Devils Ups and Downs returns again! This time, with an added feature which I borrowed from our awesome pals at Silver Seven (who run a similar feature). They've highlighted the most and least impressive players and singled them out.
Biggest Gains- Dainius Zubrus
Over the first month of the season, Zubrus only had 2 points- both coming in the win over the LA Kings. In November, recorded three times as many points with 6 points in the six games, and four in the last three games. Not only has he been providing offense, but he's been doing the little things well. He's creating space for the skill guys, he's creating traffic in front of the net and he's using his size effectively. He's also been killing penalties as well. Even with Elias having a hot hand in November, Zubrus has probably been the best player on the team in November so far.
Biggest Losses- Zach Parise
On the flip side of the coin, the Captain hasn't done much for the team in terms of offense this week. He's pointless and has gone four games without a goal. He's obviously due, but he could use some help from his linemates, who haven't been producing recently. The Devils do need more offense from their captain, the question is can he bring it?
Goalies |
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Martin Brodeur |
His play of late has been better. If the team would bother to show up when he’s playing that would be great. |
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Johan Hedberg |
It’s not that moose hasn’t been bad or anything, it’s that he’s just done what he does best- go out there and make the stops. |
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Defense |
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Mark Fayne |
He did a good job shutting Ovechkin down in the home and home. He also had an assist in Tuesday’s victory over Carolina. If he can provide both consistent offense and D, the Devils may see some more success. |
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Mark Fraser |
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After being waived he’s back to being a healthy scratch. |
Andy Greene |
His defense has been good- the only problem is that as one of the team’s better offensive defensemen, his lack of recent offense (pointless in his last 6) isn't great. |
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Adam Larsson |
Scored his first career NHL goal and is starting to adapt to the North American game. There's also the potential that he outshines another impressive teen, Tyler Seguin in tonight's matchup. |
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Bryce Salvador |
Played much better this week than he did last week. He also served as an alternate captain in Ilya Kovalchuk's absence. |
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Henrik Tallinder |
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Hasn't done alot- but the fact that he hasn't been noticeable in a bad way has been pretty good. |
Anton Volchenkov |
He's getting the puck on net quite a bit. His defense hasn't been noticeably better, but he's gotta avoid taking dumb penalties like he did Saturday. |
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Forwards |
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Eric Boulton |
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Still nursing that hand injury. At this point, Boulton returning might actually be a good thing seeing as DeBoer won't need to insert Janssen into the lineup |
Ryan Carter |
He's proven that he's more than a 4th liner. He's providing energy and a reliable 3rd line center. I don't know why anyone would've waived him... #thankyoutallon |
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David Clarkson |
He's back down to the 3rd line, but his Heroics Saturday was enough to keep him from trending downwards |
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Patrik Elias |
Scoring at a point per game and is in the midst of a 7 game point streak (2G, 6A). He could be more consistent at the dot however. |
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Adam Henrique |
He can hold his ground with the big guns, but he's made more mistakes this week than positive contributions. |
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Cam Janssen |
The only reason he's not going down is because he's reached a point where he just can't get any more useless. Although I did enjoy the hit on the ref |
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Jacob Josefson |
Still out until at least February. Nothing new has come up on the Josefson front. |
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Ilya Kovalchuk |
Missed last week due to a groin injury, although TG reports he may suit up Tuesday. The team could use his presence on the PP however- they do look pretty lost. |
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Brad Mills |
Positive- he's not bad at faceoffs. Negative- he's not good at a lot of other stuff. His faceoff skills might mean that he's got potential to stay with the team when Zajac and Josefson return. |
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Nick Palmieri |
He was the beneficiary of David Clarkson's return to the 3rd line, but he did absolutely nothing with the opportunity to play |
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Zach Parise |
See: biggest Losses |
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Rod Pelley |
Back to the Pressbox! |
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Petr Sykora |
More noticeable this week in terms of offense. Could however try scoring goals without the help of set plays. |
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Mattias Tedenby |
He shows flashes of excitement and skill, but doesn't seem able to fully capitalize. Off to a horrendous start. |
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Travis Zajac |
Again, TG reports that Zajac is skating in Winnipeg, but has yet to return to New Jersey to skate with the team. Still expected out until Christmas, but because he's skating again there might be a chance he recovers ahead of schedule. |
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Vladimir Zharkov |
Called up and didn't do much. Could however be a more useful player than Pelley. | |
Dainius Zubrus |
See: Biggest Gains |