Devils home struggles continue, now 0-5 at "The Rock." Hedberg Pulled, Kovalchuk a Healthy Scratch

After a jubilant win on Thursday night against Montreal, things could not have started any worse for the Devils tonight. It all began with a shocking announcement that their $100 million dollar man Ilya Kovalchuk was a healthy scratch. The game was far worse than the scratch as the Devils were a complete mess against Buffalo with a 6-1 loss. Thomas Vanek had two goals, Tyler Myers, Patrick Kaleta, Tyler Ennis and Drew Stafford had the Sabres goals and Zach Parise had the lone Devils goal.

It was a tough start for Johan Hedberg in his Devils debut as he allowed four goals, but it was not all his fault. The Devils came out flying the first 5 minutes, but fell flat ever since. Rod Pelley suffered a broken nose in the game, but cam back for period 3 and the injury came of his teammates Jason Arnott slapper which deflected of a Sabres defenseman and hit Pelley in the nose. Hedberg was pulled after the 4th goal and Brodeur gave up the other 2. It seemed that the second Buffalo goal was what did the Devils in tonight. They battled after the 1st Sabres goal, but really gave up after the 2nd.

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The Devils recalled Alexander Vasyunov to make his NHL debut to fill in for Kovalchuk. A team spokesman said that Kovalchuk was a healthy scratch, but no direct reasons were given. Lou Lamoriello was not available for comment, so we might not get an answer tonight and there was no word on his status for tomorrow's game against the Rangers at MSG. The Devils quest for their 1st home win of the year will have to wait until Friday November 5th against the Rangers. They embark on a 6 game road trip with 4 games in the Pacific timezone. The Devils could sure use the trip as a positive to bond as a team with their early season struggles. This road trip could be the antidote to their slump. We shall see what happens. I will pay close attention to get the answer to why Kovalchuk was scratched. If it has something to do with his poor play, I would understand. In 2003, the Devils healthy scratched Scott Gomez in a middle of a slump and he went on a late season tear as a result. So, maybe it was to send a message or maybe it was flu-like symptoms.