For the second time in as many nights the Devils blew a 2-1 lead in the final minute of the 3rd period. On Thursday the Devils managed to recover and beat the Stars, though this time it proved to be costly as they went on to lose to Nashville in extra time.

After David Legwand tied the game on a broken play with 11 seconds left in regulation, Shea Weber added his 2nd of the game in overtime en route to a 3-2 win.

Carter Hutton stopped 24-26 for Nashville in what was his 6th win in his last seven starts.

10 notes:

1. Barry Trotz deserves a ton of credit for what he's been able to do in Nashville this season. After losing Pekka Rinne nine games into the campaign, many people wrote the Predators off in a tough western conference. For the most part their goaltending has been mediocre, and they currently have Nick Spaling and Eric Nystrom in their top-6, yet there they are just five points out of a playoff spot. They may not be an overly talented team, but they're a good team in large part due to excellent coaching.

2. As a Canadian, I'm feeling real good about having Shea Weber on Team Canada in Sochi. He was a lock, obviously, but his performance last night was excellent even for his standards. In a game where not many people thought he'd play, he ate up over 25 minutes of ice, had four shots, two hits, four blocks and scored a pair of goals including the winner. Not only that, but he did a pretty good job of shutting down the Devils' top line and was an even possession player. It's not hard to see why Philadelphia offered him a trillion dollars via offer sheet.

3. Shea Weber's game-winning-goal should not have happened. The tying goal was a fluke play which convieniently landed on the stick of an extra attacker, but Weber's OT winner could have been prevented. In the neutral zone the play was developing as a 2-on-2. Travis Zajac was getting close to Weber, but given Marek Zidlicky had his man Jon Merrill should have picked up the other, which was Weber, who was slightly trailing behind Wilson. Rather than going to Weber, Merrill elected to follow Zidlicky and double cover Colin Wilson. I don't know if he thought Zajac would get to Weber in time, but he didn't and the best player in last night's game was left wide open as a result. Maybe it was a communication issue. Maybe I'm being hard on Merrill. Either way, it was a goal that could have been prevented and it cost the Devils a point in the standings because it wasn't.



4. Speaking of Zajac, he had a pair of assists in last night's loss and now has 20 on the season. I've written about the defensive work he's been doing quite frequently this year, but now he's picking it up offensively as well. No. 19 has eight points in his last six outings and is currently on pace for about 45 points. It's not stellar production, but given the way he's played defensively and the lack of offense as a team, I won't be complaining.

5. Jaromir Jagr continues to impress me on a nightly basis. He added another two points last night and now has four multi-point efforts in his last five games. He's 41 years old and is on pace for 70 points. Think about that. Should the Devils fall out of the playoff race and decide to trade him, I'd imagine they'd be able to net a 1st round pick in return.

6. More Jagr: he's two points away from becoming the 8th player in NHL history to record 50+ points in a season at the age of 40 or older.

7. Dainius Zubrus has been struggling a lot over the last few weeks and that continued against Nashville. He did not record a shot, was on for nine more shot attempts against than for, which was last among all players, and took a penalty.

8. Patrik Elias looked really good with Travis Zajac and Jaromir Jagr, but I'm afraid that probably can't be a thing for more than a period at a time until the Devils get some help up front. Elias on the top line, assuming you leave Clowe - Henrique - Ryder and the 4th line alone, leaves you with a 2nd line of Zubrus - Loktionov - Brunner. That's not going to scare many teams.

9. Cory Schneider was 11 seconds away from picking up a 2-1 win. Instead, the Predators tied it and went on to win the game, which snapped Schneider's streak of allowing two goals or less in a game at 10.

10. He had a couple mishaps handling the puck, but overall I thought Schneider played pretty well. He made a lot of big saves and finished the game with a .909 save percentage even though he allowed three goals. Martin Brodeur's save percentage this year is under .900, so I don't think you can complain about No. 35's effort last night. The Devils are off until Monday so we could, and should, see No. 35 back in net when the Devils host Colorado.

Prospect Updates

- Graham Black continued to build on his excellent season to date as he scored a hat trick in Swift Current's 4-3 win over Medicine Hat. Black now has 26 goals and 68 points in 49 games this season.

- Staying in the WHL, Myles Bell had two goals and an assist in Kelowna' 4-2 win. Bell has 31 goals and 55 points in 49 games played.

- Damon Severson was held pointless in Kelowna's win. He has 41 points in 44 games for the WHL's No. 1 team.

- In the OHL, Ben Thomson followed up a two goal effort with a goal and an assist in North Bay's 5-1 win over an excellent Oshawa Generals team. Thomson has 15 goals and 25 points in 25 games since being traded to North Bay and has taken on a big leadership role with the team having worn an "A" since the day he got there.

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- Why the Devils may soon be in the market for a top-6 left winger

- I recently posted my midseason rankings for the top-30 first-year NHL draft eligible players from the OHL. You can view that here.

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