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The New Jersey Devils may have been blown out of the rink by the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night, but there were still some positives, and there have been a few in their play of late.
Some thoughts:
1) Steve Bernier deserves a lot of credit for his play this season. He's looked like a whole new player since being recalled from Albany early in the year, and has surely played his way into a one-way contract this summer. Bernier has five assists in his last two games, and now has 24 points (10 goals, 14 assists) in 52 games this season. His rate stats have been good, too, as he leads the Devils with 1.79 points/60 minutes of 5 vs 5.
2) Damon Severson hasn't returned to his best form since getting back into the lineup, but he's still playing pretty well. Averaging about 20 minutes per game, Severson has an assist and four shots on goal in four games since returning. He has been New Jersey's best possession player in that span, too, as New Jersey gets almost 10% more of the shot attempts with Severson on the ice than without him.
3) Cory Schneider wasn't at his best vs Minnesota, but it's hard to blame him for the loss. The Devils had one goal through over 45 minutes, and didn't generate one power play opportunity in the entire game. It's hard to win on a consistent basis (or at all) when that's the case.
4) Eric Gelinas played a hair less than 17 minutes vs Minnesota despite not taking a shift on any of New Jersey's four penalty kills, and the Devils getting zero power plays. It may not seem like a lot, but 17 even-strength minutes is a high total. That speaks to how much more confidence the coaching staff has in him with his play of late.
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