O (for) Canada,Devils lose again

The New Jersey Devils run through Canada finished in Ottawa in the same way it began in Edmonton with a loss as the Devils fell 5-2 to the Senators and continued with their dubious status as the only team in the league without a win.
The Devils fell behind 3-0 before getting to within a goal with two third period goals by Travis Zajac (1 power play) and Steve Bernier (1) before Ottawa's Milan Michalek thrust the dagger through the Devils heart with Ottawa's fourth goal to clinch the win before an empty netter to conclude the scoring.
The Devils take Friday off before finally returning home Saturday night against the Rangers.

Hell Raisers

1) Not a good night for Martin Brodeur,who allowed four goals and only the third had any excuses at all.
When you are in net for a winless team,you cannot allow yourself to be beaten by shots from the outside-twice!
You want one person to blame,you could do worse than looking at Brodeur.

2) The power play showed life a bit in the loss as Travis Zajac scored a goal and a first period possession did everything but score.
I would still be stretching to say I am thrilled,but there was some good things in this one...

3) 41 shots and 2 goals is not a very good ratio and Ottawa does lead the league in shots allowed,but putting that many on net is a good sign as well.

4) Craig Anderson played very well in robbing the Devils on a few occasions,but the key one was on Jaromir Jagr in the third period in which Jagr went to slamming the puck into an open net to being unable to lift the puck over a sliding Anderson.

5) Erik Karlsson is sharp. His pass to Zach Smith was the type that makes season highlight films and Karlsson is going to be a star in this league for a long time...

6) I did like Adam Larsson and Marek Zidlicky's attempts to fire away.The six shots between them make the Devils threats from the outside more viable and could set up rebounds for the forwards....

7) Finally,Bobby Ryan in Ottawa shows the type of offensive ability that no one on the Devils possesses.
I was a huge proponent of going after Ryan when the Ducks were shopping him and he might have made the difference in a few of these losses.
The Devils are going to need to land someone like Ryan next year or maybe Ryan himself in two years.
Interesting to think about....

Photo Credit:AP Photo