Harvie's Inferno: What Happened?

It is official - the Devils stink. 

The level of play seen at the beginning of the season has dropped off tremendously. 

David Clarkson's hot hand that kicked off the season like a lightning bolt for the winger has cooled off tremendously. 

Travis Zajac has been mostly non-existent for the past few weeks, and Adam Henrique continues to attempt to skate through center ice with his head down. 

What happened? I honestly don't know. Has the shorten season with the tight schedule taken its toll on New Jersey's team? Perhaps. Has the loss of Ilya Kovalchuk to injury decimated the team offensively? There is no doubt. 

The one thing that is blatantly obvious is that the team just doesn't have the drive or jump it had at the beginning of the season. Instead of jumping on loose pucks 100 percent of the time, there are times when the team sits back and waits for their opponents to take the puck. When coming over the boards for a shift, players lollygag out in spurts instead of bursting onto the ice and into the play. This all needs to change. It would also be nice for someone to start checking hard.

There is a passion that is missing from the team. And with just nine games remaining, the Devils need to win each and every game in regulation to have a realistic chance of getting into the playoffs. There are no gimmes anymore. There is no wiggle room. This is bootstrap time. Time to put on the big boy pants and start putting pucks in the net. 

I have faith in this team. It has been waning as of recently with the shoddy play, but I have faith they can turn this around, and what better way to do that than by beating the Boston Bruins tomorrow night. 

Let's go Devils?