Well, that game was an atrocity.

I’m getting really sick and tired of watching the offense, or lack thereof, miss chance after chance.  I mean really, what is so immoral about focusing on offense for a while?  Is it really that unforgiving of a practice to run and gun some offense and maybe get yourselves a lead by more than one goal?!  Claude, you’ve taken this ‘conservative’ style to a whole new level.  In the last 3 games the Devils have now been outscored 12-3 which is actually forcing me to experience an inhuman type of nausea.  But, I guess that’s what happens when people like GOMEZ decide to take an empty-net opportunity and shoot the damn puck WIDE.  Cute, Scott.  Way to earn that paycheck.  The Goalpost love-triangle wasn’t funny either, guys.  Save that crap for The Maury Show.

So much for the game-in-hand over Pittsburgh.  Congrats boys, you’ve somehow let a 9-point division lead blow up faster than Lindsay Lohan’s car insurance rates.  This is not the time to be having a team-wide meltdown!  Hit the showers and please, for the love of Leif Ericsson, get your act together.  This is no way to build momentum going into the playoffs.  These last few games are going to be huge - so quit with the circus act, would ya?!

Oh, and Rod Pelley: You suck.  Hard.

And to think, I actually risked my life for THAT!

First off: Congratulations to David Clarkson on his 1st National Hockey League goal! :) 

Too bad that’s about all the good I can take out of today.  Apparently the Devils are holding an annual “Let’s Get Our Asses Kicked By Carolina” Day at the Meadowlands.  Anyone remember last year’s 6-1 loss?  Well they blew a chance with to sweep the defending champs and ate it big time today, falling 7-2. 

Home ice hasn’t been kind to New Jersey as of late, they entertained their fans by dropping their 5th straight home game - the longest home losing streak since November of 2000.  Kinda tests your skin as a season ticket holder

I’ll spare everyone my alcohol-induced rage rant about this game, but the Devs looked worse than me trying to make it to my car after last night’s crazy ice storm.  I don’t really think Brodeur should have started the game in the first place.  It was a home-and-home series, with a lot of travel involved, not to mention the Devils’ 3rd game in 4 nights/days.  It just didn’t seem like a wise idea to start Marty - and that was blatantly obvious about 1/2 way through the first period.

Oh hey, Claude, speaking of Marty - what the &#*$ was up with you ASKING Brodeur if he wanted to come out of the game?  YOU’RE the coach!  Frankly, you shouldn’t have tugged Marty when you did, you should have full-out tug-o-war style yanked him after the 3rd goal.  

This is not the time to be blowing home-ice advantage, boys.  Ya know that little warning in the car mirror?  “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear“?  Pretend the playoffs are in that mirror.  Because they are.  

Well, losing to the Panthers certainly sucks.  I sort of expected the loss though, 2 road games in 2 days is no picnic.  It was a weird game, Brodeur and the rest of his D looked a little off.  The tease in the final minutes of the game wasn’t any fun, either.

Thanks to a solid effort this year, the Devils can easily shrug off the loss (unlike this time last year) and focus on battling Atlanta on Tuesday night.  They’ll need all the rest they can get - for some reason New Jersey has a complex about playing the Thrashers.  Although I must say they came back to win the last meeting in an exciting and dramatic fashion.  Hopefully Tuesday brings more of that.

Hey Lou, get Rich in the lineup already, would ya?  He wouldn’t take that kinda crap.  :)

Life just gets better for Martin Brodeur with every minute he plays.  Another shutout tonight, this time over the same team who beat him 8 days ago, the Tampa Bay Lightning.  I think Marty can now officially call Perrin his own private bitch!

Despite the absolutely horrible ice in Tampa, the boys got the job done.  In doing so, the Devils hold a lead in the Atlantic as wide as the Hudson River itself - 15 huge points over the New York Rangers.  Gionta (I’ve been calling him Wee-Man on crack) once again provided the offensive punch, and Martin The Great did the rest.  Even better news: Buffalo tanked it vs. Columbus so the Devils are now only five measly points behind the Sabres for the #1 overall spot in the entire Eastern Conference.  It’s good to see the crew coming right out and continuing their dominance right after the all-star break.

A notice to the Devs: Marty is super-human this year…but you still have to find a way to clear the puck!!  How many chances did the D have to send Tampa chasing, and instead they end up feeding the pointmen.  Seriously, guys, ya might wanna work on that.  Otherwise, keep up the solid effort - apparantly it’s doing you a whole lotta good.

Final thought: Clemmy tomorrow?

I have one word for you, Alex:  OWNED.  Undoubtedly the play save of the game goes to Brodeur. (…As usual) Much praise to you, Marty, for making AO look like a ham sandwich.

The Devils decided to show the happy side of their bi-polar play as they romped the Caps 4-1.  The win, paired with an Islanders massacre in Carolina, puts New Jersey back atop the Atlantic Division!  (I can hear the Ranger fans crying ‘flu-bug’.  Eat it.)

A good offensive show tonight: Zajac finally breaks the slump, Sarge continues his point streak, even Lukowich did something!  …And Zach Parise apparently has taken some sewing lessons.  (Ok, did everyone get it who’s going to get it?!)  Moving on… In a nutshell, the Devs played a great road game.  The penalties are still mounting up during recent games, but I did notice a shorter box-parade tonight.

Thanks to the scheduling daults that Mr. Bettman deems compitant, New Jersey will travel to Atlanta tomorrow night.  (Hmm, Devils/Thrashers, …sounds familiar.)  Time to grab some revenge, fellas, or would you like to view this as another opportunity to cement yourselves as Atlanta’s bitches?

Guys, seriously, win one damn game against them, would ya? 

Wow.

And to think I almost shelled out $75 to witness the massacre.  There’s really no telling what exactly went wrong, (other than Madden and Pandolfo sitting on the bench when Jagr made the Devils his bitch!) the Devils executed one of the most impressive meltdowns of the adolescent season - after dominating and frustrating the Rangers for 40 minutes.  Ever see those FiberSure commercials with the holes in the food?  That is a wonderful representation of the Devils play this year - Their complete failure to recognize that the game is 60 minutes long.

Part of me wants to quickly touch on the attendance issue.  Do you think the Rangers would have made that unique comeback if the building was only half-full?  I’m going to say no.  I was saying to myself all along that it is only going to take one goal and the Devils will have to deal with an awakened giant.  My point?  The fans were as big a factor in that game as Henrik Lundqvist.  Yep, I said it.  Momentum has more of an effect on the outcome of games than you might think.  I’m not excusing the fact that New Jersey slipped into a 90-second coma, but I have an opinion.

Nothing else to do but put this one behind you and come out flying against Ottawa.  At least the Powerplay clicked again.  Baby steps, boys, baby steps.

Last night’s matchup was about as exciting as a trip to the Supermarket Hall of Fame. It sure feels good to see the Devils pick up a win, but I’m not too sure what to make of the victory.

On the positive side, Lukowich was scratched.

Oh, and the Devils won - that’s always a good thing. Brodeur finally recorded win #451, and Cam Janssen hulked-out on half the Florida roster.

…Is it a bad thing if that’s all the ‘positive’ I can take out of that game?

The cynic in me touches on aspects such as the fact that both goals were scored on the powerplay, a 5-on-3 went by the wayside, and at one point in the third period it looked as if Florida had a 5-on-3 of their own when in reality it was full strength play! Let’s not forget that Scott Gomez left the game in the second period with a ‘groin’ injury and is questionable for Saturday.

The win is definitely going to bring momentum into Saturday’s game, but I wouldn’t be satisfied with the play. The Devils need to come out flying and create some unrelenting offense - something sorely lacking from this years squad. A win is a win, but it will take a lot more work to record some more.

There was a weird funk in the air during the warmup session of Thursday night’s Devils/Predators contest. Most Devils fans - at least those who pay attention - aren’t used to seeing goaltender Martin Brodeur on the bench only 6 games into the season. Marty had reached a milestone the night before in Pittsburgh, earning career victory number 450. His reward? A night off. Backup keeper Scott Clemmensen started against fellow backup-man Chris Mason, Thursday night at The Meadowlands.

Powerplay goals dominated the First Period score sheet. The action started almost as quickly as the Interference penalty Devils D-Man Colin White took only :45 seconds into the contest. On the insuing Nashville powerplay, Paul Kariya setup ex-Devils heart-throb Jason Arnott for a Power-Play-Goal, putting Nashville in front 1-0 on their first shot of the evening.

A mere 1:51 later, New Jersey’s Brian Gionta slammed home a rebound, capitalizing on their own powerplay brought on by an Interference call on Jared Smithson. Both teams had tallied points on their opening shots.

Devils Captain Patrik Elias was called for Holding at 5:42, giving the Preds their 2nd man advantage of the night. Following the trend, Martin Erat closed the 1st period scoring by adding another PPG, fed again from Kariya. This one deflected off New Jersey defenseman Paul Martin and trickled through Clemmensen giving Nashville a 2-1 lead. Elias did not leave the box after the goal was scored. Instead, he sang a few magic words that landed him an Unsportsmanlike penalty. Nashville was unable to connect on the advantage.

The Devils play in the 2nd period was sloppier than a 2lb burrito from Taco Bell at 2am. At one point, The Devils had three wacks at loose pucks in front of Preds keeper Chris Mason, all of which were chopped wide. By Nashville contributing only 5 shots on goal during the middle frame, it seemed as if New Jersey would escape the productive-less period trailing by only a goal. Scott Nichol made sure that wasn’t the case. Nichol put up a Shorthanded goal, stemming from a clean face-off win from Ryan Suter. Nashville boasted a 3-1 lead heading to the 3rd period.

From the drop of the puck, the 3rd period promised more of the same play from the Devils. Miraculously, however, they found themselves planting the seeds for an incredible rally. Over the next 18 minutes, the Devils would hold Nashville to an embarrasing 2 shots on goal.

Scott Gomez cut the Predators lead to one goal, lifting a backhander over Mason’s shoulder with 2:07 remaining in regulation. The seemingly comatose fans were finally alive. It was just the rush the Devils had needed. With time winding down, Devils coach Claude Julien waved Clemmensen to the bench, giving New Jersey a 6-on-5 advantage. Through a scrum of players, the puck squirted loose to Mr. Clutch, Brian Gionta, who hammered home the game-tying-goal with 11.6 seconds remaining in regulation. The Devils may have collected the most undeserved point in Franchise history.

New Jersey fed off the energy from the fans in OT. Despite being given a rare, Overtime powerplay, the Devils were unable to shoplift again. Instead, the game headed to a shootout.

Attempting to use this years new rule to their advantage, the Devils opted to shoot second. It would have worked, had the Devils been able to tally on any of their 3 shots. The only goal in the shootout came from Nashville’s Martin Erat, as he beat Clemmensen over the shoulder with a snapshot. Devils Captain Patrik Elias officially made the contest a game he would love to forget, losing control of the puck on his attempt and firing it right into the arms of Mason. The save gave the Predators a 4-3 victory.

With the win, Nashville ended its Metro-Area road trip with a perfect 3-0 record after recording wins against the Islanders and Rangers days earlier.

The Devils third period rally was their second in three home games this season. The prior coming during the home opener against Toronto on October 12th. On that date, Gionta bagged a third period Natural Hat Trick to send the game into overtime. When questioned about the coincidence, Scott Clemmensen offered: “We’d like to avoid being in the position where we have to do that, but it’s comforting to know if we do get in that situation, we don’t give up and we have a chance because we have done it before.”

An effective powerplay would solve that problem.