Tonight’s “effort” doesn’t even deserve a coherent, thought-out post.

So, I leave you with this:

Yeah. This is better than tonight’s train wreck of a game.

NOTE: Patricia will be in Mart-real until Monday, so be on the look out for Patricia and in the Canadian Nation in the coming days!

There will be much said about last night’s spectacularly awesome 6-1 Devils victory with 2 Man Advantage in the building in the near future. But for now, I feel an obligation to at least post this:

Stories, shenanigans, and praise for those who don’t usually get praise, coming up in the next 24 hours!

Well, that sucked.

Apparently, it’s impossible for Black ‘n Red to beat the New York Islanders.

This is quite disappointing, and frankly, it really disturbs me.

I call conspiracy.

Or shenanigans.

It’s gotta be something.

You know?

I mean, really? Who are we kidding here?

I suppose one-dollar hot dogs are the price to pay to watch such a crap-tastic display of so-called “defense” put forth by the boys in black and red.

I want my dollar back.

Seriously.

The Devils lost.
The Devils did not score any goals.
The Devils surrendered four goals.
The Devils gave up one of said four goals to none other than Jim Dowd.
The Devils had like 35389 chances on the power play.
The Devils were unable to convert on said chances on power play.
The Devils gave up like no shots.
The Devils shot, like, a lot.
The Devils are back to below .500 again.
The Devils hope to bump back up to .500 when they play the New York Islanders on Saturday.
The Devils can’t wait to have Jamie Langenbrunner back.
The Devils think Jamie might be back before Thanksgiving at this rate.

Okay I’m done.

One game in the books and I have to say I was more than a little disappointed with the end result. I was pleased with the way the Devils played in the beginning of the game. The Devils came out and I thought it was very obvious that Sutter had a different way of doing things. Last season I felt the Devils spent a lot of time waiting for the puck to come to them and passing the puck more than they needed to. In the first period last night, things were different. New Jersey was actually shooting the puck. Maybe this has something to do with Scott Gomez leaving NJ but NJ didn’t seem to be looking for the perfect setup to score, they were just trying to put the puck on net. The Devils also seemed to generate a lot of pressure in the Tampa Bay zone during the first period. At the end of the first period, I was liking what I saw of the new Sutter era.

The second period started just like the first ended but it all changed very quickly. Gionta had a 2-on-1 going that he couldn’t finish and a few moments later, Lecavalier put the equalizer past Marty. I find it heart breaking every time Lecavalier scores because he really seems to have Marty’s number. Unfortunately he would strike again in the third. The crowd came alive and I thought from that point on, the Devils didn’t play a very strong game. In the third period I witnessed a Devil team that stood around too much. Eventually Lecavalier would strike again, putting the puck in a net so open I think my 16 month old could have scored on that pass. What bothers me mostabout last night was the absence of the scoring. This leaves a big question mark in my mind. I know we have the artillery to score goals but why are they already having trouble scoring goals?

The one thing I hate about playing nine straight home games to open the season is that we play a lot of home openers. Emotions are usually very high for the home team in these games and that can make for a tough time. Despite the things NJ did wrong last night, especially in the third period, I think if you put that game in our building, the Devils skate away with a win. Next up are the Florida Panthers which should also be a pretty tough game.