The New Jersey Devils have been historically bad in the shootout this season and that trend continued on Wednesday night.

Despite the Montreal Canadiens' best efforts to give the Devils the game in regulation, they choked up two 3rd period leads en route to the shootout loss.

Rookie forward Reid Boucher scored the Devils' lone shootout goal last night, and on the season, in what was his first attempt as an NHLer.

That wasn't enough, though, as Travis Zajac and Patrik Elias failed to score while Cory Schneider allowed goals on both shots he faced.

It hasn't been a good week for the Devils as they came away with just one point in the home-and-home with Montreal when they just as easily could have had three or four points.

10 notes:

1. Reid Boucher's performance last night took some of the sting away from what was a tough loss as he showed glimpses of what is to come. Besides the timing being off between Boucher, Elias and Steve Bernier, which is natural considering they've never played together, there really isn't anything to complain about from Boucher's game last night. He wasn't afraid to battle against bigger bodies in the corners and he showed a lot of creativity with the puck. His assist on Michael Ryder's goal was pretty nice and we all saw the display of skill he showed in the shootout. He finished with an assist, a shootout goal, a couple shots and a plus-2 rating. He was also a 76.5% possession player which was 2nd among all skaters. It wasn't a bad debut for No. 15.

2. Sticking with Boucher, a lot of people have asked what I think will happen with him. My take is as long as he's playing well and producing, he'll stick around. That said, he won't be rushed. If he struggles to adapt and looks out of place he'll be sent back to Albany for more development time. The Devils know they may have a gem here and I don't think they want to risk ruining him.

3. Andy Greene was an absolute beast last night and his performance earned him quite a bit of praise from TSN analyst Ray Ferraro. As Ferraro pointed out, Greene's zone exits were near perfect all night and he ate up a ton of minutes. Greene finished the game with 26:51 including over five minutes out of a possible six while short handed. How this guy doesn't get more credit for what he does on a nightly basis is beyond me. It's almost stunning to think that Greene didn't even get an invite from Team USA to play in the World Championships after the Devils missed the playoffs. Hopefully he gets his due and makes Team USA's Olympic team.

4. Another Devils defenseman was talked up a fair bit by the TSN crew last night and that's Eric Gelinas. He continues to be very impressive at both ends of the ice and he'll only get better as he gets more comfortable at the NHL level.

He did have one bad lapse in the defensive zone last night, though, and it led directly to a Damien Brunner penalty after Gelinas turned it over. It seemed to me Gelinas tried to skate the puck out of the defensive himself while pressured and off balance instead of banking it off the boards or trying to shovel it to a forward on the wall. I'm sure Pete DeBoer and the coaching staff will have him clean that up.

5. Michael Ryder probably played his best game of the season last night. He scored for the second straight game and added an assist as well. He also tied a season-high with five shots and looked like the guy the Devils paid to get. Maybe New Jersey should play Montreal every game.

6. I thought Andrei Loktionov was very, very good against Montreal. He was all over the puck and the Devils seemed to hem the Canadiens in their own zone almost every time he was on the ice. He scored and added an assist in what was his first multi-point game of the season.

7. Can we talk for a moment about what Marek Zidlicky was doing on that shot that blasted Patrik Elias on the power play last night? Elias was legitimately pissed off and rightfully so. No. 26 was clearly in the shooting lane and Zidlicky blasted a shot that was way too high to do anything with. Not only that, but it was probably going wide if it didn't decapitate Elias. You're on the power play and there's traffic in front. Keep the puck down.

8. It might be time to bring in Pete Harrold. Anton Volchenkov looks completely lost in the defensive zone and probably makes the worst outlet pass in pro hockey. He either throws it in the forward's feet, blasts it 30 yards ahead of him or rifles it off the glass and back to the opposing team. It's good to have him out there on the penalty kill because he can just stand in the shooting lane and let pucks hit him, but at this point in his career that's about all he can do. If DeBoer wants to keep playing Volchenkov, he should buy him a compass so he can find his way around the ice.

9. Cory Schneider looked human for the first time in a while last night. Guessing that means Martin Brodeur will get the nod in goal Friday against Detroit. Either way it likely doesn't matter as the Devils are entering a back-to-back situation and I'm sure DeBoer will split starts. They host Detroit on Friday and will square off with the Rangers at MSG on Saturday. Two big games.

10. Like any team the Devils have their weaknesses, but they're 8-5-2 over their last 15 games and should probably have at least another win or two in there. As long as they keep doing what they're doing they should finish in playoff position. They do play in a poor division and the Maple Leafs are in the midst of a free fall, so it's not all bad in Jersey. Relax, folks.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Be sure to follow Todd on Twitter @ToddCordell!

Email: [email protected]