After three straight losses to the Flyers, Islanders and Capitals, I'm not so sure that the Devils will be a playoff team this year. We all know that they weren't going to make the cup this year, but if we can sneak into the playoffs and put up a good fight, I definitely think it would be something positive to build on for next year. That being said, those were three loses to teams in our division. The Devils are trending downwards while those three teams and the Devils opponent on Tuesday, the Rangers, are all collectively getting their shit together.
The story remains the same. Still first in goals against and last in scoring. Cory Schneider has been a stud, but the Devils haven't proved that they can consistently score goals. And when they do (Washington game last night), they can't hold a lead. They aren't playing with a winning mentality, they are still playing with a defensive mentality; meaning, when the Devils do get a lead, they tend to sit back and play cautious rather than try to build on that lead. Not surprising, as a 3 games losing streak doesn't exactly put a lot of confidence in your players.
It's obvious that they are desperately missing Mike Cammalleri. I have been reading that he is close to coming back. But, I've heard that before over the past few weeks, so I won't hold my breath. When he does come back, I think it may be too little too late. Will one guy be able to spark the team's scoring?
While it may be a bit early to start labeling certain games as "must-win," the game against the Islanders on Friday was as close to a must-win as you can get. One unlucky bounce early in the game and it was over from there. They needed that win, or at least a point out of it. They failed to gain ground on the Islanders in the division in a huge opportunity missed.
Andy Greene said it himself, "In the end, it's about winning games,""You need to score goals to win games."
The Devils did get some scoring against the Caps last night, but couldn't hold a lead. They had plenty of chances too, two breakaways in the first period and a couple shots that rang off the post. The Palmieri-Zajac-Boucher line was running hot with each of them grabbing goals. Washington simply over powered the Devils with the # 1 offense and power play in the league. Our youth showed. On the Ovechkin goal, Blandisi needed to get it out of the zone and he burned us. But, these are the growing pains you expect out of young players. This is what we should have expected this season. These are the Devils we know all too well. Time to be realistic.
Sitting behind Detroit and Pittsburgh in the Wildcard, can the Devils go on a run to secure a playoff spot? We'll find out if they can bounce back Tuesday against the Rags. It's put up or shut up time.
On a side note, congrats to my dude Jaromir Jagr on passing Brett Hull and becoming 3rd all time in goals last night. 44 years old and still tearing it up. Any interest in coming back to NJ?
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