Ilya Kovalchuk will remain sidelined for tonight’s game with a shoulder injury that has kept the sniper out for more than two weeks.  While neither Kovalchuk nor head coach Peter DeBoer would speculate on a timeline for his return, it is expected that it could come next week as per Tom Gulitti, beat reporter for the Record via Twitter.

DeBoer on Kovalchuk:”It was obvious he’s not close enough to help us or help himself. I don’t think he’s far off but definitely not tonight”

— Tom Gulitti (@TGfireandice) April 12, 2013

Since Kovalchuk’s injury that he sustained on March 23rd in a game against the Florida Panthers, the Devils are 0-4-4 and as mentioned have free fallen out of the playoff picture just one year after making it to the Stanley Cup Finals.

The team recognizes the need for Kovalchuk’s services and DeBoer recently told the media that he’d dress the Russian goal scorer even he wasn’t one hundred percent.  He followed that up by saying that he doesn’t want to “jeopardize his safety” but that it’s “not realistic to wait until he’s 100%” – courtesy of the Globe and Mail.

The words were some contradicting to what Kovalchuk had said previously when he stated that he wants to wait until he is one hundred percent when there is contact.  Playing with any type of shoulder injury will run the risk of re-injuring it if it isn’t healed completely.  It’s easy to understand the Devils need to get him back in the lineup, but is a long-term injury worth it?

Gulitti further tweeted on the status of captain Bryce Salvador who wasn’t skating at practice this morning and won’t dress for tonight’s game.  Gulitti writes that Salvador’s right wrist is “no better than it was yesterday” and will remain out of game action.

Furthermore, on the Johan Hedberg, Gulitti reports that a “sore back” will keep him backing up Martin Brodeur tonight.

For more news and analysis on the New Jersey Devils visit our Pucks & Pitchforks site.

The Bruins and Devils were in a battle of teams who had not yet lost in regulation.  Overtime had solved nothing so the game was heading for a shootout.

Tyler Seguin was the Bruins first shooter and as he zoned in on the Devils’ Johan Hedberg, a fan threw a hot dog towards the goal.  It landed just shy of the crease and likely didn’t affect Hedberg’s concentration, given he probably didn’t see it.  Seguin scored, the refs reviewed it and overturned the goal.  Luckily for the Bruins, Seguin was granted another shot and came down and scored again, avoiding what surely would have been the topic of discussion on Boston Sports Radio today.

The Bruins went on to win the game and pick up a valuable second point in a shortened season where every point is crucial.

But back to the fan.  Why would someone have the brain fart to pull off such a boner of a move?  Andrew our editor at Causeway Crowd wonder’s the same thing and gives an excellent insight to the controversy.

Whether it was a Devils trying to distract Seguin, it failed and failed miserably.  Not only did Seguin still score on his first attempt, he went down and scored on the second one.

If the fan was a Bruins fan trying to help Seguin, well you’re a fool and don’t deserve to call yourself a hockey fan.  There is no room in the game for such foolish behavior.  We finally have the greatest game back on ice and you go and tarnish the sport’s reputation like this, shame on you.

What if Seguin had missed on the second attempt and the Devils ended up winning the game?  How proud would that fan feel either way, knowing that his stupid move helped his team win or cost his team a valuable point?

What if the Bruins lost the game and lost the division by one point?  They would not have home ice for the majority of the playoffs, something that certainly helps a physical Bruins team who rely on their boisterous and passionate fan base.

There are a lot of what ifs in this scenario and thankfully for the Bruins they still won the game.  But for one fan, his/her head should be sunken low today with his/her tail between his legs with shame written all over their face.

Let the players make the headlines and remain just what you are….a fan, if you can call yourself that.