Through 14 games, the New Jersey Devils have shown they're a team with many issues.
Their goaltending has been mediocre and we've already seen a season's worth of defensive lapses. The most problematic issue, however, has been team's offence, or lack thereof.
After being shutout by Philadelphia and Minnesota in back-to-back games over the weekend, the Devils find themselves 13th in the Eastern Conference and own a pathetic 3-7-4 record.
In those 14 games, the team has found twine just 26 times, which equates to 1.85 times per game. Surprisingly, thanks to the Flyers and Rangers, that's only 3rd last in the league.
The Devils have also already been shutout four times. That accounts for almost 30% of the games they've played to date.
Sure, they were missing three top-9 forwards in Patrik Elias, Travis Zajac and Ryane Clowe this weekend. Would they really have made that much of a difference, though? Maybe they'd score one, but even with a healthy lineup the team has struggled to score this season.
Simply put, the Devils offense isn't good enough. I didn't expect it to be this much of an issue, but it is.
Their lines are balanced, but there's no go-to-guy on the team and the closest guys to fit that description, say Jaromir Jagr or Elias, have their best years well behind them. The fact that a 41-year-old leads the team in scoring with three goals and 10 points in 14 games says it all.
The team was OK when they had Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk. Heck, they could get by with even just one of them. Now they have neither and it's killing them.
To have success with this roster, the Devils need to score by committee. Right now, they're not scoring at all.
Luckily for the Devils, the Eastern Conference is terrible and they're only four points out of a playoff spot despite their abysmal start to the season.
That said, if things don't get better, and fast, a perennial contender will watch postseason hockey from home for the third time in four years.
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