http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im1ISZJEqkM

Something was clearly in the air last night, and not just the foot plus of snow that was dumped on many parts of New Jersey.  Against a St. Louis team that came into Newark with the third best record and best goal differential in the league, the Devils put together one of their most dominant performances in a long time – scoring twice within the first three minutes and never looking back in a shocking 7-1 rout.  Perhaps it wasn’t a huge surprise the Devils played a great game with a fully healthy lineup, as Patrik Elias was in his third game back from injury and Damien Brunner returned from a monthlong stay on IR last night with dramatic success, earning the game’s first star with a goal and two assists.  Despite the fact the Devils still can’t seem to get back into a playoff position they have played better on the whole with a 9-3-4 record in their last sixteen games, though that gets marred by losses to Buffalo and Phoenix within the last couple weeks.

For Cory Schnieder, seeing a whole seven goals up on the board (after getting just 37 goals of support in his first 23 starts) must have made him feel the way Bubba’s mom did in the movie Forrest Gump when Forrest sent her half the profits from his shrimping company and she fainted.  Schnieder has played well though, particularly since the Christmas break with just eight goals allowed in seven starts and an unreal .960 save percentage.  His overall numbers have improved to 8-9-7 with a 1.88 GAA and .926 save percentage.  And if you want to know how Schnieder has a losing record with splits like that, just refer back to the first part of this paragraph.  Even the wins have finally picked up for Cory though, with a 4-1-2 record in those seven post-holiday starts, and getting the call for five of the last seven games has again put him in the lead jockeying for position to be #1 in the Devils’ net.

While the Devils’ future in net is getting brighter by the day, the Blues’ need for a proven commodity there is intensifying after both Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott allowed multiple goals last night, with the crowd mocking Halak in the third period after Eric Gelinas scored from center ice – see above – for the Devils’ seventh and final goal of the evening.  St. Louis and Philly continue to prove year after year that it’s not always easy finding a true #1, even if you can seemingly plug in guys and get numbers.  Whoever was in goal, scoring seven and rolling four solid lines is certainly encouraging though.  Perhaps it was a sign this game would break the mold of tense, low-scoring affairs when Mark Fayne of all people opened the scoring firing a 5-MPH wrist shot through traffic that deflected past Elliott at 2:27.  Fayne’s goal was helped in no small part by the cycling caused by the newly formed Zubrus-Elias-Brunner line, which was a smashing success last night contributing to two of the seven goals.  With Clowe-Henrique-Ryder a fixture, rookie Reid Boucher has at least temporarily been moved out of purgatory and in a prime spot with Travis Zajac and Jaromir Jagr.  And last but not least, the fourth line of CBGB is now actually a fourth line again.  Each line did their part last night.

Just twenty-four seconds after Fayne’s goal, Ryan Carter scored off a rebound to give the Devils a two-goal lead that looked like a mistake when I first turned the game on after a few minutes.  One of my only two moments of consternation last night came when Alex Steen of the Blues scored off a rebound to cut the Devils’ lead to 2-1 at 8:47 but just a minute and forty seconds later, the Devils restored their two-goal lead when a Boucher centering pass deflected off Jagr and past Elliott for the Czech legend’s sixteenth goal of the season.  It would be the last shot Elliott saw last night, as he was pulled for Halak – who would fare little better against a suddenly rolling Devils team.  New Jersey’s power play started cranking it up in the second period, with Marek Zidlicky cleverly faking a shot, then dishing off to Ryan Clowe, who fired in a wrister from the side of the net just sixty-three seconds into the second period.

For all the talk about Clowe’s contract, concussion issues and depressed offensive numbers last year, he’s certainly been a force since his return – both physically and on the scoreboard.  If the rout wasn’t on before, it surely was now after Clowe made it 4-1.  Gelinas combined with Henrique for the fifth goal, again on the power play when Gelinas slipped a pass through a defender to Henrique, who beat Halak one-on-one in front of the net.  My second moment of consternation came however when Henrique missed the third period, reportedly after blocking a shot earlier in the second.  Hopefully it’s not serious as it would be nice to see a fully healthy lineup until the Olympic break at least.  Especially with Henrique’s play finally picking up after being paired with Clowe and Michael Ryder.

Brunner scored the Devils’ third straight power play goal at 1:18 of the third, getting a just reward for his return to the lineup after Elias found him wide open to Halak’s right for a one-timer.  Gelinas’s goal set off razzing and chants of ‘Cory’s Better!’ from the 2000 hearty souls that braved the elements to come.  At least they got a two-and-a half hour highlight reel of a game out of it, and Gelinas himself played a strong game finally getting semi-regular minutes again with the return to a 6-D, 12-forward lineup.  Jon Merrill was the odd man out last night, and with defenseman Peter Harrold set to return soon, something’s gotta give with seven defensemen currently on the roster and Adam Larsson still lurking down in Albany.  With the Olympics looming, making sure Merrill and Larsson are able to go down to the AHL during the break and get more playing time is also a consideration since you’re ineligible to be sent down if you play 15 or more of the last 20 games before the break.

Of primary concern right now is the standings though, with the Devils still sitting a point out of the playoffs behind a surging Blue Jackets team that’s won seven in a row and has two games in hand.  Coach Pete DeBoer even referenced that fact when pressed on the fact he hasn’t officially named a Stadium Series goalie for Sunday yet, although he allowed ‘sentimentality’ will be a factor and I’d still be shocked if Martin Brodeur wasn’t in net for that game.  Even if Schnieder plays Friday and wins another crucial game against the Caps before the outdoor show.  It’s a shame that last night’s game was marred by the snow that kept nearly 10000 fans from attending, and only 2000 did make it.  All were invited to sit in the lower bowl from early in the game, and everyone who didn’t attend got the ability to turn their tickets in for vouchers to a later game at least.