After a 5 goal outburst on Wednesday, the Devils were brought back to their harsh reality by the Rangers tonight at Prudential Center. The Devils have gotten shutout for the 2nd time in 3 games and fall to 0-5-1 at home thus year. So, the Devils quest to get their 1st home win of the year will have to wait again until Wednesday against Buffalo. Brandon Dubinsky continued his dominance of the Devils with two goals and Brian Boyle had a late 2nd period goal, which sealed the deal for the Rangers.
The Kovalchuk, Zajac and Langenbrunner unit played probably their worst game of the year and had little to no scoring chances. Their best line tonight was the 4th line, which consisted of Stephen Gionta, Brad Mills and Alexander Vasyunov. Kovalchuk took a dumb penalty early in the 3rd, which took the life out of the Devils crowd. Johan Hedberg looked good tonight despite giving up three goals, but the Rangers stood by their identity and just kept everything to the outside and blocked shots. Volchenkov had a strong game along with Urbom, while Henrik Tallinder had a rough outing. Tallinder failed to defend against Dubinsky on the first Ranger goal.
Now the questions will rise again on John MacLean's job security. The Devils will have a much needed four days off to sort all their home problems out. It is very likely that Brian Rolston will play next Wednesday as he is expected to practice Sunday or Monday, the Devils will have off tomorrow unless MacLean wants to send a message. These struggles are getting frustrating as they are getting too far behind and digging themselves into deeper holes. Maybe a coaching change could shake somethings up, because John MacLean is not building on any wins and successes the team has had. The Prudential Center has become a save percentage improvement mecca so far this season as the Devils have not scored more than 2 goals since their 3 goals on opening night against Dallas in the overtime loss.
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