By the end of October, the hockey world had to be asking if Brodeur was finally on the downslide of his hall-of-fame career and if the loss of Rafalski and Gomez was finally the straw that broke the camel's back with the gradual departure of talent from the Devils. But alas, this story just never ends that way. Brodeur found his game along the way just like he always has, Sutter got his feet under him and the skaters are playing the same sound Devils game of years past even minus Gomez and Rafalski. So entering Thurday's game in Raleigh, the Canes got a chance to see where their depleted crew stacked up against 1 of the Eastern Conference's current best. The answer is that they are not tall enough in their current form. With Wesley and Whitney still missing to the flu, Cullen and Walker still on the shelf and the forwards past about 6 being 4th line or AHLers, it is the wrong time to try to measure up. Right now feels more like a time where the team needs to grit its teeth and scratch and claw for points until it can get a few players back.

A few notes on the game:

1) Small margin for error. If you ask me, I think the turning points in the game were the 2nd period when Brodeur's 'oops' on Gleason's shot trickled wide of the net and when Ward was beaten from a horrible angle by Elias. This gave New Jersey a lead past the halfway mark of the game.

2) Defending a lead clinic. What followed was a lesson on defending a lead with quitting playing. New Jersey put on a 3rd period clinic in keeping shifts short, being positionally sound and making simple plays to move the puck forward and/or give up the lesser not the bigger shot against Brodeur. They were so effective that you really could not even dial up the desperation offense because you never had the puck on your stick anywhere close near a dangerous area to do so.

3) Craig Adams. I think you can make an argument that he is benefitting as much as anyone from Brookbank's presence. He has strung together a good streak of physical efforts. I have to think that knowing there is another guy around to clean up any big messes rather than ending up in a mismatch bout with no help has to free him up to bring the physical play. He made the small play to get the puck to Seidenberg on the Aucoin goal.

4) Good for Keith. He has paid his dues and has also spent his share of time on the Albany shuttle this season. Good for him finally getting a puck to put on the trophy case.

5) Streak broken. After a long string of great hockey, Staal had his streak snapped last night. He was the forward who wandered aimlessly to the wrong side of the ice rather than tracking players coming behind him and/or covering the front of the net on the 1st goal. And for the 1st time in 3-4 weeks he was pretty quiet offensively. Even the best are not going to do it every single night, so hopefully he bounces back on Saturday.

6) Captain slowing? BrindAmour has mustered only a lone assist for scoring in January and his last goal dates back to December 28. He similarly hit a slow spot about this time last season although I think much of it was because he was playing hurt for much of the 2nd half of last season. More significant than tracking points, he just has not been as dynamic offensively as early in the season. With a bunch of guys on the shelf, the team needs offense from anywhere it can get it.

Saturday presents another tough test against a good Western Conference team in Colorado. It is that time of year to fight and claw for every ugly point you can get to hold to the division lead.

Go Canes!

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