Devils coach Lemaire not happy with rookie Bergfors despite three-point performance

November 13, 12:11 PMNew Jersey Devils ExaminerJoe Rizzo

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Niclas Bergfors' three-point performance against the Penguins did not impress Jacques Lemaire.

(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

In case Devils rookie wing Niclas Bergfors missed it, his coach was not happy with the young Swede's three-point game Thursday night in Pittsburgh.

Coach Jacques Lemaire's Devils have not lost on the road in nine games since his return to the helm of the franchise.  The latest win might have been the most impressive, a 4-1 victory Thursday against the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins and Sidney Crosby.

Bergfors scored the tying goal in the second period, assisted on the go-ahead power-play tally five minutes later and set up the third goal 4:43 into the third, playing right wing on the top line with Travis Zajac and Zach Parise.  It is a line of first-round draft picks: Parise in 2003, Zajac in 2004 and Bergfors in 2005.

It did not matter to Lemaire.

"In the third ... I put (David) Clarkson there (in Bergfors' place)," Lemaire said. "I felt that Bergie was not on top of his game.  Zach was trying hard, and Travis. I tried to get another player with them in Clarkson that would bring them more energy."

With 12 points in 17 games, Bergfors is the team's fifth-leading scorer, behind Parise (21), Zajac (16), Clarkson (14) and captain Jamie Langenbrunner (13).  Langenbrunner is the usual right wing on the top line.

"I am not a stats guy," stressed Lemaire, a Hall-of-Fame center who averaged nearly a point-per-game while dominating defensively for the Montreal Canadiens from 1967-79.  "I don't look at how many goals you get, I look at how you play. Tonight, he was good one or two shifts that I liked, and not even counting the goal he got."

With the Devils' injuries, Lemaire has taken to putting Zajac, Parise and their right wing du jour against the opposition's top line.  In Pittsburgh, that meant going against Crosby's line.  The Penguins are challenged by injuries as well, with the potent duo of center Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar currently sidelined.

"He's capable of playing at a high level and against the good players," Lemaire said of Bergfors.  "But when he's going to play against Crosby, as an example, and he's not aware of the defensive game, I don’t like it.  Everyone has to be aware of the defensive game.  Everyone.  Zach’s doing it, Travis is doing it all the time, and it doesn’t stop them from getting any points. 

"They’re top players, so they play against each other and we’ll see at the end who finishes on top. I know Crosby doesn’t have all the guys he usually plays with and Zach does, but let’s take the game tonight as an example, I thought Zach did well.”

Impressed with Parise.  With Bergfors, not so much.