New Jersey Devils: This Is Rock Bottom

The New Jersey Devils blew a two-goal lead with less than two minutes left to the hated Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday night to not only keep them alive in the East Division playoff race but also extended their personal losing streak to 10-straight games. It ties the worst every one-season losing streak in Devils history. As the title of the article states, this is rock bottom.

I’ve tried to be diplomatic in my writings about this team. Constant negativity doesn’t really breed a positive work environment, and that also doesn’t have an inviting feeling for fellow Devils fans. However, it’s time to be honest. This is the worst feeling as a fan of any team I’ve ever had. Ever. I’m a New York Knicks fan, and this is the lowest point of my sports fandom.

This Devils team makes constant mistakes. They never seem to stop. What’s worse, they make the same mistakes over and over and over again. The Devils allowed two goals while the Flyers pulled the goalie. It was 6-on-5. Despite taking a timeout, the Devils misplayed the second empty-net goal pretty spectacularly.

In overtime, the Devils got the coveted 4-on-3 power play. It was one of the worst 4-on-3 power plays you ever seen. This isn’t anything new. Mark Recchi called a timeout, and the ensuing power play was as if the Flyers taught them how to do it. It was a terrible power play when the Devils needed it the most.

What could the Devils possibly want from this fanbase? They’ve traded every possible piece over the past two seasons. They fired the coach, hired the one nobody wanted (although he has been fine I suppose), fired the GM, hired the one that was already there, and then they made a few moves that turned into absolutely nothing. Corey Crawford retired. Andreas Johnsson is borderline unplayable. Ryan Murray is… fine. He was bad at the beginning of the season, but he’s been fine. But to take the words out of the greatest love story ever told, “What if fine isn’t good enough?”.

This season is a cesspool of crap. Once we think it keeps hitting the worst possible point, it hurts us even more. Sunday was the worst loss of the season, and there was absolutely nothing on the line. Our captain spent most of the season on the injured list. Our longest-tenured player is now playing in the division, and he’s getting healthy scratched. Our young players are playing well, but it’s hard to get excited when THEY LOST 10 GAMES IN A ROW! Let’s not even mention how Devils fans felt when we heard the word “shootout”.

What more is there to say? This season has no redeeming qualities. Hopefully we’ll look at this season one day as that bad ex-boyfriend or girlfriend who made us know when we have something good. Right now, we are in that relationship, and it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.