The Devils continued to build on what has become somewhat of anomaly with Saturday's win in that they've dominated the second game of back-to-backs while tired, but have struggled to win games while fresh.

With the Devils' 2-1 win over the struggling Islanders they improved to 7-1-3 in the second half of back-to-backs this season.

Adam Henrique and Travis Zajac scored for the Devils while Cory Schneider gave New Jersey excellent goaltending, stopping 30-31 shots he faced.

10 notes:

1. Bryce Salvador made his return to the lineup and played pretty well, although I think Pete DeBoer went a little overboard when talking him up post-game. Salvador did bring a physical presence to the backend and ate up a lot of tough minutes, but he did have a few bad turnovers, one of which led directly to the Islanders tying goal. Salvador was pretty good and his return should help the Devils, but I didn't think he was great.

2. Was a little skeptical when DeBoer decided to shake up the line combinations and Patrik Elias found himself centring Stephen Gionta and Steve Bernier, but it actually worked out pretty well. They didn't account for any goals, but they did create quite a few chances and didn't allow many by comparison.

3. A little chart to display the 2nd line(?) and their efforts against the Islanders.



4. I thought the Gelinas - Merrill pairing played quite well after being reunited. There were a couple worrisome moments where they made an error in the defensive zone and allowed some scoring chances as a result, but overall I thought they were pretty good defensively and did a good job of creating scoring chances when they were in the offensive zone. As I've said countless times, there will be growing pains with these two as they continue their development, but the future for both of them looks bright.

5. Reid Boucher does bring some elements to the Devils lineup that they could use, but I think it may be time to send him back to Albany. He turns the puck over too much for DeBoer's liking and isn't playing much as a result. It's quite clear that he still needs to work on his 200-foot game and I think playing 20 minutes a night in Albany would benefit him more than 7-10 minutes a night in New Jersey. If he would consistently be placed in a scoring role with the Devils and DeBoer would stick with him I wouldn't be against him staying, but right now it looks like Albany is the best place for him.

6. A message to Ryane Clowe: there's no reason to fight a heavyweight in your 2nd game after returning, especially when you have a history of concussions. It was a clean hit. Let Matt Carkner grab you, drop his gloves and take a minor. It's one thing to stick up for a teammate, but to fight a guy like Carkner after laying a clean hit (that wasn't even very big) is probably not the best call.

7. Speaking of Clowe, his physicality and net-front presence should be a boost to the Devils at evens and on the power play, but man is he slow.

8. Cory Schneider deserves some space in this post after his performance last night. Once again the Devils gave him little offensive support but he was able to will the Devils to victory with a stellar performance in goal. He made several excellent saves, including some big ones late in the 3rd, to preserve the Devils victory. My guess is he gets the nod Tuesday, though I've been wrong before.

9. Marek Zidlicky: keep the puck down and stop trying to decapitate your own players.

10. Travis Zajac continued to do Travis Zajac things last night. He scored his 7th of the season, which was the eventual game-winning-goal. It was a bit of a fluke, but he deserved the goal - especially after taking that Zidlicky shot up high. Zajac also had four shots, a couple hits, a blocked shot and won 50% of his faceoffs. That was enough to earn him 1st star honors.

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