Like the true Devils they are, New Jersey waited until the last possible moment yesterday to break the Bruins’ hearts. With 1.7 seconds left in overtime, Yegor Sharangovich scored his first NHL goal to give the Devils a 2-1 win over Boston.
I guess it could have been worse. I could have had to watch the Bruins lose in a shootout, but instead they lost a little quicker in overtime. Still, scoring with 1.7 seconds left? Are you kidding me? At that point my mind was already in shootout mode.
I experienced a very quick emotional shift. My brain went from thinking “OK, let’s win in a shootout again!” to “Wait, what’s happening? How are they getting the puck down the ice that fast?” to “Wow. We just lost. What a letdown.”
So yeah, I thought that the Devils were more Devil Dogs than Devils who are good at hockey, but it turns out they’re going to win at least one game this season. Big whoop.
Some other observations:
- Still being fairly new to watching a full hockey game, I’ve found myself relying heavily on what the announcers say during games to understand what’s going on. And here in Boston, Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley do the games on NESN. On first impression, I think Jack Edwards is a huge dweeb, though not a bad play-by-play guy. It seems as if he’s playing up a character that he created for himself for no reason, and the way he uses weird accents and inflections on ad reads kind of freaks me out. It seems like every so often he makes it a point to remind you that he’s weird and kooky. It comes across as forced and a little phony. Still, he’s alright. I obviously like that he’ll spin anything into the Bruins’ favor. But for a fan like me who isn’t an all-out hockey junkie, Edwards comes off as a bit of a nutso when he doesn’t even need to use that as a crutch. He’s already a good announcer aside from all that weird stuff. I guess that’s what makes him different and helps him stand out, but I think he’s done it long enough where he doesn’t need to put on an act to be a good broadcaster.
- Andy Brickley, on the other hand, comes across as perfectly genuine. It’s like watching a game with my uncle, and mainly because of the thick Boston accent. It makes everything he says sound that much better. I appreciate his down-to-earth insight and calm approach to doing games. Unlike Edwards, he never gets too excited or upset. The two really make a good pair. I don’t know how long they’ve been working together, but I can tell it’s been a long time. And while I can’t say I look forward to them as much as a Mike Gorman and Tommy Heinsohn, they’re still a very important complement to the game at hand.
- This game, at least in my opinion, was extremely boring until late in the second period. I found myself having the same criticism I hear many people have towards the NBA: “Why even bother watching until the end of the game? That’s when the best stuff happens, anyway.” But I think this line of thinking occurs in sports fans who care less about enjoying the game and just want to know if their team will win. So far, I certainly find myself in this position with hockey. I haven’t indoctrinated myself yet with the ins and outs of the sport, so I fall back on rooting for the Bruins to score instead of appreciating scrums in the corner or nifty passing in-between the blue lines. I think I’ll get there eventually, though.
Just to get them on the record, here are the most exciting plays of the game:
- Just 19 seconds into the game, Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller fought Miles Wood and won handily. Wood had knocked into Rask a few times in the first matchup, so he got what he deserved: a good old-fashioned licking.
- After the Devils went up 1-0 in the first period, the Bruins would tie the game late in the second period on an exquisite play by Brad Marchand. With Boston shorthanded because of a failed challenge, (a goal got called back due to goaltender interference) Marchand took the puck in his own end, maintained possession while fighting off Kyle Palmieri for nearly the length of the ice, and then dished off to Patrice Bergeron, who beat MacKenzie Blackwood for the equalizer. It was a tremendous play.
- The Devils got a powerplay at the end of regulation but could not convert, and the Devils’ prized youngster Jack Hughes had a couple rough plays. First he screwed up an easy pass, sending the puck all the way down to the Devils’ defensive zone with under 15 seconds to go. Then, with about 5 seconds remaining, he got the puck back and took a terrible slap shot that must have zoomed eight feet wide of the net. Hughes seemed to be in a hurry, and probably thought less than a second remained in the third because he still had plenty of space in front of him when he took the shot. When I heard he was only 19 years old, I was not shocked.
- Before Sharangovich’s last-second goal, the Bruins got one prime scoring chance in overtime. After the Devils’ powerplay ended, Boston nearly got a 2-on-0 chance with Charlie Coyle on a breakaway and Matt Grzelcyk coming out of the box. But the two didn’t seem to be on the same wavelength, and Grzelcyk got in the way more than anything. I don’t even think the chance resulted in a shot on goal.
So after splitting six points with the Devils to open the season, the Bruins will face the Islanders on Martin Luther King Day tomorrow.
I know the Islanders made the Eastern Conference Finals last year, so I would figure they’re still a force to be reckoned with. Hopefully the Bruins can show that they’re still a big kahuna, as well.
CHILL YOURSELF DYLAN WOODS 