In what was essentially a must-win game for the Devils, they no-showed, and were blown out of the rink to the tune of 6-2 by the Canadiens.
While many seemed to have been caught off guard by last night's loss, it shouldn't be surprising. As a matter of fact, it's been a long time coming.
The Devils' 5-0-1 record in six games prior to last night masked a lot of problems, and gave some fans false hope in terms of clawing back into the playoff race. In reality, the Devils have been playing some atrocious hockey and the team we saw last night was the same one we've seen in recent outings.
Over the last five games the Devils have recorded the following shot totals: 14, 14, 19, 17, and 22. That's a pitiful 17.2 shots per game.
As you'd expect with such low totals, New Jersey has been outshot - in some cases significantly - on a nightly basis.
They don't have a lot of scoring punch, have a mediocre defense (with Harrold/Fraser in the lineup) and have relied on sky-high shooting percentages plus outstanding goaltending performances to pick up points over the last couple weeks.
That's not a sustainable way to win, and we saw that last night.
With the current roster in place it won't get much better, either, so we should expect a lot of losses down the stretch; especially if/when they decide to move Jaromir Jagr and Marek Zidlicky.
That isn't the worst news, though, as the Devils are starving for young, high-end talent, and the only way they're going to get it is with a high pick come June.
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