Devils better With or Without Brodeur????

Wasn't Martin Brodeur supposed to be the missing piece to the puzzle for the New Jersey Devils?

The game's greatest goalie was like the hero riding back on his white horse after a long injury to lead what was already one of the best teams to even greater heights. The script even had something of a Hollywood-like quality to it because Brodeur notched a shutout after missing 50 games, then set a new career record for wins and closed in on the shutout mark a couple of weeks later.


Coach Brent Sutter knows his team needs to turn it around or 'you'll be done in a week once the playoffs start.' (Getty Images)
You could have been forgiven for thinking the Devils had destiny written all over them. Yet in the aftermath of all the hoopla surrounding Brodeur, New Jersey has come unglued and gone from a team that was a plausible Stanley Cup finalist only a month ago to one that looks like first-round fodder now.

New Jersey did start well after Brodeur returned, going 9-1 in his first 10 starts. The last win actually came after Brodeur set his record, but the Devils have since gone through a noticeable letdown and dropped six in a row. It is their longest losing streak since the turn of the century. It's been ugly, too, with New Jersey getting outscored 22-7 and dominated on both special teams.

Brodeur certainly can't be pinned with all the blame. He has put up decent numbers during the skid while being peppered with nearly 37 shots a night. But the future Hall of Famer hasn't been a game changer of late either for a team that desperately needs one.

He had a chance Wednesday against Pittsburgh in what had to be a statement game for the Devils, who were read the riot act by coach Brent Sutter after losing their previous outing to the Rangers. It was an unusual diatribe for the normally laid-back Sutter, but it had little effect on the Devils, who came out flat against the Penguins and were effectively beaten by the time the first period was over.

Brodeur didn't help matters, allowing two soft early goals. He ended up allowing six goals to the Pittsburgh shooters in an uninspiring performance that underlined many of the team's weaknesses exposed during the skid.

"Two big games we had against rivals and to just not be able to compete with them is not the right way to go into the last part of the season," Brodeur told reporters after the game. "This definitely hits pretty hard."

Especially since it threatens to ruin a season in which New Jersey often seemed motivated to prove wrong the critics who felt they were goners without Brodeur. The Devils actually became one of the surprise teams, winning with a potent attack that overcame the flaws of a soft blue line and a small group of forwards. The irony was, the surge really began when Brodeur went down.