For much of the night the New Jersey Devils carried play against the Vancouver Canucks, but once again failed to add to the win column.
The Devils blew 1-0 and 2-1 leads en route to their third shootout loss of the season.
Ryan Kesler, Daniel Sedin and Mike Santorelli (shootout) found twine for the Canucks while Patrik Elias and Eric Gelinas were the scorers for the Devils. No Devil scored in the shootout despite three attempts to beat Roberto Luongo.
Some thoughts:
- Cory Schneider did make some quality stops, but goaltending was one of the contributing factors to the loss - as it has been for much of the season. It's been seen all throughout Schneider's career that he is not a good puck handler and Kesler's 1st period goal was a perfect example of that. Perhaps Martin Brodeur should school Schneider in that area.
- Gelinas' season debut was a huge success. He scored his 1st career goal, was not at all afraid to jump in to the play and created several chances because of it. He was by no means a liability in the defensive zone, either, as he was positionally sound and made a few nice plays - including rubbing Daniel Sedin off the puck in a 1 v. 1 scenario during overtime.
- More Gelinas: How good was he? Well, the ice was tilted severely in New Jersey's favor to the tune of 15 shot attempts for and only three against when he was out there during 5 v. 5 play. Whether Bryce Salvador is good to go Saturday or not, Gelinas should absolutely not be taken out of the lineup.
- Gelinas wasn't the only young Devils defenseman to have a good showing as Adam Larsson played one of his best games of the season. He was positionally sound, did a good job of making smart decisions with the puck and played with an edge at times. I think he played well enough to remain in the lineup Saturday.
- Marek Zidlicky is sort of impressing me this season. He certainly still has his defensive lapses, but they seem to be happening a little less frequently than usual, and he's creating a ton of offense. He has eight points through 10 games and leads the team in scoring. Lou Lamoriello paid him to produce offense and he's done that. No complaints from me.
- The Devils' 4th line is a bit of an anomaly. Outstanding one game, poor the next. Carter, Gionta and Bernier were often hemmed in their own zone for a good portion of their shifts and as a result they were all minus-2. Steve Bernier was the best of the three, but their underlying numbers weren't too encouraging.
- I thought Andrei Loktionov played well centering the top line. He had an assist, won 62% of his faceoffs and created quite a few chances. Perhaps he'll center Elias and Jaromir Jagr again on Saturday. Playing with them certainly benefited him.
- Also liked what I saw from Elias, Jagr and Travis Zajac. All three recorded points and won the shot attempt differential by at least a 2.5:1 margin. That's tough to do against a quality Canucks team that wins the possession battle more often than not.
Prospect Updates
- Ryan Kujawinski's Kingston Frontenacs were in action, but he didn't play due to a lower body injury. It's not significant, though, as he's listed as day-to-day. The big centerman has five goals and eight points in 10 games to date for a powerhouse Frontenacs team.
- Ben Johnson had a huge game in a 7-3 Windsor win over Owen Sound. The 19-year-old scored his 7th goal of the season and added two assists. Johnson now has 11 points in 11 games and continues to be a key contributor at both ends of the rink for the Spitfires. Johnson's on pace to shatter his previous career high of 38 points.
- In action tonight: the Albany Devils, Damon Severson, Myles Bell, Ben Johnson, Ben Thomson and Ryan Kujawinski (questionable).
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