The Devils are on the clock

Now that the Buffalo Sabres defied my expectations and beat the New York Islanders 4-3 in a shootout Tuesday night, the New Jersey Devils are now the lone winless team in the National Hockey League.

It's not like the Devils haven't had their opportunities to break into the win column. They went into overtime three times and into a shootout twice before losing. They've blown second period leads four times. And against the Edmonton Oilers Oct. 7, the Devils jumped out to a 3-0 lead before losing 5-4 in a shootout.

For once, you can actually blame the goaltending in New Jersey -- something that has never been said or written during the Martin Brodeur era. Well, Brodeur is now 41 years old and is slowing down, as his 3.19 goals against average and his .878 save percentage can attest to. I'm not saying Brodeur has become a liability between the pipes, but he's not the same brilliant netminder he once was.

Fortunately for the Devils, they have Cory Schneider to split the starts with Brodeur this season and to take over for Brodeur once he retires. Schneider has put up solid numbers thus far (2.65 GAA, .908 save percentage), but he hasn't gotten the offensive support he's needed to post a win yet (the Devils are averaging .33 goals per game in Schneider's starts). Once the Devils start scoring goals for Schneider, the wins should come.

That first win should come fairly soon for the Devils. After visiting the Ottawa Senators Thursday, the Devils host the New York Rangers Saturday. If that first win doesn't come in Canada's capital, it should come Saturday against the Rangers, who are having major goaltending issues between Henrik Lundqvist's weak work and giving up on Martin Biron, who was waived earlier this week.

Of course, I thought it was going to take the Sabres until the end of the month to get their first win, and they got it Tuesday. So, take whatever I say about the Devils with a grain of salt.