The Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference has never been so exciting. As of right now the New Jersey Devils sit atop both the division and the conference, but as we all know, this could change over night with the Pittsburgh Penguins only one point behind the Devils. The New York Rangers are also playing some of their best hockey of the season, making the task of winning the division that much harder.

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Martin Brodeur showed many signs of slowing down and aging at the beginning of this season. A 14-year veteran, Brodeur played uninspired hockey in the opening month (3-6-0, 3.02 GAA), allowing weak, atypical goals, and more importantly, losing more games than expected. Fortunately for the Devils team and their die-hard fans alike, the "new and seemingly aging" Brodeur did not last for more than six weeks. Since the middle of November, he has returned to the Brodeur that we are more familiar with: the record-breaking (22 wins away from tying Patrik Roy’s

As I stated in an earlier blog, the Devils are in need of a consistent offensive output. Well, their defensemen must have peaked at the post before yesterday's 6-1 rout of the Carolina Hurricanes. Three blueliners scored four goals, including two for Paul Martin and one each for Johnny Oduya and Colin White. Forwards Jay Pandolfo and Dainius Zubrus added the other two goals for the Devils.  

This year's Devils lineup does not sport the usually offensive-minded defensemen that fans have taken for granted through the years,

The Devils are a defensive-minded team not known for scoring many goals. But, then they go out and score six against the LA Kings on Saturday night, basically teasing us Devils fans! How can the one of the lowest scoring offenses in the league keep teasing supporters with these rare yet kind outbursts? I prefer the Devils support Brodeur with three goals per game, than score six or even seven every now and then.

The New Jersey Devils are starting to play like the team that most critics expected. As Jeremy pointed out, in his very accurate piece on the Devils progress so far, they cannot put the puck in the net, as expected. During a stretch spanning November and early December, the Devils seemed almost unbeatable, going 9-0.

Even though the Buffalo Sabres had already scored merely 58 seconds into its third meeting this season with the New Jersey Devils, it was still not enough to defeat one of the hottest teams in the NHL.  The Sabres' Brian Campell sent a bouncing pass to Daniel Paillem, which eluded Devils goalie Martin Brodeur.  Brodeur was clearly stunned by the puck's odd movement.

Less than 10 minutes later, Paille was at it again, as he fooled Brodeur on another bouncing puck from a bad angle to give Buffalo an early 2-0 edge.