, set up in the left circle by Morrison’s pass from the right corner, a play started by an Oliwa hit. Terreri’s shutout bid ended with 47.2 seconds left in the second, when Shawn McEachern scored his 22nd form the left circle, a wrist shot off Terreri’s glove. It was all Terreri would allow.
“When a team takes you out of the playoffs, and beats you three times, getting the win makes a big difference. It gives you confidence that you can get the job done,” Rolston said.
But they only banished a bugaboo. They did not avenge last spring. Daneyko had proclaimed after their last loss in Ottawa that he wasn’t ready to hand the Senators the Stanley Cup.
“I’m not ready to hand us anything, either,” Daneyko said. *
Bobby Holik could face another league review for slew-footing after he clipped left legs with Andreas Johansson late in the third … Devils visit Bruins tomorrow … Patrik Elias returned to the lineup after missing five games with the flu … Denis Pederson sat out second straight with sore back, while flu knocked Kevin Dean to sidelines … Brad Bombardir returned to lineup after sitting out three-game California trip … Senators have not scored on power play in last 23 chances, over five games.