Oh how we love cross-promotion!

Earlier this season, we sat down and had a chat with the kind folks at Ranger Land. We made fun of their team. They made fun of ours. All good fun. Why not go for another round at it?

Here we have Michael from the wonderful RL.net. Let’s dish…

2MA: Last we met, you guys weren’t feeling Mr. Scott Gomez too much. Have we had a change of heart since?

Ranger Land: Definitely. He’s had some dry spells, but for the most part has really stepped up his production since the initial few weeks of the season. Other than (Jaromir) Jagr and Michael Nylander, the Rangers haven’t had someone that skilled in the neutral zone in a long time. My friend and I were saying at the Pens game last night that we never appreciated how good he is with the puck until we watched him regularly this season. If anything, he makes the lack of a decent puck-carrying defenseman even more glaring. I’m looking forward to having him around for a while.

Plus, gotta love how he crushes Al Trautwig every chance he gets.

2MA: We still hate him, but that’s fine. Let’s shift gears towards another bugger we hate ’round these parts. You know who I’m talking about. Why is Sean Avery so God damn annoying?

RL: I think there was a typo in this question. You wrote “God damn annoying,” when you meant to write “totally awesome.”

2MA: Oh, naturally. How about the so-called “Yankee Stadium Game?” Looks like it’s finally going to happen after years of dreamin’ and make-believin’. Who’s your ideal opponent?

RL: Well, first, I think it’s pretty funny that Yankee fans were all up in arms about this on the same day that they signed Billy Crystal to a minor-league contract.

As far as possible opponents go, the Isles are a given, of course. Some on our boards have talked about the Red Wings, which would be really awesome. But one of our board members (who runs the great site www.DetroitHockey.net, by the way) mentioned that the Wings are trying to work out a double-header with Michigan and Michigan State in The Big House, so the Wings might not be up for coming East. Oddly enough, no one’s really talked about the Devils.

In any case, you know Dolan and/or the Steinbrenners would completely take advantage of the frenzy in setting ticket prices, and we’d be there every step of the way.

2MA: Name dropping for the win! I have a bone to pick with you jerks. Why is my team so terrible in the Metro Series this season? It’s really kind of bumming me out…a lot. I’m actually in therapy over it. True story.

RL: One of the greatest things about the post-lockout Ranger teams (other than that whole “making the playoffs” thing) is their ability to handle the Devils, or at least make the season series competitive. I alluded to this in my questions to you the other day, but those years when Marty beat them almost every single time (with the notable exceptions of the 1994 and 1997 playoffs, of course) were just absolutely demoralizing. I think most fans don’t over-analyze it too much. We’re still just in shock.

2MA: Fair enough. I’m going to hit you where it hurts now, in the form of a nine-foot beauty of a Swede named Henrik Lundqvist. He’s seriously a gift from the Gods. Look at him! Just look at him!!! Whew…sorry…I had a moment there. I do have a question, I swear. Okay, here we go. What happens if King Henrik either a) gets hurt or b) throws a massive choke-job?

RL: Pretty Pony…get…hurt?

I don’t think that’s something any of us really want to contemplate. But really, Steve Valliquette has shown himself to be a pretty capable backup, especially against the Flyers. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if he had to fill in for a few games.

2MA: Point taken. Well, thanks for the sit-down Michael! Hope we can have some more fun in the future, and when I say “fun,” I mean me pointing and laughing at your team after my team beats them 17-2. Yeah, I’m not holding my breath either…

Seventy-two grueling games in the books for the New Jersey Devils. After such they stand as the team to beat in the Eastern Conference. The final ten games for the horned ones will be the biggest all season long, as nine of those ten games will feature an Atlantic Division foe at the other end of the ice.

Never before have I seen less elbow room in the standings as we’ve all witnessed throughout the entire season. You could go to bed on Sunday night sitting on top of the conference, and awake Monday morning only to find yourself fighting for a playoff spot! If this is what the Salary Cap was supposed to bring to the NHL, then I like it!

The way I see it, the Devils need only to worry about one team — Pittsburgh. I know Montreal is hot on our heels and even Ottawa to a lesser extent, but it all comes down to the Division. If you don’t win that, you can’t take the conference anyway. Yes, the Pittsburgh Penguins are, for the better part of the next 3 weeks, our mortal enemies.

The Devils will square off with those very Penguins twice before the season’s end, both games combining for a home-and-home series on Tues., March 22nd & Sat., March 25th, respectively. There is no doubt in my mind that those two games will go a long way in determining the 2007-2008 Atlantic Division champion.

We’re in the stretch fun, folks - the final lap, the last hurrah - the final ten games are going to be a Royal Rumble the likes of which even our very own Scott Mackie has never witnessed. There isn’t much more to do but get those lucky underwear/facial hair combo’s ready, and hope that Johnny Oduya can carry us (end-to-end) to the promised land.

Wear your horns proud, my fellow Devils fans. This is going to be a war.

EDIT 5:25 PM ET: Hooray. A win. Good job boys. Let’s do more of this. Mmkay?

Goals in back-to-back games?

This is not the Dainius Zubrus we have grown to know and love, that’s for sure.

Oh, Zubbie! How we adore you!

As I sit and write this, Mr. John Madden nets a pretty goal. His 19th to boot. 4-1 New Jersey against the big, bad Avalanche. When’s the last time Black ‘n Red scored four goals in a game? It’s been a while.

Ah. Mike Rupp takes a penalty. What a butt. Colorado scores rather quickly. Devils cry “hand pass!” The play is under review. Replays show a shoulder shrugging the puck into the net. I have never seen such a thing.

Aw. The goal stands. Apparently, one may not kick the puck into the net, but shoulder shrugs are a-okay. I call shenanigans. Liles, you are stupid. Stupid I say!

Alas, it is now 4-2 New Jersey. All that matters is that the Zubbiemonster has tallied another goal. I enjoy this, if nothing else.

The last few minutes of this game shall prove to be quite tense, yes indeed.

Oh, how wonderful you treat me!

Let’s do lunch soon, shall we?

Yours forever,
Patricia

Thanks. Keep up the good work.

Always and forever,
Patricia

Stop sucking. It’s really bumming me out right now.

With love,
Patricia

After squeaking by Tampa Bay in overtime and Toronto in damn-close-to-overtime, the now-back-in-first-place-in-the-division-AND-conference Devils hit the road for the next week, beginning tomorrow in Montreal. With the standings as tight as they are, need I say this is an important stretch of games? I need not.

While the two games against the lower-end teams of the Eastern Conference did little to re-establish the Devils offensive prowess (Mr. Zach Parise notwithstanding), two hard-fought W’s (plus on pretty easy one earlier in the week) are exactly what this team needed coming off of a stretch of three straight losses. As Joe said before, the Devils finally went an entire week beating the teams they were supposed to beat. This is kind of a big deal.

So now, it’s on to Montreal, Minnesota, and Colorado, before coming back home for a Newark date with the Rangers on the 19th. Les Habs currently sit one point behind the Devils for first in the East (well, for now anyway), while Minnesota and Colorado check in at first and third in the Northwest Division. The rub there is, only a point separates each team and that could well change by the minute. With all three games on this road trip coming against teams that are fighting for playoff positioning, and with all three games coming against teams that are, well, GOOD - there’s just no room to sit back and lolly-gag.

Each game will be rife with subplots as well - the Montreal game will once again be for first place in the conference. Minnesota will see the Devils playing against their former Cup-winning head coach Jacques Lemaire, and Colorado will see the Devils taking on Mr. Peter Forsberg (presuming he’s healthy, which is probably a big assumption) and an Avalanche team that looks strangely closer to the Avalanche of the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals than it did a mere three weeks ago.

And then, of course, there’s the big home game against the Rangers. While the Devils may no longer be 0-for-New York, they’re still 0-for-the-Rangers, and that’s just not right. But we’ll cross that bridge when it comes.

It’s a big road swing. Let’s make it a good one, too, eh?

Just a few quick words…

When was the last time you woke up, had your morning Joe (coffee, not me…), checked the week ahead for the Devils and noticed that they should win each of those upcoming games?

Ok, now when was the last time they actually did it?

It’s a cheery Sunday morning in my household knowing that Black ‘N Red captured six of a possible six points, sweeping the week — and the season series with Toronto in the process. Let’s face it, New Jersey is a team that doesn’t always beat the teams they’re supposed to, but it’s a great feeling knowing that they posted three W’s over teams that they were supposed to beat.

If it sounds like I’m getting excited over something that should be a given, then I’m getting my point across perfectly.

Thanks to the current mini-streak, it’s back atop the Eastern Conference for the horned ones with another big showdown against the Canadiens coming up on Tuesday. The only things that are certain about that contest is that Martin Brodeur will start, and I will get drunk. Other than that, anything is possible.

I’m proud of the boys, there is something special about this Devils squad — even if they do cause me to rip out patches of my beard from time to time. They may not be blowing teams out of the water night in and night out, but the W’s are coming in at a steady pace, and at this time of year that’s really all I can ask.

That, and maybe a full 60-minute effort, but let’s not split hairs, mmkay?