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After his shootout super failure, Ilya Kovalchuk looks on the bright side of life

Buffalo Sabres v New Jersey Devils

of the Buffalo Sabres of the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on November 10, 2010 in Newark, New Jersey.

Bruce Bennett

If you somehow managed to miss it last night, Devils super paid super star Ilya Kovalchuk had himself a bad night last night. Kovalchuk’s turn came up in the shootout against the Buffalo Sabres and, well, things did not go very well at all as he lost the puck on his way towards the net.

Kovalchuk’s flubbed attempt ended the game and the Sabres won in the shootout. If you’re thinking that he would take such a goofy and head-smackingly bad loss to heart you’d be wrong as Tom Gulitti of Fire & Ice finds out from the man himself.

“It’s all history,” Kovalchuk said. “Today the sun is up and everything is good. We have a game tomorrow and we have to win it because we haven’t gotten a win at home yet and that’s embarrassing.”

Kovalchuk admitted that he “definitely” was the most frustrated he has been after Wednesday’s game.

“It seems like nothing goes my way right now,” Kovalchuk said. “But, like I said last night, you just have to work hard and do the same things. I’ve been through those situations before, so you just have to keep working and the chances will go in.”


That’s a dangerously emo-like comment from Kovalchuk but you can’t exactly blame the guy. Sure, if you’re the cynical type, you’ll point to all the millions of dollars he makes and say that that should make him feel better but when this is your life, losing is hard especially when you’re counted on heavily to be the guy to provide the spark to win. Then again, perhaps he’s just a really big fan of the closing scene of “Monty Python’s Life Of Brian.”

I know it doesn’t seem likely right now with all the injuries the Devils have and the terrible play out of their defense, but the Devils will get this turned around and Kovalchuk will find his groove... Eventually. He’s got three goals and five assists and is a -7 through 15 games with the Devils. Things can, and will, get better for him but for now it just flat out sucks for both him and the team. The Devils can get it turned around but until that happens, maybe just whistling a certain tune will give the Devils some zen treatment and they can stop putting the death grip on their sticks during the game. Or even the shootout.