Devils Suck It Up vs. ‘Yotes

I took some time to write about this game simply because of how mad I was after its conclusion. Well my hopes of time passing by and feeling better about things have proved to be futile. This game plain and simple pissed me off more than any other this year. I can deal with Jersey getting flat out-played in a game, but they dominated the Coyotes in terms of shots and scoring chances through out the game. When you outshoot a team 15-1 in the second period, only to be tied once it is over, says something was done wrong.

After a 51 save shutout in Madison Square Garden, Martin Brodeur had a terrible showing with just 15 saves and letting up 4 goals on a pathetic 19 shots. It’s not all Brodeur however; the Devils D tonight was just awful. Turnovers hurt us and sloppy passes were far too prevalent throughout the game tonight, you just can not win that way.

The Devils at least showed their resiliency once again by tying the game at two a piece in the second, but let’s be honest when you out shoot a team 15-1 you damn well better get some goals. They should never have been trailing to begin with, but it is what it is. The third period would see the ice tilted in the Devils direction also, however, another poor defensive play in front of the net, this time by Mark Fraser gave the ‘Yotes a 3-2 lead. A power play was given to Phoenix right after the go a-head goal after Fraser got his stick up to high on Winnik and they would capitalize with yet another bad goal to be given up by Marty, a blast from the point that looked like he just didn’t expect. The Dev’s would get a late goal from Rolston, his second of the night, but that fourth goal would prove to be too much to overcome as New Jersey completed its overall suck fest to the night.

I may be a bit harsh on the Devils for this loss, but I do not like what I have seen recently. We have played piss poor against the barrage of Western Conference teams that have come our way recently, with only the Stars game being a complete game from them. They are a mediocre 6-4 in their last 10 and perhaps I am being selfish by not being happy with that. But I do recall a similar course of success last year and anything they did in the regular season meant nothing as they were once again bounced out of the first round. This is a very delicate time for the Devils right now because of the amount of game they have coming up. With a nice run we can make some nice separation from the other teams behind us but it won’t be an easy thing to do. Last night was a terrible loss in more than just the fact that they played poorly, but also because the Rangers lost, the Flyers finally lost and the other night the Caps lost, we could have gained points on all of them. Another issue we have but don’t seem to be addressing is the work load of Brodeur. Yes, I understand he can still play every night, I think the entire league gets that by now, but with the extra play coming up for him with Team Canada, we need to conserve his strength at some point. No, we don’t have as good of a chance to win with Danis in net, but we have to do it at some point and maybe then it will be an excuse for these lacksidasical forwards to start scoring night in AND night out.

Things better pick up and quick because the Devils have an early afternoon game in Colorado against a tough Avalanche squad tomorrow at 3:00 EST/ 1:00 MT.