The Devils are living in a strange and backward world, one where they play well and lose, where they play OK and win, and where, strangest of all, older players look young.
The core of this squad is undoubtedly closer to the end of their careers than the beginning, but the ill effects of such a situation is yet to bear its ugly head. On Monday night at Prudential Center, coming off a successful three-game swing through California, the Devils looked good and played a sound game against the Jets — and lost 3-1.
It was 41-year-old Martin Brodeur stout in nets, 41-year-old Jaromir Jagr all over the puck, and 37-year-old Patrik Elias getting the team’s lone goal. And to a man, they neither looked tired nor admitted fatigue in a game in which they produced more chances than they did against any of those West-coast powerhouses — the Kings, Ducks and Sharks, against whom the Devils took two of three.
“I didn’t think it was a big effect,” said Brodeur, who made 19 saves in his second straight start, also quickly disregarding the idea he had any discomfort from taking a shot in the neck the previous game, Saturday’s 2-1 loss to the Sharks. “I thought we worked really hard.”
Added Jagr: “I think I could play two more games if I wanted to. I’ve never had a problem with that. We’re professionals, we train to be good. If you’re fatigued, you should work more. It’s the only way to do it.”
And Elias: “I felt great, just speaking for myself. I don’t think that was an issue.”
So then why, and how, did the Devils (9-10-5) find a way to lose, coming in having gone 6-2-1 in their previous nine games?
“We obviously have to score,” said coach Pete DeBoer, whose team came into the game ranked 27th in the league with an average of 2.08 goals per game. “As nice as it sounds, you’re not going to win a lot of games 1-0 in this league. The good news is that we generated enough chances to score two or three, we just didn’t put them in the back of the net.”
On the other hand, it was the Jets (11-11-4) who played a mostly dull, sitting-back road game and capitalized on their rare opportunities. It was 20-year-old rookie Mark Scheifele who opened the scoring late in the first as he converted on a botched 3-on-2 coverage, and then Winnipeg sniper Patrick Kane getting his seventh of the season 7:16 into the second when he just freewheeled a quick snap shot through traffic, stunning Brodeur to the near side.
“We had a breakdown on the first goal, the other goal was a goal off the faceoff that I should have stopped,” said Brodeur, who has played 10 of the past 14 games. “We had a lot of chances, so you can’t say we didn’t do enough, but we didn’t score the goals that we needed to.”
Soon after Kane’s goal, Elias hit the crossbar on a shorthanded chance, and soon after that, Jagr had a great chance from the right porch that was denied by his Czech compatriot, Ondrej Pavelec, one of the goaltender’s impressive 25 saves.
“I didn’t think we played that poorly,” said Jagr, still leading the team with nine goals and 18 points, and still one goal short of passing his mentor, Mario Lemieux, on the all-time goals list. “We had our chances to win the hockey game.”
Those chances evaporated when Devin Setoguchi tossed one into the empty net in the final minute, yet the chance for success this season, with this aging roster, is far from over.
“They’re in great shape, they take care of themselves,” said DeBoer, whose team starts a home-and-home with the Hurricanes on Wednesday. “I haven’t seen that as being an issue.”