Things to improve upon.

Lou needs to read this. After paying close attention to the play of the Sabres, Ducks, Canucks, rangers, senators, and, of course, the Devils, I noticed exactly what's wrong with us. In short, we suck. But we wouldn't suck if the following would be improved:

The offense. Some of our offense (re: Parise, Zajac, Gionta and Clarkson) has been pretty good. If only they could score. Their shots aren't the best, and they're not getting on the rebounds quickly enough (I finally noticed them!). The problem isn't lack of rebounds, but the fact that we can't seem to get to them in time. By the time we get there, the D cleared it, or Emery covered.

The defense. With the exception of Matvichuk, Martin, and Greene, it sucks. Rafalski's mind hasn't been with him, White has anger issues and Lukowich hasn't been bad, but he hasn't been as good as usual. Matvichuk blocks anything he can, Martin's great at breaking up plays (namely odd man rushes), and Greene's been good all around. I think Oduya would be a better choice than White or Rafalski right now.

The lack of heart. Minus the seven that aren't really having offensive or defensive problems and Marty, no one has any heart. Elias, our captain, is playing with less heart than imaginable. I think you all know by now that I'm always the first one to defend him, unless he's just that bad. None of them seem to care if they make it to round three or not.

The lack of pressure. Boy, are they lacking a lot of things, but pressure has to be the most important. If they would pressure Emery, even a little, he would crack like an egg. They need to shoot what ever they can at him, and get a goal (preferably more) early in the game, just as a blow to his confidence. He's not like Marty. He's not as good, and he doesn't shrug off those goals like he does.

The lines. The line choices just suck. Not so much the lines themselves, just how much they're played. Was it just me, or was the Zajac line playing better against the Spezza line the the Madden line was? They had the puck in their zone, and they were creating some scoring chances. The Madden line was creating scoring chances too, just not for us. That line is being over played. Save them for if we make it to round three and have to play the Sabres. Let ZZPop get the job done and be done with it. Oh yeah, put Clarkson with Parise and Zajac, stick Langenbrunner on the first line with Gomez and Gionta, and put Elias where ever there's an opening. That would play out well.


Things that aren't that wretched:

The rookies. Clarkson, Greene, and Zajac have been some of the best players in this series, and they're only rookies. If I was Rafalski or Elias, I'd be a little embarrassed that rookies were out playing me.

Parise and Gionta. Scoring or not, they're still amazing. They both hit (and hard, which is pretty cool, since they're both kind of small), shoot, and do anything possible to score.

Marty. After the very first period of this series, he's been a God on skates. That's all I have to say about him.

So, the end. And someone try to get this to Lou.