Speedy G

This team is not very well constructed up front. Too many left wingers. Not enough centers. Kovalchuk is a bad fit, playing the same position as Parise. They seem to have no plan for scoring goals, except to attack the net and hope to sneak in a rebound. Find some players who can pass the puck and move the goalie side-to-side.

Elias was the worst player on the ice last night. He's gone from bad to worse. If that's all he's got, scratch him. I'd really like to see Parise get some time with Gomez. I hesitate to break up the Zajac line, but maybe a few shifts could get us a goal. I've been hoping to see Jansen, b/c I am tired of seeing my team get pushed around. Rupp was adding nothing, but Clarksen played pretty well last night (except for missing that slam dunk in front ). Do we really need Dowd for PK#2? By my count, the Devils have won three of the 12 periods (#2 in game 1, #1 in game 2, #2 in game 4), plus the overtime. The Senators are pretty obviously the better team. They are faster, deeper, and more skilled. The better team doesn't always win, but if you allow them to dictate tempo and control the puck, they usually do.

Hi, folks. I've been reading here for a while, and finally registered. Been a fan since Sean Burke and the first trip to the playoffs. On to the topic... I've seen three major and obvious problems during these playoffs. 1. The defense corps is weak - there is no #1 defenseman, and thus no top pairing. Remember when we used to match Stevens up against the opposing top line? That's how you stop a top line, not with a set of defensive forwards eating up most of your ice time. Obviously, guys like Stevens don't grow on trees, but we need someone back there we can count on. Losing Niedermayer was a killer. 2. Two of our lines can't score, and one of them gets the most minutes. End the matchup nonsense - the Madden line has been getting worked over throughout the playoffs. How about making the opponent's top line play a little defense for a change? We can still match lines, but not all of the time. Giving all of those minutes to Madden/Pandolfo/Brylin just isn't going to get it done. The best players have to play the most. 3. Elias has awful. I hope (and assume) it's due to injury or illness, but he's been just terrible. I've been wanting to see Parise get some time with Gomez, but it hasn't happened. I expect #3 to correct itself next season. #2 is largely a Devils tradition, but it won't work unless we have the defensemen that allow us to shut teams down, and we are far from having that. #1 is the real problem. Find a #1 defenseman, and things will look a whole lot better.