Martin Straka has seen a lot during his 535 regular-season games in the NHL,
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Bob Boughner goes down fighting for the puck Wednesday. The Penguins will need more of that tonight in New Jersey. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette) | |
He was, however, struck by the focus and fury New Jersey showed during the early moments of a game against the Penguins at Mellon Arena Oct. 28.
Enough that he remarked about it to linemate Milan Kraft on the bench between shifts.
"I told Milan, 'They can't play like that the whole game. This game is going to slow down a little after 10 minutes,' " Straka said yesterday.
Precedent suggested Straka was correct; the Devils proved he was wrong.
New Jersey never broke stride for 60 minutes and, when the third period ended, the Devils had given the Penguins their most lopsided home-ice loss in franchise history, 9-0. And the game probably wasn't as close as the score indicated.
Which explains why it left a lasting, perhaps indelible, mark on the Penguins.
"You remember those games for the rest of your life, when you get embarrassed like that," defenseman Darius Kasparaitis said.
But while the Penguins might never be able to forget what New Jersey did to them 13 days ago, they will have several opportunities to avenge it. The first comes tonight at 7:38, when they meet the Devils at 7:38 at Continental Airlines Arena.
First place in the Atlantic Division will be on the line -- the Penguins begin the evening with a one-point advantage, just as they did nearly two weeks ago -- but the stakes actually will be considerably higher. At least for the visitors.
The Penguins, you see, won't be competing simply for a couple of points; they'll be playing to reclaim some of the self-esteem stripped from them that night.
"It was embarrassing for us," center Jan Hrdina said. "It was the only sellout game [this season], and we got killed. Everybody is going to think about [this] game in that way, that we have to pay them back a little bit."
The first New Jersey game could have done major psychological damage to the Penguins, maybe even soured their entire season. Instead, it appears to have been a positive turning point, because they've elevated their level of play since that night.
The Penguins have gone 2-1-1 in the four games that followed that debacle, with the only loss a last-minute defeat in San Jose.
"If anything, it's turned our team around, because we started playing really good after that," goalie Garth Snow said.
New Jersey, conversely, hasn't come close to matching the almost flawless game it turned in against the Penguins. Fact is, the Devils have dropped three games in a row -- including a 4-3 home loss to Nashville Wednesday, when thewinner was scored with less than 17 seconds to play -- and are 0-3-1 in the past four.
Nothing catastrophic, to be sure, but not what is expected of one of the league's elite teams.
"That's what happens when you beat the Pittsburgh Penguins," Kasparaitis said, failing to suppress a chuckle. "The Penguins Jinx. ... The hockey gods gave them an opportunity to beat us like that, then turned their backs on them."
Predictably, the Devils have a less mystical explanation for their recent struggles. They figure it's a matter of fundamentals, not the supernatural.
"It's because we're playing stupid," center Bobby Holik told reporters after the Nashville game. "It's not that we're not working hard. We're not working smart. We're trying to complicate things. We're all over the place, playing by ourselves and not sticking to the game plan that has brought us success."
He might have a point, because synergy and systems contribute as much to the Devils' success as skill and size do. Impressive as many of the individual members of New Jersey's lineup are, it's the way they work together that makes the Devils a championship-caliber club.
And they gave an absolute clinic in the value of persistence and teamwork the last time they faced the Penguins.
"They were flying," Straka said. "Backchecking, forechecking. They did everything for the whole 60 minutes."
And no one did more than checking-line forwards Randy McKay and John Madden, each of whom scored four goals. Teammates hadn't done that in the NHL since 1922, and it might well be another 78 years before it happens again.
That said, McKay and Madden came by their goals honestly. They were opportunistic from the opening shift, generating chances through hard work and capitalizing on nearly every one.
"We underestimated those guys," Kasparaitis said. "They came out and just killed us. Two guys, eight goals."
While it's a safe bet that McKay and Madden won't duplicate their feat tonight, they are capable of contributing to the offense. They might not have the raw talent of teammates like Alexander Mogilny and Patrik Elias, but possess an admirable sweat-for-success work ethic.
"When you think about it, they're grinders with touch," Snow said. "When it comes to playing a hard, intense game, like a playoff game, those guys always seem to come to the forefront."
McKay and Madden helped New Jersey put some serious dents in the Penguins' collective psyche, and there could be some lingering effects tonight. Face it, when you lose by nine goals, there's a tendency to dwell on the details for a while.
"Our confidence level [tonight] is going to be a little lower than it used to be, but I think maybe that's good with our team," Kasparaitis said. "That way, we can play simple hockey. And when we play simple hockey, I think we play better."
Whether the Penguins can play well enough to defeat a team that won the Stanley Cup five months ago -- and that humiliated them a fortnight back -- remains to be seen.
"We can't control the outcome right away, but we can control how we play the game," Snow said. "And play the game the right way."
The way it was played against them 13 days ago.
Penguins hope to atone for 9-0 loss to Devils tonight 
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