Penalties.  Tonight's theme was penalties, and lots of them.  Most of them were good, legitimate calls. Others were bogus. Calls that any hockey fan would have been upset with. The prime example, of course, was the penalty on David Clarkson in the 2nd period that resulted in a PPG for the Panthers.  Florida won 3-0.
Outside of that call and one or two other questionable ones, the Devils were just plain sloppy. The offense never got going and nothing seemed to click.  Their best scoring opportunity was a Patrik Elias deke in front of the net on the man advantage, which Tomas Vokoun stopped with ease.
The Florida Panthers blocked many shots, but the Devils failed to create shooting lanes and thus could not generate many scoring opportunities.  The defense was not as sharp as I would have liked them to be tonight.
It has been made public that Louie Lam intends to deal Richard Matvichuk because he has not been able to adjust to the new system.  We'll miss you Rich, but it'll benefit the team if we can move one more player and free up enough space to bring in Markov.  With White still on the shelf and many new faces and roles in the Devils defense, a shooting defenseman could provide a boost to a dull Devils offense.  Up next is Atlanta on Saturday night. The Devils are going to have to take advantage of a beatable defense and goaltender and make their way back to .500 by the end of this 9-game exhausting road trip.
Until next time,
Dude Joel

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