Devils Serve Up A Nice Piece Of Shit In Pittsburgh: Devils Nation Loses Its Collective Mind

I want to give you all a little preview of what you are about to read. You see this picture above? The one with the best hockey player in the world standing uncovered backdoor? In case you weren't aware, that is actually the goalie's fault. I know, I know. Surprised me too. However, I surveyed the masses and it seems that's the conclusion we have have come to as a fan base.

I am not going to sit here and tell you that Cory Schneider can do no wrong. He has given up his fair share of bad goals this season. He gave up his fair share of bad goals last night, but can we step back from the ledge for 2 minutes? I've seen people saying he is not an NHL starter. I have seen people saying they miss Marty. Holy shit. Hey psychos, Marty is never coming back. The Devils could have dressed Marty in his prime last night and they still would have gotten shellacked. 

Cory was totally responsible for ONE, count it, ONE goal last night. Out of the 5 he was in net for. There were two others that he could, debatably should, have had. They included an absolute snipe from the bottom of the circle and a breakaway off an awful turnover. Another goal was a rocket one timer from Malkin that went bar down quicker than an alcoholic slipping in his own vomit. Unstoppable. The final goal was scored by Sidney Crosby backdoor after he stood alone playing with his dick for 5 minutes. Unstoppable.

I get it. It's easier to pick out on guy to put all the blame on. Especially when that guy was just the beneficiary of a monster contract. However, if you can't see that the Devils problems run way deeper than the goaltender then you should stop watching the sport. The Devils are old and slow. They play a system that caters to their old and slow players. When they get away from playing that system, against a team that is superior in talent like Pittsburgh, things get ugly. The Devils are a team that thrives on puck possession. It's not a luxury, it's a necessity. When they start turning over the puck on blatantly telegraphed cross ice passes you see what you saw last night.

There has been a Devils calling card the last few years that remains constant when they are successful. That is being one of the least penalized teams in the league, and being excellent on the penalty kill when they do end up in the box. Both the concepts have gone by the wayside. The Devils penalty kill is at 66%. They are rapidly approaching 2 power play goals a game given up. That is unheard of. They have also been the culprits of unspeakable bad penalties. Dumb offensive zone penalties and too many men penalties highlight that.

The entire team was bad last night. Calling for the head of the coach is not logical. We are 9 games into the NHL season and the Devils have 10 points. Our coach survived last year and we didn't get out first win until game 7. Should he be on a shorter leash? Yes. However, as of now, the Devils are kind of where I thought they would be. Keep in mind the Devils lack top offensive talent. When players like Cammallerri and Havlat are sidelined it is of extreme detriment to their depth. The Devils defensive core is young. Like, very young. They are going to have their growing pains. In fact, it really hasn't shown it's face until last night. That is a good thing. 

I can sit here and tell you the Devils delivered us an almost unwatchable hockey game last night. That much is true, but let's settle down and let the season unfold before we are calling for anyone's job. You could have had Scotty Bowman and Marty Brodeur in that locker room last night, it wouldn't have made up for everyone else's mental errors. 

How am I the rational fan right now? I'm not used to it, and to be quite honest, I don't like it.