After the first several minutes of the game, I’m honestly amazed the Devils gained any points since it seemed like this was going to be a mail-in effort.  Especially when Chris Phillips scored just 2:12 into the game and Ottawa continued to swarm after that, only missing another couple of goals thanks to fortuitous post bounces.  Following another particuarly bad breakdown on defense, coach Pete DeBoer saved the game by using a timeout and giving the team a well-deserved tongue-lashing.  It’s nights like tonight why I don’t get mad at the Peter Positive approach in most of his postgames…he will lay into the team when required, and the team responded.

In fact, the Devils wound up outshooting Ottawa 34-14 in the game although at times it certainly didn’t feel like we were dominating as much as Ottawa shotcounters were upping our shot total.  Again the Devils were perplexed by Big Ben Bishop for much of the game though.  Finally the Devils managed to even the score at  15:13 of the second period when Steve Bernier fanned on a shot, then decided to dish off to Andrei Loiktionov who showed patience and touch, firing a wrister past Bishop despite nearly losing the puck himself.  Loiktionov’s sixth goal gave the Devils a surge of momentum and with us outshoting the Senators 12-3 in the period it looked as if we could ride a tidal wave into the third.

That is, until our second consecutive late second-period meltdown.  This time, it was a team effort with Anton Volchenkov and Adam Larsson both failing to backcheck when Kyle Turris got a breakaway.  Although Martin Brodeur made the initial stop on Turris, bad rebound control led to a second-chance goal by Colin Greening with just seventeen seconds remaining in the period.  I was worried that goal would be a killer, coming after how well we’d played since the first-period timeout.  However, this team buckled down and continued to gut it out, despite not having Ilya Kovalchuk (out 2-4 weeks with a shoulder injury), or Salvador and Gionta, both of whom left at the same point in the game.  As usual there was no word on the severity of their injuries after the game, but the Devils can ill-afford to lose still another forward at this point.

Even though the Devils as a team had the better of play, it took a great individual effort from Marek Zidlicky to tie the game, when he deked his way around a couple of Senators and fired a high wrister past Bishop at 6:05 for his fourth goal of the season.  To their credit, both teams continued to press for the winner instead of settling for the regulation point – and for a while it looked like pond hockey with both teams alternating chances in the third period.  Action remained fast and furious right on into the overtime, and in the final minute both teams had chances to win.  Most painfully, the Devils got the last, best chance to decide the game when Bernier and Adam Henrique found themselves with a two-on-one.  Bernier’s shot rebounded toward Henrique, with an open net staring him in the face…but the puck hopped over Henrique’s stick and he missed.

With that miss went the Devils’ chance to get a deserved second point.  Without Kovalchuk in the shootout, the Devils chances were slim at best for winning, but they didn’t help themselves with questionable shot selection.  Neither Patrik Elias or Henrique tried to deke out the big, but slow Bishop and both were predictably stopped.  Brodeur only allowed Sens captain Daniel Alfredsson to score in the first three shots in between stoping Jakob Silfverberg and Kyle Turris, giving Travis Zajac a chance to keep the Devils in it.  Zajac was the only Devil to attempt a deke on Bishop – and the only one to score, extending the shootout.  First-round pick Mika Zibanejad deked out Brodeur, leaving Loiktionov with a must convert attempt.  Inexplicably, Loiktionov barely moved and fired an easy wrister glove-side that Bishop had no problem stopping to end the shootout.

Full marks to the Devils for their effort in the final 55 minutes, but once again an extra point lost (tonight was the Devils’ sixth OT/SO loss already in 33 games) may prove costly in the end.  At some point you would think the team might start practicing the shootout – though admittedly they didn’t last year when they were terrific at it.  Still, there’s no Kovalchuk or Zach Parise around to save your bacon in the shootout and Brodeur despite allowing only four goals in three games is still finding his way back as evidenced by some shaky rebound control and positioning.  If it wasn’t for all of our shootout points last year, the Devils would have finished eighth in the East, and faced near certain defeat against a Bruins team they always find a way to lose to.

I don’t want to harp on that tonight though, not after an effort worthy of two points.  Lack of finishing of course did the Devils in during regulation as much as it did during the shootout.  Probably much can’t be done about it at this point.  If the Penguins’ trades for a past-their-prime Brenden Morrow and Douglas Murray are any indication, it’s definitely a seller’s market.  And the Devils don’t have much to sell after trading three of this year’s draft picks and losing a first-rounder next year to finish the Kovalchuk contract penalty.  At least help should be on the way from within soon with Danius Zubrus a couple games away, as well as Alexei Ponikarovsky and Henrik Tallinder even closer than that in all likelihood.  Of course, they might be replaced on IR by Salvador and Gionta.  Even David Clarkson missed most of the overtime after getting a cut closed with stitches and breaking his skate blade.

Such is the way of a shortened season.  Not-so-coincidentally the teams on top are for the most part teams that haven’t had to deal with injuries (Boston, Chicago, Anaheim and Pittsburgh – though they have missed Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang for a few games apiece).  Nobody’s going to feel sorry for you in the big city though.  Not when there’s playoff berths on the line.  Hopefully the nearly four-day break can recharge the Devils’ batteries and get them ready for the crucial home stretch.