Missed Chances Cost Devils in 2-0 Loss to Bruins

Well, it was not as if the Devils did not have their chances in their 2-0 loss to the Boston Bruins. Elias had the best chance of the night as he had a wide open net, but Tim Thomas made a huge save diving across to stop the puck. Brian Rolston and Colin White both hit posts in the game as well.

The top seeded Bruins came in yo the game winners of 20 of their last 23 games and had the #1 defense and #1 offense in the NHL. As a Devils fan, I can walk away knowing that despite what the scoreboard says, we were just as good if not better than the Bruins tonight. The Devils offense showed they could create scoring chances against the best defense in the league and they limited the Bruins to one rebound goal early in the third period, and we don't even have Marty Broduer in net.

These two teams seem to be mirror images of each other, 12 forwards who are all solid two-way hockey players and no real big name players among them. The defense are a mixture of solid veterans and guys who move the puck well. The differences are the Bruins have two solid goalies, but are either one a true #1 that can carry team deep in the playoffs while the Devils have Clemmensen now but we have the greatest goalie of all time waiting in the wings. The Devils on the other hand are missing that big name defenseman who can do it all, as in the Bruins Zedeno Chara. This is something the Devils need to address come the trade deadline and also the 3rd line needs to click and provide some more offense if the Devils want to beat the deeper teams like the Bruins and Flyers.

But all in all this was a tough start to a tough week, next up the Pens on Friday and then the Rangers on Saturday. So let us all tell Santa to bring us two wins this weekend, that's all I want for Christmas.

Everyone have a great holiday!

Notes:
- Despite the loss, the Devils are now 12-3-1 in their last 16 games.
- This was only the second time this season the Devils have been shut-out, compared to last year where the Devils had been shut-out seven times by Christmas.
- Salvador missed his third game with an upper body injury, while John Madden finally returned to the line-up and seemed to play on of his better games of late.