January 6, 2020 • NEW JERSEY DEVILS NEWS & CLIPS
- SUMMARY
- LOCAL PRINT/WEB
- TV/VIDEO LINKS
- RADIO LINKS
- NATIONAL PRINT/WEB
1) SUMMARY
The club faces-off against NY Islanders Tuesday night at Prudential Center at 7:00 PM ET on MSG. The Devils look to bounce back after their season long three game win streak was snapped with a loss vs. Colorado, Jan. 4.
New Jersey prospects Ty Smith and Kevin Bahl won gold for team Canada at the World Junior Championships this past Sunday.
2) LOCAL PRINT/WEB
- Devils prospects Ty Smith, Kevin Bahl win gold with Canada at World Junior Championships
by Chris Ryan, NJ Advanced Media
The main positive of defenseman Ty Smith missing the Devils’ NHL rosterat the start of the 2019-20 regular season was his ability to return to play a leading role with Canada at the World Junior Championships.
Smith and Canada took advantage of that opportunity.
Smith, along with fellow Devils defenseman prospect Kevin Bahl, who was acquired in the Taylor Hall trade, helped Canada win the 2020 WJC with a 4-3 victory over Russia in the final on Sunday in the Czech Republic.
Neither Smith nor Bahl scored in the seven games they played in the tournament, though Smith finished with three assists while serving as an alternate captain for Canada.
Bahl finished with one assist in the seven games, where both Devils prospects played top-four roles for the Canadians.
Defenseman Daniil Misyul, a 2019 third-round pick by the Devils, also played in Sunday’s final, skating for Russia and taking home a silver medal. Misyul went without a point in six games during the tournament.
All three defensemen will now return to their primary clubs for the remainder of the season. Smith and Bahl will play out the duration of their schedules in junior hockey in the CHL, while Misyul will continue his first full KHL season.
Smith had four goals and 13 assists in 21 games while captaining the Spokane Chiefs in the WHL before his WJC hiatus, while Bahl had five goals and 15 assists in 28 games with the Ottawa 67′s in the OHL. Misyul has two goals in 28 games with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the KHL.
- FEATURE: Four Devils Prospects Get Medals
by Amanda Stein amandacstein / NewJerseyDevils.com
https://www.nhl.com/devils/news/feature-four-devils-prospects-get-medals/c-313522618?tid=277567796
On Sunday, Sweden defeated Finland in the bronze medal game in a 3-2 final and Canada took home the gold medal defeating Russia 4-3.
Nikola Pasic, drafted in the seventh round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, was part of the bronze medal Swedish team, Sweden’s first bronze medal since Saskatoon 2010. Pasic played 11:51 in the game with one shot on goal.
Pasic played in all seven World Junior games for Sweden and finished with one assist.
2020 is the first year that Sweden has medaled since 2018 when the nation finished with a silver medal, losing to Team Canada in the finals, and just their third medal in the last seven tournaments.
One record the Swede’s did accomplish through this 2020 tournament is their record-setting streak of 52 preliminary-round wins.
The gold medal game featured three New Jersey Devils prospects up against one another in a rivalry game for the ages. Whenever Canada and Russia meet on an ice surface, especially with a gold medal on the line, everyone is in for quite a fight.
Team Canada featured two Devils prospects: Ty Smith and Kevin Bahl while Russia featured a third Devils defensive prospect, Danill Mysuil.
Both Canadian defensemen were a big part of Canada’s success over the tournament. Bahl, with his big, hulking size had been used on Canada’s shutdown pairing, while Ty Smith quarterbacked the second wave of the power play. Smith, one of five returning players to the tournament, wore an ‘A’ on his jersey and played 17:08 in the gold medal game.
This was both Smith and Bahl’s final chance at a medal at the World Juniors as 19 years olds.
Smith was part of the Canadian squad that fell well short of expectations in 2019, a group that did not medal on home soil. But this time, Smith and his Canadian squad would not be denied.
There’s a lot of thanks to go around to the Canadian penalty killers, after the man-advantage minutes favored the Russia squad 7:33 to 1:33 after the first period.
Russia had built a 3-1 lead with eleven minutes to play before the Canadian’s scored three unanswered goals to clinch the gold medal.
Smith finished the tournament with three assists, Bahl finished with one assist and a plus-four rating. Both players played in all seven World Junior games.
Smith will now return to Spokane to continue his WHL season as captain of the Chiefs where he has 17 points in 21 games. Bahl will return to Ottawa and rejoin the 67’s, along with his OHL head coach Andre Tourigny who was an assistant coach with Team Canada. Bahl, who was acquired during the tournament by the Devils in the Taylor Hall trade with Arizona, has 20 points in 28 games for Ottawa.
- SUNDAYS WITH STAN: Showdown with the Rangers
by Stan Fischler StanFischler / Special to NewJerseyDevils.com
By the 1987-88 season, it was inevitable that a Devils-Rangers homestretch race for the playoffs would become worthy of a Hollywood scriptwriter.
And so it was, as winter turned to spring and the clubs collided at The Meadowlands Arena in a match that gripped the heartstrings of fans on both sides of the Hudson.
Like a hound pursuing a fox in an English countryside setting, the Devils were hellbent in desperate pursuit of their Trans-Hudson foes. The stakes were high; the tension almost unbearable.
Only a few points separated them; but the Rangers for weeks had steadfastly — very stubbornly — held their fourth-place beachhead and were determined not to relinquish it so late in the campaign.
Rangers coach Phil Esposito designated John Vanbiesbrouck to be his man to man the goal in the climactic contest. Few could argue with his choice since Beezer had become one of the NHL’s best, young puckstoppers.
Jim Schoenfeld’s goaltending choice was a no-brainer. Sean Burke was ready, willing and –hopefully for Devils fans — able to meet this biggest challenge of his nascent career.
Not that any Metropolitan Area hockey fan needed to be told, but the Devils studious Doug Brown put the match in hometown perspective.
“This game,” Brownie noted with appropriate aplomb, “is bigger than big for us.”
Forget about bragging rights; a number of careers would be affected by the outcome, especially on the Jersey side. Was Lamoriello right, after all, in picking Schoenfeld? Was Lou, himself, the right guy to develop the franchise?
It also came down to a supreme challenge for Sean Burke. Could he really be the team’s savior as some already had suggested?
As always the capacity crowd at East Rutherford had a homogenized flavor; about 60 percent for the Devils and the rest for the Blueshirts. This time the home fans got their money’s worth.
Only two minutes were needed to prove that the Devils would not wilt in their drive. Kirk Muller scored his first of two goals and before anyone could say “Doc Mac” the Jersey floodgates had opened.
All kinds of drives would elude the beleaguered Beezer; including a penalty shot taken by Pat Verbeek. New York defenseman Mark Hardy made that possible by throwing his stick at Verbeek.
The Devils-friendly audience never had witnessed so melodramatic a moment in a Rangers-Devils game. The hush over Meadowlands Arena said it all for the tension and symbolism associated with this play.
“When the ref said it was a penalty shot my legs were shaking,” Verbeek allowed. “I felt the way I felt as a kid in a classroom. And the teacher called on me to make a speech.”
All things considered — especially Patty’s nervousness — the husky, little Devil made his move seem utterly routine. He faked to his left and lifted a backhand behind the Gotham goalie.
The score was 2-2 at the time. Verbeek’s penalty shot goal turned out to be the game-winner. But before the fracas had ended at 7-2, the Rangers defense had crumbled beyond repair.
With Burke now at the top of his goaltending game — 27 saves vs. New York — the Devils could feel the rush. Suddenly, they resembled a galloping racehorse moving up the pack toward the leader.
“It’s going to be a fight to the end,” said Verbeek, “and this team is loving it. Each game gets bigger.”
Burke: “This was a relentless effort. The players are really committed.”
Next up was a home and home series with the Penguins. The win over New York not only pulled New Jersey within three points of the Rangers but Pittsburgh as well.
The Pennsylvania crowd would view a team that was cooking with gas. Burke blanked the Penguins 4-0 at home and then did a Ditto, 7-2, at the Igloo in Pittsburgh.
Muller, who had been the second Draft pick in 1984 — after Mario Lemieux — helped de-feather The Grand Mario. Meanwhile, Kirk made his captaincy look better than ever, lifting his goal total to 36.
Nobody in the Devils clubhouse wanted to put a damper on the jubilation but there were negative facts to consider. With all the wins, the Devils still were in fifth place, trailing the Rangers and Penguins by a point.
The Devils had two games remaining; one with the Islanders and the finale in Chicago against the Blackhawks. Hopefully, the Rangers would lose one of the two of their remaining games; otherwise, two Devils wins would be useless.
How New Jersey managed to pull into Playoff Terminal late on a Sunday night is an event that goes down in club history on a par with the franchise’s three Stanley Cups.
Stay tuned for the final weekend rush to judgment!
LISTS: FOUR DEVILS WHO RESCUED THE CLUB FROM ITS ABYSS
- SEAN BURKE; Beating John Vanbiesbrouck in the classic clash with the Rangers proved that Sean, the former Olympian, had made the difficult adjustment from the amateur to big-league ranks.
2.KIRK MULLER: Wearing the captain’s C is one thing; performing like the team leader was another story. When Kirk outplayed Mario Lemieux in the two late-season meetings with Pittsburgh, Muller’s league-wide esteem skyrocketed.
- PAT VERBEEK: When Patty scored a penalty shot goal in the Devils most critical game against the Rangers it was not just the height of high drama but a huge confidence boost for Schony’s skaters.
- JIM SCHOENFELD: Some coaches have it and some don’t. Schony’s plus personality rubbed off on the young team and the Garden Staters wanted to win for him as much as for themselves.
(NEXT WEEK: THE TWO MAKE OR BREAK GAMES THAT MADE THE DEVILS A PLAYOFF TEAM.)
3) TV/VIDEO LINKS –
- COMMUNITY | Youth Hockey Shootout
by njd.TV
https://www.nhl.com/devils/video/community–youth-hockey-shootout/t-277437418/c-4969598
- POST GAME | Devil Lose To Avs
by njd.TV
https://www.nhl.com/devils/video/post-game–devil-lose-to-avs/t-277437418/c-4966209
- SIGHTS AND SOUNDS | Pride Night
by njd.TV
https://www.nhl.com/devils/video/sights-and-sounds–pride-night/t-277437418/c-4965652
4) RADIO LINKS –
- Year In Review – 2019-20 Episode 13
by New Jersey Devils Official Podcast
https://soundcloud.com/njdevilsofficial/year-in-review-2019-20-episode-13
5) NATIONAL PRINT/WEB –
- Avs Hold On To Second Place In Central With Win Over Devils, Meet Islanders Monday
by AP, CBS Denver
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Mikko Ratanen made the most of a chance to play on Colorado Avalanche’s top line with Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon.
Rantanen scored three goals after being moved to the top line in the second period and the Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils 5-2 Saturday night.
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“He was great tonight,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “Right away, early on the forecheck, getting up and getting physical and stripping pucks back and checking pucks back in the offensive zone.”
Bednar felt Rantanen gave MacKinnon’s line a boost when he was moved into Joonas Donskoi’s spot on the right wing.
“The MacKinnon line was just average in the first so we flipped the lines there and put Ratanen with them and they scored a couple goals in that period right away,” Bednar said. “I thought Mikko was a driving force to our offense tonight for sure.”
The hat trick was Rantanen’s second. He had one against Montreal on Feb. 7, 2017.
“I had some offensive struggles, but I got the bounces today,” he said. “You just have to keep grinding and when you get chances you know it’s going to come at some point and tonight was the night.”
Ian Cole and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare each had a goal and an assist for Colorado. Philipp Grubauer made 28 saves in posting his fourth win over the Devils in four tries.
Blake Coleman and Jesper Boqvist scored in the third period for the Devils, who ended a season-best three-game winning streak. Mackenzie Blackwood made 29 saves.
“They were the better team,” Devils interim coach Alain Nasreddine said. “For some reason tonight we did not have it or get to our style of play. We never really gave us a chance, Blackie did.”‘
After a scoreless first period, the Avalanche posted a two-goal second period and a goal in the opening seconds of the third.
Rantanen, who has 10 goals in 17 games since returning from an injury that sidelined him more than a month, opened the scoring at 11:23 of the second period. MacKinnon made the play, making a spin move and finding the Finn for a shot from the right dot.
Cole doubled the margin with 4:26 left in the period with a shot from the point shortly after Bellemare won a faceoff.
Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche move around Blake Coleman of the New Jersey Devils during the third period Saturday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. (credit: by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Rantanen got his second of the game 8 seconds into the final period when he was set up in front by rookie defenseman Cale Makar. The third was put into an empty net with 16 seconds to play.
Coleman made it 3-1 at 6:36, but Bellemare scored a disputed goal at 13:49. Matt Calvert inadvertently tripped Blackwood behind the cage and Bellemare ripped a shot into a open net. The Devils challenged, but the ruling on the ice was not changed.
“It’s a tough call to make, every play is different,” Devils forward Kyle Palmieri said.
Blackwood felt he was tripped but added the call didn’t cost the Devils the game.
The Avs had a goal waved off in the first period when Donskoi used a high stick to knock a rebound out of the air past Blackwood.
NOTES: Avs C Nazem Kadri played in his 600th NHL game. … Makar has 23 assists and 32 points this season. … Avs D Samuel Girard has eight assists in the last three games. … No. 1 overall draft pick Jack Hughes missed his second straight game with upper-body injury. … F Jesper Bratt out with lower-body injury. …. Devils recalled F Ben Street from Binghamton (AHL).
UP NEXT
Avalanche: At Islanders on Monday night in the second game of New York area tour.
Devils: Home against Islanders on Tuesday night.
- Rantanen’s hat-trick leads Avs over New Jersey
By Aarif Deen
https://milehighsports.com/rantanens-hat-trick-leads-avs-over-new-jersey/
The Avalanche continued its dominance over the Eastern Conference on Saturday, scoring the first three goals and defeating the New Jersey Devils 5-2. The Avs improved to 11-2-2 against the East—where they will play their next two games in a back-to-back starting Monday.
Avs forward Mikko Rantanen scored the first goal for Colorado, one-timing a setup from center Nathan MacKinnon in the second period. His first of three on the night gave the Avalanche a lead they would not relinquish for the rest of the evening.
After defenseman Ian Cole added another tally in the second, the Avs scored again just eight seconds into the third to make it 3-0. MacKinnon cleanly won the faceoff—where Colorado has struggled all season—back to rookie Cale Makar, who skated up the boards, escaped a hit, and fed Rantanen for this second of the evening.
The tally matched an Avalanche record for the fastest goal to start a period, matching a feat by former Av Antti Laaksonen nearly 14 years ago.
The teams exchanged shorthanded goals in the high-scoring third period before an empty-netter from Rantanen completed the hat-trick.
Takeaways
Girard is on fire. In the matter of three games, Avs defenseman Sam Girard has seen his offensive production this season evolve from disappointing to spectacular. After recording two more assists on Saturday—his third straight multi-point effort—Girard has now set up eight goals in his last three games.
Girard is the only Avalanche defenseman to appear in all 42 games this season and has recorded one goal and 22 points in the process. He is five points away from matching his career-high in points from a season ago.
MacKinnon continues to climb. Similar to Girard, MacKinnon has also recorded eight points in three Avalanche games this week. After his two-assist performance, MacKinnon is now up to 64 points in 42 games. The two-time Central Division All-Star captain is one point back of both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in Edmonton for the NHL points-scoring race. MacKinnon has two games in hand on both and leads the league in points per game with 1.52.
Another win for Grubauer. After a four-week stretch where Grubauer overcame an injury and some disappointing losses at the Pepsi Center, the second year Avalanche goalie has now won two consecutive games. Grubauer is 12-9-3 on the season and is just six wins back of his career-high in wins which he set with the Avs last season.
Avs coach Jared Bednar said he will split Grubauer and backup Pavel Francouz in the upcoming back-to-back.
Colorado will continue its road trip at 5 p.m. on Monday against the New York Islanders.
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