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| Continued: Devils Looking For New Direction Under Lemaire |
 Langenbrunner and the Devils fought hard against the Isles but still came up short.Frans Nielsen stuck next for the Islanders midway through the second period before Blake Comeau powered in the final goal of the game as the Isles strolled to a 5-1 win. Again, the Devils strongly out-shot their opponents, this time to a tune of 35-14 but found themselves on end of a lopsided defeat. "Seeing that they don't have a lot of chances to win the way things are going, it was painful. I have to tell you, it was painful. That's why we have to change this, and the players will. I know the players will," Lemaire told reporters. The Toronto Maple Leafs looked to capitalize on a team that was down when they entered the Prudential Center. They took a commanding 3-0 lead and kept the Devils off the score sheet until the third period. Hedberg came in relief of Brodeur to begin the period but the damage had already been done. The lone bright spot for New Jersey was Rod Pelley's first goal of the season with Mark Fayne recording his first career assist and Andy Greene taking his assist total to nine on the year. Colby Armstrong's second goal of the night completed 4-1 victory for the Leafs. Once again, the Devils applied more pressure than their opponents by out-shooting Toronto 30-22 but couldn't find their offensive touch. Brodeur commented on the issue, "If it wasn't for the breakdowns that we've given up, I think we've dictated most of games. I thought we were pushing the puck well, we had some good shifts. We got some, not unbelievable offense as far as quality chances, but we spent less time in our zone doing a lot of good, little things. When we stop making huge mistakes and make a couple of saves, we'll be in games." Lemaire put his squad through an intense practice before their Wednesday Prudential Center date with the New York Rangers. "We've got to start to play good, never mind the rivalry. There's no rivalry right now. Two different teams. We've got to start to play good and start to compete and go from there," he told Tom Gulitti of the Bergen Record. This Tuesday, the Devils sent veteran forward Brian Rolston to their AHL affiliate in Albany. Brodeur spoke to Richard Chere of the Newark Star-Ledger, "They've got to make decisions for the future of this hockey club. That's what they decided to do. It doesn't say he's not going to come back. They're trying something. It's unfortunate. It's always difficult when you're close friends with teammates and they have to go through this. Not just them, but their families also." 22-year old right-winger Vladimir Zharkov has been called up from Albany. Mark Fraser is nearing a return and could join the Devils' lineup for Friday's game against Atlanta. Jacob Josefson will visit a specialist next Monday to determine if he's ready to begin practicing with the team. Matt Taormina has had a setback in his recovery and it is unclear when he will begin skating. Doubts have been cast if either Zach Parise will come back this season after knee surgery. His timetable to begin skating has been pushed back to March. There has been no change in Bryce Salvador's status in his recovery from post-concussion syndrome. 35 games into the season, the Devils find themselves 5th place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 9-24-2 and currently hold the poorest record of all NHL teams. Patrik Elias occupies the overall team points lead at 24 and also tops the Devils in assists with 17. Jason Arnott is leading New Jersey goal-scoring at 9 with Ilya Kovalchuk trailing by one goal. Martin Brodeur is one victory ahead of Johan Hedberg with 5 victories in net. The two Devils' net-minders have almost identical goals against averages with Hedberg coming in at 3.07 and Brodeur's is 3.08. Hedberg is slightly ahead in save percentage at 89.7%. |
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