On a rainy Wednesday night, the New Jersey Devils wanted to come out strong and with a better effort than the last time they played Pittsburgh. With the talents of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, they needed to get a lift from Scott Clemmensen. What they got was a stone wall in Brick City.

Scott Clemmensen made 26 saves and is 7-1 in his last eight starts. Who would have ever thought in the beginning of the season that he would be the starting goaltender and leading all Devils’ netminders in total wins by mid- December? Not even the great Eklund could have predicted this. Nor could we predict that the Devils would be surging to the top of the Atlantic division. Let me remind everyone: Scott Clemmensen is a talented goaltender that is finally getting his chance to showcase his ability to win games and shutdown the opposition. I remembered watching him lead Boston College along with Devils’ forward, Brian Gionta, to a national title where he had that calm presence under pressure in net. For the first time in his NHL career, he is the “go-to-guy”.

Now what about the power play? The Devils went 0-4 last night. Five forwards on the ice shows that Brent Sutter wants to apply more offensive pressure, but I am not sold that it will work out. Without a true mobile defenseman quarterbacking on the point, this may lead to many shorthanded chances for the opposition. Maybe Sutter wants a better shot from the point, like from Brian Rolston, in order to spread out the opposition’s PK defense. They need to get consistent scoring from their power play if they want to climb the Atlantic division standings.

The Devils have been at their best on even strength this year. But their special teams, power play and penalty killing, are near the bottom of the Eastern Conference. With many of their injured players returning back to the lineup, they are playing a more physical style again and forechecking with all four lines. During this winning stretch, the Devils’ blueliners are pinching in and attacking the puck more than ever while getting offensive chances. Moreover, this is not your typical systematic neutral zone trapping team and their success at even strength comes from being proactive at attacking the puck, instead of sitting back while waiting to take advantage of an opposition mistake.

On Friday night, I am predicting a playoff atmosphere at the Rock and a hungry Devils team that will be very physical unlike the last meeting on November 12th. Yes, the New York Rangers are in first place in the Atlantic, but New Jersey has six games at hand. The standings lead looks like an illusion and both teams are evenly matched.

With this red hot Devils team as of late, I would be surprised if the Rangers come away with a point by the end of the night.

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