Devils rally falls shy in 4-3 loss

The New Jersey Devils fell behind early to the Carolina Hurricanes by allowing two goals and only a Travis Zajac goal (4) sandwiched in between two more goals put the Devils on the board in what loomed to be a blowout.
However,the Devils then put together one of their better offensive periods of the season besides just two goals as their offensive aggressiveness almost tied the game before a terrific Cam Ward save on Adam Henrique on what looked to be an open net in a 4-3 loss to the Hurricanes.
Andy Greene (3) scored halfway through the third period before Jaromir Jagr (10) scored with under two minutes to cut the lead just one goal.
The same two teams hit the ice in Raleigh on Friday night...





Hell Raisers

1) First off,the Devils came so close to tying this with six skaters on the ice as Adam Henrique was just robbed by a prone on the ice Cam Ward.
Nothing that Henrique could have really done other than try to put the puck in a corner and then he took the risk of hitting a pipe.
What a save by Ward!

2) The elephant in the room with the Devils right now has to be the comments of Cory Schneider about his lack of playing time after Martin Brodeur started his third game in a row.
I can understand Schneider's frustration with not playing,especially for the third game in a row,but Brodeur has been playing well.
The larger issue is this-Schneider is only signed through next season and after giving up a first rounder for Schneider,can the team afford to let him walk?
This situation will be very interesting to follow as the season progresses.

3) As for the aforementioned Brodeur,he was decent on a night that very good would have earned two points.
I hold Marty blameless on the middle two,but the first and last were softer.
Stop those and a loss becomes a win...

4) I really did like the aggressive play on offense in the final period and I was encouraged by the attack,but that does not make the Devils desultory play in the first two periods any easier to swallow.
Other than maybe Travis Zajac,which was easy because he scored the goal,none of the Devils forwards really stood out until the final period...

5) Jaromir Jagr's goal was number 691 and passed Mario Lemieux for ninth all time on the goal scoring list.
Imagine how much higher Jagr could have been had not spent time in the KHL.

Photo Credit:AP Photo