Islanders 4 Devils 2
The biggest of those little weaknesses the Devils will take into the playoffs next week cost them dearly last night. The team that didn’t get a sniper, this team that still hasn’t had a 30-goal scorer since 1994, watched an unexpected shot at the conference lead vanish ina fusillade of frustration.
There is a lesson there, one they can do little about now. The Devils can lose to a bad team, even one worse than they’ll face in the first round, no matter how well they play, if they can’t score.
While conference-leading Ottawa was being shut out by out-of-it Florida, and all that meant danced in their heads, the Devils launched a franchise-record 57 shots at Felix Potvin. They were miles better than the all-but-disbanded Islanders, yet fell 4-2 in a game that could have put them in the top-seed driver’s seat.
“It is important, but the important thing is to play a little more solidly,” said Bobby Holik, one of those who might consider swapping a bit of solid play for a few goals.
Every Devil skater had at least one shot on goal, and Brian Rolston led the attack with six as the Devils broke their old mark of 54. In vain.
New Jersey still can clinch the conference title and top seed by winning its final three games, but this should have been a gimme, and a victory would put the Devils ahead of Ottawa in point percentage. They would have had a cushion, and could have clinched by winning 2-of-3.
Instead, they’ll head into tomorrow’s visit to Buffalo with some urgency, and perhaps some self-doubt, as they face Dominik Hasek trying to match the NHL record of 27 road victories in a season.
“It wasn’t for lack of effort. We were working hard,” Robbie Ftorek said. “We just didn’t play as smart as we could have.
“We didn’t have a lot of patience in the offensive zone, but [Potvin] made a lot of saves, so you have to give him credit. But a lot of times we had the puck and passed it quickly.”
Criticized by Ftorek yesterday morning for failure to bear down and bury his scoring chances, Patrik Elias could have had a first period hat trick, but failed each time, on a breakaway, a clean slot shot and a wide-open back-door chance.
Instead, while the scoreboard quickly showed Ottawa trailing the Panthers by two, the Devils fell behind 2-0 to the second-worst team in the league. Vladimir Orsagh scored his first NHL goal at 12:17 of the first, his slap from the top of the left circle deflecting off Scott Stevens’ ,ka-2blade and handcuffing Martin Brodeur on the short side. Ken Daneyko took a needless roughing penalty against Kenny Jonsson and Mats Lindgren made him pay with five seconds left in the first, when his point shot found the far side through a screen.
Brian Rolston was credited with his 22nd at 5:04 of the second when Islander penalty-killer Mike Watt deflected his point shot over Potvin’s stick. Watt answered at 8:09 of the third, set up across the goalmouth by Dmitri Nabokov’s second assist of the game.
,ka-2Jason Arnott pulled New Jersey back within one on the Devils’ 45th shot, converting Petr Sykora’s rebound at 9:37 for his 27th, after Elias stole a clearing attempt. Claude Lapointe sealed matters with his 14th with 2:19 left on a breakaway.
“We got a little frustrated tonight,” Rolston said. “I don’t think we were looking up at the scoreboard, saying ‘Ottawa is losing.’ We just wanted to play well.’
