They already found out what they couldn’t do. Now the Devils wonder what they can achieve with a full squad.
“We don’t know what we’re capable of doing, and that’s exciting,” Jamie Langenbrunner said after the Devils swept a four-game road trip for their longest winning streak of the season.
“We believe we can [make noise]. We put ourselves behind the eight-ball early and made it difficult, but this team is starting to grow into itself. And we’ve yet to play with a full lineup.”
While the returns of Langenbrunner (hernia surgery) and Colin White (eye) are obvious turning points in this early season, the Devils’ resurgence started before they started winning, when they reverted to their roots – stinginess.
There are a couple of common denominators. They are suddenly scoring power play goals and killing penalties. But the glaring theme has been their defensive success.
In eight of their last nine games, the Devils held their opponents to two goals or less, including all four victories of this winning streak kept alive with Saturday’s 3-2 triumph in Tampa.
From their 3-6-1 start, the Devils stand 11-10-2, and have the chance to reach Real .500 Wednesday, having won 11 and lost 12, benefiting from two consolation points. They quibble not.
“After the way we started, I’m looking at our last 10 games (6-4) and how we’re improving as a team,” John Madden said.
Martin Brodeur has returned to his familiar form, dispelling age-related doubts prompted by stretches when he fought the puck and left uncharacteristic rebounds.
Zach Parise, Madden, Jay Pandolfo, Paul Martin and Andy Greene had been consistently reliable, even during the team’s early struggle, and the additions of White and Langenbrunner ignited this surge, which overcame the two-game absence (flu) of Patrik Elias.
“Lip (Langenbrunner) and Whitey, having them back added a lot. They sparked everyone to play at the top of their game,” said Brian Gionta, who scored twice Saturday.
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Brent Sutter violently threw assistant John MacLean aside when MacLean began a heated protest of a penalty call that was rescinded for too many men in the third period Saturday. Sutter took up the protest and won the point.
“We only want one person to communicate to the referee and that’s the head coach,” Sutter said. “Sometimes emotions get into it. We don’t want what happened in the past.”
Larry Robinson took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for uncomplimentary ref appraisal that cost the Devils a loss at Nassau Coliseum Nov. 10. Sutter took one himself in October that cost the Devils a goal in a loss.
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Power play goal scored by Tampa’s Jason Ward in third period Saturday snapped Devils streak of not allowing a PPG against in four straight games, 15 chances, after they allowed a PPG against in 16-of-17 games. . . . Langenbrunner’s streak of having a point on consecutive Devils goals ended at six, two short of team record set by Scott Gomez in 2005-06, when he also scored five straight Devils goals. . . . Devils rose to 8-6-2 on the road.