The Devils were playing in a back-to-back situation, but after consecutive losses to the St. Louis Blues you kind of expected a strong effort against Detroit.
That was not the case, though, as New Jersey came out completely flat and somehow only trailed 2-1 after being outshot 20-5 in the first 30 minutes.
Their effort in the final frame were better than the first 40, but when a team is down 4-1 it's entirely expected that they'll carry play as teams tend to sit back with a lead.
They're still only .5 points out of a divisional playoff spot and it's hardly time to write off the season, but the Devils need to end this skid and keep things manageable before they free fall down the Eastern Conference standings.
Injuries to Adam Henrique, Mike Cammalleri, Martin Havlat and co. obviously have a big impact on the team's ability to win games and fill the net as they rely on depth not star power to be effective, but they still need to be better than what we've seen of late.
Dainius Zubrus has one point in 13 games since opening night. Damien Brunner has one point in his last seven. Travis Zajac is pointless in five. Patrik Elias has two points in his last six, and Jaromir Jagr has two in five.
Again, injuries to a few key players has forced Pete DeBoer to shake up the lines, but those players are looked at as key cogs of the team and none of them are producing nearly as much offense as they should be.
Blame Cory Schneider all you want, but it's tough to win games when half of your roster is injured, and the other half isn't producing.
The Devils are off until they face the Bruins on Monday, and if they're not much better than they were in Detroit their losing skid will soon hit four.
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