Devils avoid victory in Vancouver

For the second night in a row,the New Jersey Devils held a multiple goal lead on their Canadian road trip and for the second night in a row,the Devils failed to hold it as the Vancouver Canucks earned a 3-2 overtime victory over the Devils.
The Devils goals went to Jaromir Jagr (2) in the first period and Patrik Elias (2) in the second to build the lead before the Canuck comeback.
Cory Schneider finished with 29 saves in his return to British Columbia.
The Devils will get two days before a Friday night return to Alberta and the Calgary Flames.
Coverage of that will be limited as I will be at the road office....

Hell Raisers

1) The pregame hype was about the return of Cory Schneider to Vancouver and his battle with Roberto Luongo.
As far as that goes,it lived up to the hype.
Schneider played excellent and none of the three goals should be on him as one came off a deflection,another off a beautiful goal by Alexander Edlin and the game winner by Jason Garrison was one that Schneider was screened on.

2) I have been critical of Jaromir Jagr's speed and that is not a criticism,it's a fact,but another note is a fact too-His hands still rank among the best in the game.
Put Jagr in a position to finish and he does and he gets his shot released as fast as anyone in the game.

3) I know Peter DeBoer is getting piled on by some Devils fans (Rachel too),but he didn't help himself when he finally placed Mark Fayne in the lineup,which has been overdue.
The problem is that DeBoer selected the wrong person to scratch in Adam Larsson.
I didn't think Larsson played badly in Edmonton and instead DeBoer scratches Larsson and keeps the player that DID play badly against the Oilers in the lineup in Peter Harrold.
I have doubts that Harrold should even be on the team and he plays over Adam Larsson?

4) Adam Larsson is the one defenseman on the Devils that has the potential to be a top star in the league.
Larsson is also the best skater and along with maybe Andy Greene is the only blueliner that could be counted on both ends of the ice.
Why this is still happened with scratches makes me question Pete DeBoer and wonder if he will be the right coach when the next wave of prospects arrives in Newark...

5) The Patrik Elias-Jaromir Jagr combo looks to be heating up a bit with some chemistry.
The goal that Jagr scored was off a slick pass from Elias that left Roberto Luongo at the pairs mercy.
For the automatic assumption that the two had played together in international competition,they claim to have played very little as a line.
From what I have seen,the Devils are going to need more of what they had last night in Vancouver...

6) Thus far,not impressed with Ryane Clowe.
Clowe seems out of sync and downright (you guessed it) slow afoot.
Clowe hasn't created one scoring opportunity yet in four games and for his salary hit-the Devils need more than that.

7) Overall,I'm not ready to jump ship yet.
I know getting one point in three games in a row is not clearly as nice as getting two-but still points are points and it doesn't affect the Devils to be giving points to Western Conference foes nearly as much as it would to do so to Eastern opponents.
That said-I just don't feel good about this team defensively and that is supposed to be the strength of the team.
It's early,but wow-I am a little concerned....

Photo Credti:AP Photo