Scott Clemmensen making a save in last night’s shootout, which the Devils wound up losing anyway (NJ.com)

Last night may have provided the perfect symbolism for two ships passing in the night.  While the Islanders completed a home-and-home sweep of the Penguins that lifted a previously hapless team into first place, the Devils continue to stumble every time they try to surge back into playoff position.  New Jersey’s entire season – and really the entirety of their last three years under Pete DeBoer can be encapsulated in the last three games.  There was a no-show performance in Winnipeg where the Jets’ speed once again ran us off the ice, followed by a good shutout win in Edmonton which combined with the first 57 minutes in Calgary provided enough of an illusion to think this team was about to make a run…then BAM yet another blown multi-goal lead, yet another shootout loss and once again the Devils are running in place.

Some people might think three points out of six are good enough heading into Vancouver, especially when you compare it to our lost weekend last year where we got only one point the entire western Canada swing…however, settling for mediocrity is part of the problem around here.  As Martin Brodeur accurately said last year, the mentality of hanging around .500 and hoping to make a run has infected this entire organization, as evidenced by a couple of DeBoer quotes from this week which really bothered me.  After the dreadful no-show in Winnipeg on Tuesday, DeBoer actually had the nerve to suggest we played ‘a good road first period’.  How anyone – much less the head coach – could ever suggest that we had a good period by any standard when we had four shots on goal in twenty minutes (outshot 9-4) and took back-to-back penalties is mind-boggling.  Why you would even want to sugar-coat a game where the Devils were outshot 23-9 in the first two periods, were horrible even-strength and showed little sign of life until Patrik Elias’s power play goal in the third period is troubling in itself.

Not to mention even after admitting last night’s (latest) blown lead fiasco in Calgary was a game that should have been won, DeBoer showed he was out of touch with reality with the following snippet after being asked whether blown leads have become a pattern:

“You guys are always looking for patterns,” DeBoer said. “There’s no pattern. This team (Calgary) has come back on lots of teams before. We’ve got some young guys at key positions and we’re learning how to win games.”

First of all, there IS a pattern of blown leads (and many times multi-goal ones at that) no matter how much Pete wants to plug his ears and deny reality or get defensive against the media for merely pointing out what everyone with two eyes can see.  When you win only half your games after scoring first – 6-4-2 when getting the first goal – that’s a clear sign of a problem.  And the ‘young guys in key positions’ excuse is a canard, particularly last night.  Last time I checked, Travis Zajac and Jaromir Jagr weren’t young guys but both had horrid turnovers that led to goals, with Jagr’s mistake particularly egregious giving away the puck in the middle of the ice causing a breakout that led to the Flames’ tying goal with just seconds remaining.  Andy Greene isn’t a ‘young’ guy and he was a -3 last night, on the ice for every single goal against.  Bryce Salvador isn’t a young guy and the PK was awful with him in the lineup, but now has been sensational with Adam Larsson (a young guy) taking his spot on the PK; last night’s goal against excepted the team killed off its first 20 or so penalties with the new lineup.  To even cite the fact we were playing young guys is missing the boat that the vets aren’t pulling their weight on.  Of course selective accountability has been part of Pete’s problems the last few years.

Being content with mediocrity has even extended to the broadcast booth, which was more concerned over celebrating the fact Elias finally ended a seventeen-game goal drought in Winnipeg after a scoring change than with dissecting the actual bad performance by the team in general.  I love Patty but I could give a hoot about that goal at that point in time.  Maybe during the game I would have been happy for him but not after a dreadful 3-1 loss was in the books.  Elias’s whole season’s been poor to this point with just two goals, eleven points and a -6 in 21 games and he’s the first to admit that, evidenced by a very revealing quote the other day when he was asked about the booing goaltender Cory Schneider got toward the end of the Devils’ last homestand (before he ended his own goal drought) Elias said something to the effect of ‘they shouldn’t be booing him…they should be booing me’.  While it’s nice one of the big names is willing to take accountability there should be more of it demanded from the top, coming from above Patty, Cory or any of the other players.  Settling for the same old nonsense for a third straight year is inexcusable.

I’m not even going to bother recapping much of what’s happened this week…what’s the point?  I’ve already spent way too much time on this team in the last 48 hours, after vowing to watch part of the game last night and tape the rest to watch in the morning of course I got sucked in once the Devils took three seperate two-goal leads.  And then of course after the latest blown lead fiasco and shootout loss I only got half a night’s worth of sleep.  I’m not going to make that mistake again Tuesday with a West Coast weeknight start.  At least Cory finally got ‘some’ rest himself last night as the Devils picked the Calgary game to finally start a backup goaltender, and with it being Scott Clemmensen poor Keith Kinkaid’s left to stew once again in the AHL though his game hasn’t come back since being demoted to Albany.  Ironically Clemmensen was good enough for the most part despite the four goals against and looking shaky at times, it still should have been a winning effort before the Devils collapsed and gave up two empty-net goals in the final 2:30 including Curtis Glencross tying the game with just five seconds remaining.  Goalies, defense and forwards may change but blown leads are still a fact of life with Pete DeBoer teams.