3. Goalie isn't the only concern
Fitzgerald was pretty candid when asked about the status of the team's goaltending. It's no surprise this was a topic of conversation. Rumors have the Devils tied to just about every goalie on the market. Vitek Vanecek is playing so far below his talent level, and it's making it hard for the Devils to post wins on a consistent basis. Nico Daws and Akira Schmid still have the jury out if they are the young goalies taking over the net.
When asked about the goalies, Fitzgerald made it a point that it needed to be better, but he spoke about the players around him a lot more.
"I'm not going to say I'm cool with (the goaltending play). I want our goalies to play better. But I want our players to play better in front of them. We still have some areas of the game that need cleaned up... Hockey is a game of mistakes, but if you minimize the mistakes that turn into big chances, then you're getting better. We have some work to do there."Tom Fitzgerald
Clearly, it's not just the goaltending that's a problem in Fitzgerald's eyes. He acknowledged that the goalie is the last line of defense, but he's clear that it's a team game and the team in front of the goalies are just as much to blame for the puck going into the net as the one with all the pads are.