Devils Shut Out Capitals; Pat Burns Tribute

Added on Nov 23, 2010 by J Merrill in

NHL

This might have been a little payback for when the Capitals creamed the Flyers 7-2 on October 9. The Devils handed the Capitals their third straight loss in a 5-0 routing. Johan Hedberg made 30 saves for his 15th career shutout and first since shut out since April 19. This might have been a little payback for when the Capitals creamed the Flyers 7-2 on October 9.

Johan Hedberg said after the game of the shut out, “It’s always nice, I’ve never been a guy that’s had a lot of shutouts, so it’s always nice when you get one. I think the guys, too, showed that they really wanted to help me out , throwing themselves in front of pucks, diving and kicking pucks out of the zone, so that’s great.” Hedberg didn’t face a shot until nearly eight minutes had elapsed in the game. When the Capitals pressured, Hedberg raised his game to answer the challenge.

It was a special night for the Devils. Their former coach Pat Burns recently passed away after a tough battle with cancer, and they honored him before the game. Burns, who led the Devils to the 2003 Stanley Cup championship,would have been proud of them that night. The Devils wore round black patches bearing the initials “PB” in honor of Burns, the only three-time winner of the Jack Adams Award given to the most outstanding coach. Pat Burns recorded 501 wins in 1,019 career games behind the bench with Montreal, Toronto, Boston and New Jersey. He posted a mark of 89-53-22 in two seasons with the Devils.

Burns was memorialized before the game with a video that showed highlights from his illustrious NHL career. Elias, a member of the 2003 Cup squad admitted it was an emotional time for him. “It was, especially for the guys that knew him personally,” Elias said. “I think it had to be done. It’s a sad thing that transpired. You see it all around you, and when it hits people that you know personally, it hits you even more. He’ll be remembered.”

“I thought it was tremendous,” said MacLean, who served under Burns as an assistant. “Well-deserved for Pat and his family. He’s accomplished a lot in his career. To win the Cup here was a big thing for him and his career, and it was well-deserved that we did that and honored him.”

This was a game John MacLean’s squad desperately needed. “Sure we did,” MacLean said. “At home, we needed it. I was very happy with how the players picked one another up all night. If there was a mistake that was made, there was somebody there covering. The support, they were all into it the right way.”