Devils’ Brunner happy to finally end goal drought; Volchenkov shaken up on fall

December 11, 2013 - Fire & Ice - View Full Article
One of the positives for the Devils in their 5-4 loss in Columbus tonight was that right wing Damien Brunner finally ended his scoring drought with a pair of goals.

Brunner had played 17 consecutive games without a goal and had only one assist over that stretch.

“It’s definitely nice when you score after a stretch like that,” Brunner said. “I definitely didn’t want it to get past the 20-game mark.”

First, Brunner finished a feed from Patrik Elias behind the net 1:08 into the second period for his first goal since Oct. 26 in Boston, giving the Devils a 3-1 lead. Then, after Columbus has scored three consecutive goals to take a 4-3 lead, Brunner swatted in the rebound of an Elias’ shot from the left circle with 6:01 left in the third to tie the game.

“The first one was a really nice pass by Patty,” Brunner said. “The second one I just followed up and got a bounce there. It’s too bad. I thought when I tied it, it was going back our way. I thought we were the better team tonight, but we didn’t manage to get a win.

“We gave up a couple bad goals. It’s bad for us to lose points like that when there’s two minutes left.”

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Defenseman Anton Volchenkov missed the final 14:52 of the second period after he fell awkwardly in the right corner seconds before the Blue Jackets scored their third goal. Although it appeared Volchenkov twisted his left leg, he said the problem was he got “hit in the back of the neck” when he fell, “and didn’t feel right.”

Volchenkov returned and played four shifts in the third period (he was on the ice for Nick Foligno’s winning goal), but he said he felt only “so-so” afterward.

“I came back, but I didn’t feel great,” he said.


Devils take another step back with 5-4 loss in Columbus: Blow 3-1 lead, give up late winner

December 10, 2013 - Fire & Ice - View Full Article
The challenge had come from head coach Pete DeBoer at the beginning this week.

The Devils had managed to play through some injuries and a road-heavy schedule and stay within striking distance in the mediocre Metropolitan Division, but every time they’ve looked ready to get over the hump and on the positive side of NHL .500, they’d taken a step back.

Coming off an emotional 4-3 overtime win over the Rangers Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, tonight’s game in Columbus against a Blue Jackets team that had played the night before in Pittsburgh appeared the perfect opportunity for the Devils to start stringing together some wins and, in DeBoer’s words, “start to make a move.”

Things looked promising when Damien Brunner snapped a 17-game goal drought and they jumped out to a two-goal lead 1:08 into the second period. It was mostly downhill from there, though, on the way to a frustrating 5-4 loss at Nationwide Arena.

“That’s disappointing,” DeBoer said after his team blew a 3-1 second period lead. “I don’t have any other words for it. Can’t happen, shouldn’t happen. Not much else to say.”

Even after the Blue Jackets scored three consecutive goals to take a 4-3 lead, the Devils managed to get even on Damien Brunner’s second goal of the night with 6:01 left in regulation. With a point there for the taking if they could reach overtime, however, Devils couldn’t get there. Ryan Johansen’s left circle shot deflected off the right skate of Nick Foligno in front and skidded past goaltender Martin Brodeur with just 1:31 left in regulation to give the Blue Jackets the win.

“That’s a 3-1 game for us middle of the second period,” DeBoer said. “We’ve got to find a way to put that game away. You’re not going to move into the upper echelon of teams unless you can do that.”