Entering Tuesday's game having lost four consecutive games, the Devils were desperate to pick up some points and turn things around before falling further down the Eastern Conference standings.
New Jersey did just that on the back of a stellar performance from Cory Schneider, where he stopped 23-24 and made several excellent saves in the 3-1 victory.
10 takeaways:
1. Pete DeBoer elected to go with a struggling Schneider rather than a rested Keith Kinkaid against a good Wild team, and boy did it pay off. The save total wasn't overly high, but you could make a strong case it was Schneider's best performance of the season. He made a handful of highlight saves and was always there to bail the Devils out when they needed him. The defense had a few hiccups and a couple odd-man rushes in the 3rd period, but Schneider stood tall and got the job done. That's why the Devils handed him a long-term contract.
2. Sticking with Schneider, several media members were tweeting that both he and Pete DeBoer were booed when the Devils announced their starting lineups. I find that downright embarrassing in both cases, but more so for booing Schneider. You have a guy who, after a pretty nice string of quality starts, had a couple bad games and you're getting on him 15 games into the season? He's signed for a long, long time, and has generally been very good since becoming a Devil, so it's downright stupid to boo the guy. Supporting a good player going through a tough time will do a lot more than booing him and making him feel worse than he already does. Goodness.
3. Adam Larsson had a couple rough shifts, but once again I thought he played pretty well. He picked up an assist, was throwing his weight around a little bit, and played almost five minutes on a penalty kill unit that was perfect on the night. He's getting better as the season progresses, and seems to be earning the trust of DeBoer.
4. Keeping with the Swedish flavor, for my money Jacob Josefson was one of the best players on the ice. He was very good in possession, used his speed well to help push the pace/generate chances, and made a great play with the puck prior to New Jersey's 1st goal. I've been impressed with his play of late.
5. Steve Bernier isn't the most popular player with fans and rarely gets credit even when deserving, so I'll give him some. He's posted positive possession numbers in all five games he's played this season, and has provided some nice spark on the 4th line. If he continues playing like this I think he's a better option on the 4th line than Jordin Tootoo, who was a healthy scratch vs Minnesota.
6. The power play struggled mightily, but the Devils were a perfect 4/4 on the penalty kill against the Wild. Minnesota's PP has been terrible this year, but the Devils have to be happy with their effort down a man.
7. Mike Cammalleri was a beast once again. He scored on his only shot on goal, but he set up his linemates for several chances and also hit the cross bar twice himself. The top line is so, so, so much more dynamic with Cammalleri alongside Travis Zajac and Jaromir Jagr as opposed to Dainius Zubrus, Tuomo Ruutu or anyone else who has seen time in that role.
8. The goal was an empty netter, but Zajac now has three points in his last two games. Credit to him for some good defensive work in the final minute to give himself an opportunity to put the game away.
9. Kudos to Seth Helgeson for picking up his 1st career point in his 1st game. He had a couple hiccups defensively and didn't play much, but when you record a point, a few hits and your team wins it's safe to label this a successful NHL debut.
10. Up next for the Devils: a date with the Capitals in Washington. They're starting to figure things out over there and Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom & co. are always dangerous so they'll need to be good. The good news for New Jersey is Adam Henrique, and perhaps others, may be ready to return for that game.
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