Capital Punishment

The New Jersey Devils who's season started out with such promise continued their endless fall with a 3-1 loss to the Capitals. Once again it seemed that the Devils did not have the offensive firepower upfront to match yet another teams forwards speed and offensive creativity. Alex Ovenchkin had an assist and scored an empty net goal to clinch the game for the Capitals.

Despite playing solid defense and getting another strong performance in net from Clemmensen, the Devils offense has continued to sputter as teams have begun to focus their efforts on stopping Parise. Since Broduers injury the Devils are now 1-5-0 and have only scored more than two goals once, the only game they won. Their 1.60 Goals For per game is only the tip of the iceberg as the real problem has been their powerplay which has scored 1 goal in their last 20 chances, over the span of the past six games. The penalty kill has killed them as well giving up 7 goals in the last 22 chances over that same six game span.

In all despite the injuries, it may be time for the Devils to make a move before the season is lost and a goalie is not what they need, as it seems like Clemmensen has continued his strong play from the preseason and may be seeing more action between the pipes than Weekes. The Devils need to add a play-making centerman and top 4 defenseman.

On defense it is clear that Martin, Salvador, White will stay and Greene and Salmela seem to give the Devils some offense and a decent third pairing. That leaves Oduya and Mottau able to be on the move, but White could be moved for a player like Bouwmeester.

On the forward lines, Zajac-Parise make a good pair but could benefit from adding Rolston to the line and moving Langenbrunner with Madden-Pandolfo, Holik-Rupp-Clarkson make a strong fourth line and that leaves Elias to be paired with a new center and either Gionta or Zubrus on the wing. So as expected Gionta or Zubrus could be on the move.

But in the end the Devils could look for a goalie if Clemmensen and Weekes are not getting the job done and if they find out Brodeur may be out longer than expected.

Well anything to help my ulcer I am getting from watching these games.