DING DING DING! Round 1 of Devils vs. Rangers about to begin.

No Sean Avery tonight, and a more cuddly, controlled verson of Andrew Peters to make an apperance tonight, so the fisticuffs may wait until later in the season, but the action is moving fast and furious from the opening whistle.

The Devils score less than two minutes in, when Jay Pandolfo controlled the puck off the boards and found Rob Niedermeyer in the right faceoff circle, and Niedermeyer one-timed it into the upper right corner of the net.

The Rangers took a timeout after the Devils earned another shot on goal, and immediately took a 2 minute interference penalty. The Devils look like a completely different team than Saturday’s version, and we’re only 2 minutes in.

The Rangers kill the penalty, but the momentum is still with the Devils. And our first look at Pikkarainen, the Devils biggest offseason acquisition, is in the penalty box. 2 min for hooking. Awesome. Brodeur makes a save on his right side to start the PK.

Michael Del Zotto, one of the youngins playing for the Rangers this season, scored on a wide open rebound from the left side of the ice off of a shot by Vinny Prospal.  First power play goal given up by the Devils this season, and second goal of the season for Del Zotto. FANTASY HOCKEY TIP: Pick up Del Zotto. Now. On an offensively-challenged squad, he may be the scoring leader sooner rather than later.

Devils kill a second penalty very aggressively, and in turn create a penalty on the Rangers. Time to see if the Devils power play is less anemic than its’ Saturday version. With one shot on goal in the fifrst 20 seconds, the answer is yes.

Just as I was telling my colleague Denis Gorman that I didn’t like the Devils new power play set up, with both Zajac and Clarkson crashing the net, Clarkson gets a pass from Parise down low, and makes a sweet backhand, no-look pass to Zajac on the right side of the net. Zajac threw the puck into the upper right hand corner of the net to regain the Devils’ lead.

I feel as if I am in the middle of a bizzaro hockey world (it’s the only non-Soup-Nazi Sienfeld reference I know). Chris Drury of all people, flew into Paul Martin away from the puck, a knee-to-knee collision knocking Martin on his deriere. It was obviously dirty, because Johnny Oduya immediately went after Drury, and Drury took the take-down because he had nothing to defend. How odd!

Oduya got an extra two minutes for roughing (which I find weird, since it was Drury making the dirty play), and Ales Kotalik scored on a slapper from the left point off of a pass from the faceoff in the zone. So the two teams went into lockerroom tied at two.  But the Devils earned a power play with 40 seconds to go when Prospal was called for roughing.

Johnny Oduya is getting some serious face time tonight. He was the one offseason transaction (resigning) that I approved of (because my opinion matters so much). His confidence seems to be improved dramatically, just like his bank account, because he just almost converted on a 2-on-1 with Nicholas Bergfors. I hope Johnny becomes a standout player this season. he’s a very nice person and seems to compliment Paul Martin quite well.

Very interesting call- David Clarkson got called for holding after finishing a decent check on Dan Girardi. Maybe I missed something from my angle, waaayyyy up in the press box, but it looked decent to me. Devils kill the penalty, but the Rangers are picking up the pace. Brodeur just lost sight of the puck, and let it dangle in front of him as he was outside of the crease. The tasty rebound cupcake was cleared, luckily for NJ, by Colin White.

Rookie mistake by Del Zotto- getting called for tripping 23 seconds into a power play. He slashed at Niedermeyer’s ankles after a puck went past him in his own offensive zone. The Rock’s sound folks did a nice job with the “Big Girls Don’t Cry” song while Del Zotto skated to the sin bin. Rookie.

I’m getting tired of tracking penalties. Bergfors called for diving and Kotalik called for hooking as Kotalik took down Bergfors in the Rangers zone. Could’ve gone either way. Devils look good during 4-on-4 action. Mottau playing especially well at blueline.

The Devils had some issues clearing the zone. And by some issues, I mean they made the blueline look like the Berlin Wall. And they paid for it, when rookie Matt Gilroy, of Boston University fame, skated with the puck unobstructed to his right and fired from the right faceoff circle a shot that went 5-hole on Brodeur. It’s Gilroy’s first career goal, and undoubtedly not his last. If you could draft a player for his entire career in fantasy hockey, Matt Gilroy would be a top-20 pick in my opinion.

 Ryan Callahan RAN Brodeur, and for the second time, the Devils will start the period on the power play.

Girardi called for Boarding… when was the last time you saw boarding called?… and the Devils take a time out to set up for 5-on-3. I’m nervous, as I could’ve done a better job on the 5-on-3 thatn the Devils did on Saturday.  And once again, the Devils special teams prove they’re not really special after all.

Last season it was possible for the Devils to have a terrible power play and still win games because there was so much experience and fire power on each line. This year, the inexprience isn’t going to give the Devils’ any room to breathe on the advantage or a man down.

I’m following the Packers-Vikings game as I watch this game (see previous post for explination), and each game is causing equal anxiety. I’m glad I brought some Rolaids for the train ride home.

With 11 minutes to go, it’s going to take some guts and some fire under the Devils’ butts to tie this thing up.

Dainius Zubrus put a nice shot on goal, but there was no one there to follow it up. The Rangers are making a living on rebounds, and the Devils are looking at the weakside like it was the Meadowland swamps. Then again, they can’t set anything up in their own zone, so why would I think they could accomplish something like weak-side rebounding.

Clarkson and Aaron Voros matching minors- roughing for an altercation at the benches. Another 2 minutes of 4-on-4.

Penalties killed without much fanfare. Clarkson got a SOG coming out of the box that Lundqvist stopped easily.

Maybe I’ve been unfair, and my bad karma is affecting the Devils. With three mintues to go, though, I feel that the critique is necessary. How are these guys going to match up with the likes of Pittsburgh and Washington this year? It’s disconcerting how disjointed the Devils look.

Well, I’m signing off from the Rock. Don’t forget to check out my game story on http://www.nysportscene.com, follow me on twitter @devsblog, or read my new weekly NHL features at http://www.mycentraljersey.com

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