Okay, so I have been recapping games and not giving my opinion.  Let me assure you that I am still an opinionated son-of-a-gun.  I just like to recap games from a professional standpoint, but I will ensure everyone that I am here to stay.  Well, Patrik Elias might join me as well… If he can continue performing like a beast in Pittsburgh.  After notching an assist on Zach Parise’s power-play goal, the Devils first goal on the man advantage since who the hell knows, he manned up in the third period with the game tied.

He scored the game-winning goal, his second GWG of the season.  Well, Elias has three goals this season and two of them were scored against Atlanta on Oct. 13… What boggles my mind is that he cannot score anymore, he cannot produce either.  He has nine points this season in 17 games after only tallying 21 goals in 75 games last season… I was hearing rumors of pulling an Alexei Yashin (a former talented Islanders forward who sucked and was consequently relegated to the scrubs line) and demoting Elias to the fourth line…

Maybe, he read the papers too, well… personally, I don’t care about rumors, newspapers, I care about production from a player earning $7.5 million this season, one of the highest paid hockey players… he should be averaging a point per game at least, if not more than that… let’s not even focus on his dreadful -6 +/-…

Brian Gionta also awoke up from his coma, restless nights apparently… he’s only making $4 million this season so maybe he only has to produce half of Elias right? Wrong biotches- he scored a Devils-record 48 goals two seasons ago and maybe should have retired… he would have gone out a winner, that’s for sure… since his 48 goals in 82 games- he’s scored 29 goals in the last 79 games over two seasons… the league hasn’t changed that much in two years… personally, I don’t know what has been Gio’s problem scoring… understandably, players have career years (Elias had 96 points in 2000-2001), but his production has been reduced to that of a second or third-line forward…

Martin Brodeur is 5-8-1, has allowed 38 goals during his 14 starts this season.  Am I going to sit here and blame the game’s second greatest goaltender for his rather un-Brodeur-like numbers? No, the Devils cannot score on offense and have problems defending in front of the net, among other factors which I will not discuss. The Devils offense has been shutout four times this season when he was in goal... as I offer a small chart of their inconsistent play

Need I say more about this team’s offensive slump, which started out 0-3, then 2-0, then 0-3, then 2-0, then 1-2-1 in last four games… the team’s only winning streak occurred when the Devils outscored their opponents 5-4 and 6-5…

Right now, the Devils have a home game against the rival Rangers, a chance to prove themselves in front of, I hope, a sell-out crowd, where businessmen are enjoying a feast at the Ice Lounge and fans like myself are using binoculars in their cramped upper-deck seats…  

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