BUFFALO – The Sideshow moved to center stage here last night.
Mike Danton, the Devils’ outspoken fourth-line center with five games of NHL experience, actually survived Lou Lamoriello’s fury to play a sixth here last night. Now he’ll have to prove that he actually is as good as he thinks he is.
Sent home from Atlanta Tuesday, apparently for taking moderate and competitively-justified exception to being scratched in Carolina last Saturday, Danton’s Devils career remains in jeopardy.
It is unlikely that Lamoriello will tolerate another discouraging word of any sort from Danton. Nor is Lamoriello likely to care to keep trouble around if he can’t be better than a fourth-liner.
Danton must now put up and shut up.
It took two meetings with Lamoriello, an unsuccessful one Tuesday and another Thursday, to reinstate Danton, who was never officially suspended. He rejoined the team here Thursday night and was to be in the lineup against the Sabres last night.
“I’m just happy things are resolved and I can get back to playing, and do everything I can to help make this team win,” said Danton, obviously chastened to hold his tongue.
Danton refused to describe his meetings with Lamoriello, and would not reveal whether he actually believes he did anything wrong in declaring Saturday, “I’m [ticked] off,” and that he felt he was being punished by being scratched.
“That’s behind us now, and I want to get moving forward,” Danton said. “All I want to do is play.
“I don’t really want to talk about that. It’s all behind us.”
Until next time, which would surely be the last time. Danton sat out suspended all last season after refusing to report to Albany, and earned his spot in Devil lore by claiming that New Jersey’s players are kept in line by drinking “Lou’s Kool-Aid.”
During the past summer, he changed his name from Mike Jefferson, made temporary amends with Lamoriello and was welcomed back to camp.
The Devils went 3-0 with him in the lineup, as he scored his first NHL goal. They suffered their lone loss, entering last night, in that Carolina visit when he revealed his displeasure.
With Jay Pandolfo idled with a groin pull, Danton had a spot ready-made to rejoin the lineup last night.
“Back with his old linemates,” Pat Burns said, putting Danton between protectors Jim McKenzie and Turner Stevenson.
Burns said he had not given Danton any advice on how to get along in Lamoriello’s world, and the assumption was that Lamoriello had given Danton plenty.
Lamoriello does not even allow his assistant coaches to speak to the press, so it would seem contact with his players would be even further prohibited, if not required by NHL regulations. Those league rules don’t seem to stop him from keeping his player lounge and exercise room off-limits, despite explicit regulations to the contrary.
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Sabre coach Lindy Ruff suggested that Devils are easier to defend now.
“As an opposing coach, you always feared the A Line. It had everything, size, a guy like Jason Arnott who could fire the puck,”he said.
“A little of their power play problem is that their A Line isn’t there,” Ruff said.