Devils not a one-man show
Superstar Kovalchuk happy to share responsibility
NEWARK, N.J. –PeterDeBoer’s hackles come up whenever the old saw about “your best players have to be your best players” is sharpened and pointed at Ilya Kovalchuk.
The New Jersey Devils scored only once in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final — a 2-1 overtime loss to the L.A. Kings — and even that bounced in off Kings defenceman Slava Voynov.
Ergo, Kovalchuk, the big, luxuriantly bearded Russian forward who had but one shot on goal, must have let the side down. Oh, and he’s on a $100-million contract. So there’s that, too.
“Our identity is a four-line team,” DeBoer said Friday, with an edge to his voice. “Kovy is a piece of that, but he’s not the team. We’re capable of surviving nights when he doesn’t score or isn’t at the top of his game, just like we’re capable of surviving nights when (Patrik) Elias or (Zach) Parise or other guys aren’t.”
Capable of surviving, yes. Less likely to, though.
Which is why Kovalchuk is Job 1 for the L.A. coaches and defencemen and checkers. It’s why Kings coach Darryl Sutter cares enough to send the very best out against the most volatile offensive weapon on the Devils: either the defence pair of Drew Doughty and Rob Scuderi, as in the third period of Game 1, or Willie Mitchell and Voynov.
“You just don’t want to let a guy like that off the leash,” said Scuderi, the veteran of two Stanley Cup runs in Pittsburgh, including the 2009 win.
“It worked pretty well (in Game 1) but I thought he still had some good looks. The shots are just a stat; we’d like to take his chances down to nothing.”
For both the scorer and the defender, it’s a personal challenge within a team structure.
“It’s hard, I think that’s what makes the game fun for us. I think most guys like that challenge,” said Scuderi. “You want the coaches to expect things from you, and you want to deliver.
“We’re not each other’s throats to get (the assignment), but when they entrust that job to you, you feel a responsibility to your team.”
“You just have to be yourself, use your size and speed to beat those guys,” Kovalchuk said. “But you don’t want to do too much and think it’s a one-on-one battle, because it’s a team sport. Sometimes, you gotta chip the puck in and keep working on the forecheck. If you can’t score or do some plays offensively, you’ve got to find some things you can do good to make your teammates and your coach feel better.”
This is no petulant superstar with an attitude. This is a serious competitor with big talent and a surprisingly big body. The Kings know they need to treat him as such.
Kovalchuk, 29 years old and 10 seasons into his NHL career, understands his own responsibility, but knows he can’t let it overwhelm him the way it probably did in his years in Atlanta when there was little or no supporting cast.
“Ilya, in Atlanta, was a oneman show,” DeBoer said. “You really felt, when you coached against him, that he felt the weight of winning or losing the game on himself. What we had to get him away from was, ‘You don’t have to do that. We’ve got 20 guys here, and you just have to do your part. It’s going to be a big part, but it’s not the whole part’ — and he did buy into that.”
He bought in because of the very evident respect he had for interim coach Jacques Lemaire in the latter part of the 2010-11 season.
“He turned our season around and I think he is in some way (responsible) for the way we started this year,” Kovalchuk said. “He just told me to be myself and work hard, and he put me in all defensive situations to get my confidence back, and that’s what I really appreciated.
“He always told me where I should be in the defensive zone, and when you play well in your own end, it seems like you always have chances offensively.”
Asked if Lemaire had to step on him to adapt, Kovalchuk said: “No, I’m a good listener, especially with a guy like Jacques. I was really lucky to get that kind of coach.”
Kovalchuk says he’s not sweating a whole lot one game into the Cup final, just because he didn’t score.
“If the team wins, that’s all that matters. Last game, we didn’t win, so I feel bad because I didn’t create much,” he said, “but if we would win, I’d feel great.