After three consecutive road wins to start the season, the Devils have cooled down a little bit with back-to-back losses to Washington and San Jose.
Even with those losses, there are still plenty of positives to take away from New Jersey's 3-2-0 start.
Some thoughts:
- Six points through five games isn't overly sexy, but realistically the Devils couldn't have started the season much better.
They've played four road games, and their home opener was against a consistent top-5 team in the Sharks. That's not an easy schedule by any means, and they've picked up more points than they've left on the table.
Last year the Devils missed the playoffs by five points and took nine or 10 games to get two wins. They're obviously off to a much better start this year. Perspective, people.
- I think everyone can agree that Mike Cammalleri has been exceptional thus far. He has points in all five games the Devils have played, and has found the back of the net in four of those contests.
His stat line through five: five goals, two assists, seven points, 25 shots. He's done this while posting a 58% Corsi playing against top competition on a nightly basis. I'd say he's fitting in nicely with Travis Zajac and Jaromir Jagr on the top line.
- A legitimate case can be made that Damon Severson has been the best defenseman on the team so far. Not only does he lead the defense in scoring with three goals and four points, but he's also been the best possession player on the team despite going up against the likes of Steven Stamkos, Alex Ovechkin, Claude Giroux and Joe Thornton on a nightly basis. He's had help, obviously, but a 59% Corsi against that competition through five games is ridiculously impressive.
- The Devils really need to be more disciplined and stay out of the box. Traditionally their P units have always been good, especially under Pete DeBoer, but it's hard to be effective averaging more than five minors a game. That needs to be cleaned up immediately.
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