Devils continue slide in Carolina

The New Jersey Devils slide from playoff contention continued in Raleigh as the Devils fell behind early and never really threatened in a 6-3 defeat to the Carolina Hurricanes.
The loss was the Devils seventh in their last eight games as the teams playoff hopes continued to wobble as teams continue to gain on them in the standings.
Ilya Kovalchuk scored twice for New Jersey (8 shorthanded and 9) with Patrik Elias adding the other goal (8).
The Devils will have a chance to bounce back today at the Rock against Winnipeg.

Hell Raisers

1) About the only positive out of this one was the two goals by Ilya Kovalchuk.
Kovalchuk's shorthanded breakaway was about all that one could ask for and his even strength goal played to the strengths of Kovalchuk-firing from the outside....

2) Johan Hedberg was bad in this one.
Bad. Five goals on eighteen shots.
One goal barely trickled across the line and only one could be considered not on Hedberg.
This situation is bad and getting worse by the start....

3) Jeff Frazee played the third period and made all the saves in garbage time,but once again it will Johan Hedberg in net against the Winnipeg Jets.
I am not saying Frazee is the answer in any case,but continuing to run a 40 year old backup that is in the middle of a huge slump is not the answer either.

4) I've tried not to be critical of Travis Zajac since his contract extension,but his play has been very disappointing.
I wrote that Zajac was not a true number one center,but was a solid two.
Right now,the Devils are paying a lot money for less production then they are getting from Ryan Carter.

5) One thing that I have noticed is that other teams are getting a ton of shots out of the slot.
That tells me that defensemen are either not clearing the area or not getting to their designated defensive slot.
When offensively challenged teams play such bad defense,losing streaks like the Devils are currently on tend to occur.

6)Peter Harrold was especially bad last night.
I know that Henrik Tallinder and Bryce Salvador were out,so he was forced into the lineup against the Hurricanes,but Pete DeBoer played him over Adam Larsson against Buffalo.
I've seen more than enough of that already...