Ryan Carter 2 New Jersey 1

Someone named Ryan Carter scored his first two NHL goals in the first period for the visiting Anaheim Ducks and it was enough to hold on and send the New Jersey Devils to their 6th loss in 7 games by a score of 2-1.
The only Devil goal was on a second period Jay Pandolfo tip-in (9) of a Vitaly Vishnevski shot.
The effort was there,but the goals were not as the Ducks Jonas Hiller played an excellent game for Anaheim.
SO,not much else to comment on the game and since that is the case we will offer a few other Devil observations.
This team has been showing a non-Dungy like attitude in not giving up,but the bad first period play has to stop!
That has been the main difference in this losing span and something has to be done.
Do I have the answer?
Nope,but here are a few things worth giving a try to.
1)Try David Clarkson on the special teams.
Clarkson's energy and grit have been the surprise of the year and maybe those qualities could perk things up a bit.
Plus he is the type of player that can finish plays around the net and get the ugly goals that the Devils are not getting lately.
2)Mix the defensemen up .
Andy Greene played last night for the first time in a while and looked pretty good,but I cannot remember the last time I saw Sheldon Brookbank,maybe a shakeup on the blueliners.
3)Add one of the Lowell players that are performing well.
Petr Vrana,Barry Tallackson and Noah Clarke are playing well,maybe they can add a spark.
I would add Nicklas Bergfors to the list,but he is out due to injury.
4)Maybe now is the time for the Lou to pull the trigger on a big deal to truly transform this team into Brent Sutters' team and attempt the change the talent pool.
I have no idea if any of these would work,just some thoughts.

Devils players of the game
Gold:Jay Pandolfo-Goal,excellent as always defensively
Silver:Marty Brodeur-Good game,but offense fails to help.
Bronze:Vitaly Vishnevski-Assist and continues to hit any object.

A few thoughts on the return of Scott Niedermayer to New Jersey.
I never minded "Neids" leaving other than the Devils losing one of the best players in the game.
Scott was always a class act,not a mercenary type and I truly believe that had the Devils managed to obtain Rob Niedermayer (which the Lou tried for years with two different teams) Scott would still be a Devil.
I never mind guys that leave teams because they want to play near home or other good reasons and that is why we bashed Scott Gomez and held Brian Rafalski blameless when both left this past off-season.
But I really hate the trend in sports where veteran players start teasing retirement in order to avoid training camp and early season games.
Roger Clemens started this stuff and Anaheim has perfected this with Niedermayer and Teemo Salanne.
Ryan offered this point that I never thought of-Brian Burke (Ducks GM) planned this all along to wait until the cap space was available.
Smart move,yet unethical.
The NHL needs to close this loophole ASAP.

Bullpen Notes

Stay tuned later in the day as Battlin Bob is on the warpath with this hotel tax.
The Battler wrote letters to the county commissioners on this issue and tells us the Hagerstown City Council is next.
We will post both his letter and the two responses that he has gotten back thus far,one of which seems pretty reasoned and the other basically says "oh,well".
We stand by our previous statement-If you are an avowed opponent of Stadium improvements (at minimum)-you will not get this vote.

This whole MSNBC David Shuster issue is a bogus one.
Was it rude?
Yes,but the term "pimp' has become so prevalent today,it is not quite as derogatory as it once was.
None the less-I understand why the Clinton are mad,I might be too,but I would not handle it in the media.
I would have just faced down Shuster-he would roll over,after all -that is what "michigan men" do best.

And a final note on this to the nitwits at Fox.
Having Laura Ingraham offer her crocodile tears on this is laughable enough,but could you at least spell Shuster's name right?
I mean,geez-he used to be part of YOUR network at one time!

Photo Credit
Pandolfo-Bruce Bennett-Getty Images