CBC-Sports

Salvador, Langenbrunner day-to-day for Devils

April 24, 2009 03:00 PM | Posted by   CBC Sports Staff  

The Devils aren't ruling out the possibility that either defenseman Bryce Salvador or right winger Jamie Langenbrunner could play in Sunday's sixth game against the Hurricanes.

Salvador missed Game 5 with a left knee injury and was replaced by Andy Greene. Langenbrunner has missed the last three games with a lower body injury.

"I'm not saying if they're ready to play they're even going to play," Devils coach Brent Sutter said on a Friday morning conference call with reporters.

"Let's just wait and see what happens on game day. Greenie went in and played extremely well last night. So we'll have to make that decision if Bryce is ready to play, whether he goes back in the lineup or not. I thought our defense was very solid last night. So, we'll make that decision at that point in time.

"And Jamie's situation is no different than Bryce's. It's a day-to-day. We don't even know if Bryce is going to be ready to play. Right now, it's a moot point because both of them, at this point in time, if you look at it today, if there was a game today, neither of them would be playing. So, we just have to take it day to day and see what happens."

The Devils took Friday off. They will practice in New Jersey Saturday morning before flying to Raleigh. N.C.

PARISE NAMED FINALIST FOR LADY BYNG AWARD

Zach Parise became a first-time finalist for an NHL award Monday when he joined Pavel Datsyuk and Martin St. Louis as finalists for the Lady Byng.

Parise set single-season career highs in virtually every major category in 2008-09, including goals (45), assists (49), points (94), power-play goals (14), game-winning goals (eight) and plus-minus (+30). He ranked third in the League in goals and shots and was fifth in points.

The Devils' rising star did not miss a game and committed just 12 minor penalties for a total of 24 minutes. He also set a franchise record with 364 shots on goal, registering at least one shot in 81 of 82 games.

"I was surprised. It wasn't something I was expecting. Of course it's an honour. There have been some great players in the league who've won that honour. It was a great feeling when I found out."

He found out on his computer and from texts from friends.

BRODEUR'S ANKLE IS SORE, BUT HE'LL BE READY FOR GAME 6

The day after suffering a skate cut to his left ankle in a collision with Carolina's Chad LaRose, Devils goalie Martin Brodeur admitted he was sore.

But he also said he will be fine for Sunday's Game 6.

"I feel good," Brodeur told reporters on a conference call Friday afternoon. "Physically, there's no problem. The ankle is kind of sore. It's kind of all scabbed up a little bit from the little cut I got, but it will be fine."

Brodeur stressed he liked to avoid a Game 7.

"Anytime you put yourself in a situation that it's a do or die game, you never know what's going to happen," he said. "So now we have the opportunity of not going through that if we come out with a big win in the next game.

"We're going to play the game, but you don't know. You can't rule that out. It can happen, but our focus is to play well in Game 6. We'll do everything we can to finish the series in Carolina. There are things sometimes out of your control. We're not thinking about anything else but playing well."

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