In the New NHL, old NHLers still can prove real bargains to the wise shopper. One of those savvy purchases is the insurance the Devils will use tonight in place of cornerstone John Madden.
Lou Lamoriello proved the smart consumer on this one, inviting Jersey Jim Dowd to camp without commitment. Then the Devils GM didn’t even sign Dowd in the initial season-opening flurry once he’d been handed dubious cap relief on Vladimir Malakhov and Alexander Mogilny, a couple of his non-genius purchases.
It wasn’t until Nov. 2, until the season was already 11 games old, that Lamoriello signed Dowd for the remainder of the minimum 450G salary, bringing back the home-stater to his first NHL team.
Now 38, Dowd slowly established himself as the Devils’ fourth-line center, eventually earning penalty-killing duty as well. But when the Canadiens visit tonight, Dowd will likely be the checking center on a team that checks first and asks offensive questions later.
Madden refused to confirm but wouldn’t deny yesterday that he suffered broken facial bones when struck by a point-blank shot he deflected onto his right cheek in Sunday’s 4-1 loss to Tampa Bay at the Meadowlands. He returned to action in the second period of that game, wearing 11 stitches and a visor to protect his swollen-to-a-slit eye, still a gory sight yesterday.
The 2001 Selke Trophy winner as the league’s top defensive player, Madden said it is 99 percent certain he won’t play tonight, unless the swelling on the right side of his face miraculously vanishes.
“I dodged another bullet here. A third time,” Madden said, saying he’ll wear a visor, probably permanently, when he returns to action. He said his wife’s reaction was, “Not again!” Obviously, talk of the visor came up again.
“Sooner or later [shot-blockers] are going to get a puck in the face,” Madden said. “It’s something I’ve been doing since I was 7, 8 years old, getting the stick in the way.”
Dowd moved between Jay Pandolfo and Sergei Brylin at practice yesterday, and coach Claude Julien said that’s almost surely how he’ll handle Madden’s absence.
“It’s been that way my whole career,” Dowd said. “I fill in where I’m needed. I’ll still kill penalties and play against [Saku] Koivu.
“If that’s the case, it should be a lot of fun.”
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Julien had no explanation for the Devils’ Post-Shutout Syndrome, detailed here Monday. The Devils have lost each game following the last five Martin Brodeur shutouts and seven of 10 this season, while they have lost only 15 of their other 46 games.
“It’s certainly not overconfidence,” Julien said. “I think it’s more circumstances than anything.”