Tampa Bay's team speed has been upgraded through trades that sent Chris Gratton to Buffalo and Mike Sillinger to the Panthers. It has tightened its neutral zone play and gotten outstanding goaltending from Rich Parent, who beat Montreal on Tuesday after stepping in when Dan Cloutier was hit in the neck with a slap shot. Parent looked like Dominik Hasek against the Devils when, lying on his back, he threw his legs into the air and implausibly stopped New Jersey's Scott Gomez from close range. Just put as much furniture as you can in the way. It has been a crisis-free road trip for Tampa Bay.
Spirits are high.
The bus ride to Newark Airport after the Devils game was as chatter-filled and boisterous as has been heard in a while. Yes, there continue to be blemishes. Tampa Bay has been outshot in 11 of its past 12 games, hence the importance of Parent's stonewall goaltending. Steve Ludzik agreed. The coach said he did not speak to his players after the game about the significance of beating the Devils, and likely would not.