News Source: New York Post

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Team Lidstrom defeats Team Staal at NHL All-Star Game

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Sorry Team Staal, Team Lidstrom felt right at home in Carolina. Eric Staal had the No. 1 pick in the inaugural NHL All-Star fantasy draft and the unconditional support of his hometown Hurricanes fans behind him. Still, he was left with a loss to a proven...

NHL All-Star game: Team Lidstrom edges Team Staal 11-10

RALEIGH, N.C. — Sorry Team Staal, Team Lidstrom felt right at home in Carolina. Captain Eric Staal of the hometown Hurricanes seemed to have everything going his way on All-Star weekend. He owned the first pick in the inaugural NHL fantasy draft, had the crowd and two Carolina teammates on...

NHL's best braces for big weekend

In the NHL's continuing search for meaning to its All-Star Game, they're turning it into a pickup match. Fine. The ideal of Stanley Cup winner vs. The Best is the most compelling since there's no more USSR, but it would be a genuine hardship for the champs...

NHL All-Stars ready for fantasy draft

RALEIGH, N.C. -- While the NFL and NBA are facing labor uncertainty, the NHL is taking a moment to puff out its chest as it heads into an All-Star weekend unlike any other. Six years after a full season was lost, the NHL finds itself in a unique position...

Devils stopped cold

DETROIT -- The injury-plagued Red Wings are heading into the All-Star break on a winning note -- thanks to two of the best offensive players they have left. Valtteri Filppula scored 5:32 into the third period, putting the Red Wings ahead to stay, and Johan Franzen added a goal...

Devils' win streak snapped at four after 3-1 loss to Red Wings

DETROIT — Valtteri Filppula scored 5:32 into the third period, putting the Detroit Red Wings ahead to stay in a 3-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night. Jimmy Howard made 23 saves, and Darren Helm and Johan Franzen added goals for Detroit. The Red Wings snapped New...

Rangers scout not surprised Lemaire has sparked Devils

Prepping for tonight's visit to Central-leading Detroit, coach Jacques Lemaire worked the Devils on their "neutral zone coverage" yesterday. It wasn't the inventor teaching the trap, it was the perfector demonstrating the updated version. This is Lemaire's third go-round with the Devils, and it can be easy...

Devs' revival may silence Arnott trade talk

It would probably be a long-term gaffe to become paralyzed by sudden possibilities, but these wouldn't be the Devils if they didn't give their fans every chance, however remote, at a 14th straight trip to the playoffs. They're still 20 points out of a playoff berth when...

Devs keep digging out

Instead of fangs, they bare missing teeth. Recently deceased, the Undead Devils are rising ominously from the grave they dug themselves. They're even saying the "P" word, talking playoffs, which would require the ultimate -- and record -- revival from the dead. "If we could climb from last and...

Kovalchuk, Devils beat Panthers

Ilya Kovalchuk had a goal and two assists, Jason Arnott scored twice and the resurgent New Jersey Devils extended their winning streak to four with a 5-2 victory over the Florida Panthers on Sunday. Brian Rolston and Patrik Elias also scored for the Devils, who have picked up points in...

Devils continue to stir

PHILADELPHIA -- Obstinately, the Lazarus Devils refuse to go quietly back into their coffin. Hopeless as it ultimately may be, the back-from-the-dead Devils can stretch their revival to a seven-game, 13-point streak when they play host to the Panthers today in Newark. They can even climb out of sole possession...

Elias gets 2 as Devils dump Flyers, 3-1

PHILADELPHIA — Patrik Elias scored two goals and Henrik Tallinder scored one to lead the improved New Jersey Devils to a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers today. Johan Hedberg stopped 26 shots to give the Devils points in a season-high six straight games (5-0-1). Hedberg helped give the Devils a...

Hedberg gets turn for streaking Devils

PHILADELPHIA -- The Devils' secret dream, and the near-perfection it requires, is pressure enough. Yet there's plenty more weighing on Johan Hedberg this afternoon, including his own future. The doormat Devils have sudden self-respect -- and the hope borne of their first five-game points streak since 2009, all with...

Devils' Taormina will have surgery on ankle

Devils rookie defenseman Matt Taormina will undergo surgery on his left ankle Monday, less than a week after The Post revealed surgery was likely. Taormina will have two "non-displaced fractures" repaired, GM Lou Lamoriello said. Lamoriello would not declare Taormina done for the season, but that's the likely reality...

Red-hot Devs top Crosby-less Pens

That's 9-out-of-10 points out of nowhere. "Impossible Dream" is the Devils' new theme song. They don't say the "P" word yet, but they want to earn the right to at least sing like Don Quixote. Corny would be so cool. It will take at least a 28-7-1 finish...

Lemaire has Devils on move

The Devils only can wonder whether they would be in the hunt for a 14th consecutive playoff appearance if Jacques Lemaire had been coaching from the start of the season. "Hell, yeah," one Devil said. "Maybe we wouldn't be at the top, but we'd be in the thick...

Hurricanes' Staal, Red Wings' Lidstrom will choose All-Stars

TORONTO -- The NHL’s All-Star teams will be selected by Eric Staal and Nicklas Lidstrom. They have been appointed captains for the Jan. 30 game in Raleigh, N.C., and will lead teams carrying their names. Staal plays for the hometown Carolina Hurricanes. Lidstrom is the captain of the...

Red-hot Devils sink lowly Isles

The NHL must guard against these situations in Battles for the Bottom. The Islanders coach -- while claiming his franchise goalie is healthy -- starts the rookie, who promptly gives up a 3-0 lead to the NHL-worst Devils. And so the Isles chances of landing the top draft pick improve...

Zharkov's first goal helps Devils beat Islanders

Vladimir Zharkov scored his first NHL goal, and the suddenly potent Devils broke out again in a 5-2 victory over the Islanders on Monday. Zharkov started the Devils’ latest barrage in the first period before Ilya Kovalchuk doubled the lead 57 seconds later. The Devils also got a pair of...

Devs caught in draft

Losers so often this season that they could earn their first-ever first-overall draft pick, circumstances have conspired twice to deprive the Devils of that top consolation prize. The Penguins' famous 1984 dive to the bottom to pick Mario Lemieux wasn't even the last time the Devils were outmaneuvered in...

Devils miss point in overtime loss

SUNRISE, Fla. -- This is the margin for error the Devils don't have, why it is nearly impossible for them to make the playoffs. They will take 3-of-4 points on their trip to the Sunshine State, but that is not enough. The Devils have yet to win three straight...

Panthers' OT score sinks Devils, 3-2

Dmitry Kulikov fired a high wrist shot past Martin Brodeur 3:36 into overtime and the Florida Panthers won their third straight with a 3-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils tonight. Dennis Wideman and Evgeny Dadonov scored power-play goals for Florida, which entered with the league's worst (10...

Ilya scores 2 in rare flash of Devils' 'O'

TAMPA, Fla. -- The Devils finally consigned 10 full weeks of bad road to the rear-view mirror. Their hopes for the playoffs are back there, too, in the receding distance, but the league's worst underachievers, and worst team, period, will seek their first three-game winning streak of the season...