The best way to describe the Devils effort on Friday night was uninspiring or rather unintelligent. That's how head coach Brent Sutter referred to his team during the postgame press conference. "At times we're not playing with any intelligence," Sutter said, paraphrasing from his entire speech. "The team (Devils) played one period with urgency."

In my opinion, the Devils did not generate momentum from the start, generating few, if any scoring chances and allowing Washington to harass goaltender Martin Brodeur all night, as the Capitals earned the 4-0 shutout. Mike Green, Victor Kozlov, Alexander Semin and Donald Brashear tallied for Washington as the Devils lost for the second consecutive game. The Devils had not lost in regulation since Feb. 8, a span of nine games. Their nine-game point streak, 7-0-2, also last night. It was the first time New Jersey did not score in a contest since Dec. 18.

Attendance:

Although weekdays numbers are usually in the 13-14,000 range, weekend contests have generated much inest among Devils fans, including the 16,580 (0ver 94 perce) who filled the Prudential Center on Friday.If the Devils executives learn from this season, they will schedule more weekend dates at the Rock and more weekday games on the road. It's a fairly simple observation on my part. It dates back to the Devils second-ever contest at the new building, in which half of the arena seemed full, according to Devils beat writer Tom Gulitti. Understandably, a team cannot schedule every home game on Friday and Saturday. Nevertheless, they need to fix the problem. 

Score Please:

The Devils have not scored since Brian Gionta's second-period goal at 1:50 of the Carolina game on Tuesday night. That's 98:10 of ice time. The burden falls on Patrik Elias, as usual, and Zach Parise, who failed on his breakaway chance in the second.

Newcomers:

Bryce Salvador seemed a bit nervous in his Devils debut. Sutter situated him on the team's third defensive pairing alongside Andy Greene, who was the best player on the ice for New Jersey.

On the other hand, two of the Capitals new guys played exceptionally well in their first games. Christobal Huet blockedall 18 he shots he faced, earning his third shutout of the season and second career win over the Devils. Sergei Fedorov assisted on the Capitals first of two power play goals at 11:27 of the middle frame..

Flat:

Patrik Elias... Not only am I going to rip you apart, but your effort in February was nothing like your performance tonight. He produced 15 points and a plus 13 before failing to clear the puck in a crucial play that led to the Capitals first goal. Elias and the rest of the Devils seemed tired, out of breathe and flat despite not having played since Tuesday.

No Time to Recover:

Now, they have less than 24 hours to prepare for second-place Montreal, on the road no less. The Habs defeated Buffalo last night 6-2 and are riding a two-game winning streak. Their power play is 5-7 during the mini run and has scored in 12 of the last 14 games, all in February, but their penalty kill has struggled, killing off merely 77 percent (47-61) during the past month.

In fact, Montreal ranks first overall in power play efficiency (25.2 %) but 24th in penalty killing.

Power-less:

The Devils finished 0-3 on the man advantage while the Capitals solved both of their power plays, going 2-2 (really 2-3 since the Devils killed off the first half of Elias double-minor high sticking in the third period).

Face-Offs:

Capitals led 27-20, but don't get fooled by the difference. On the Caps power play, they won all 5 draws and 67 percent of their shorthanded situations. The Devils barely won the battle on even strength, earning 17-33 faceoffs.

NJ: Elias won 2 of 10, while Madden won 8 of 13. Madden is a beast. No surprises there.
WASH: Fedorov won 8 of 13, Gordon won 8 of 12, Backstrom suffered, only winning 1 of 7 faceoffs.

Shots on Goal:

During their three power plays, the Devils mustered a total of four shots on Huet. The Caps manufactured seven shots on Brodeur in three odd-man situations.

Overall Shots on Goal:

Washington led 29-18. In the first period, the Devils led 6-4 before the Capitals recaptured the lead with a 12-10 edge in the second. Yet, as we've seen before, the Devils lost the shot battle in the decisive third period 13-2. After resting for two full days, New Jersey took 2 whole shots on net. I know this won't sit well with Sutter.

They played well and we couldn't match what they were bringing," Brodeur said. "They buried us in the third."

In order to bounce back,, the Devils need to pretend this game never happened.

"We need to forget about it, we're going to a great atmosphere in Montreal," Brodeur said.

Salvador echoed a similar message.

"It's a good thing we play tomorrow, (we can) come back and rectify the situation," Salvador said.

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