His slump coincides with his team’s. It’s not coincidental.
The Devils were expecting far more than eight first-half goals from Jeff Friesen this season, especially after he scored 10 in only 24 playoff games last spring.
When he scored in back-to-back games last month, he seemed to have rediscovered his knack.
Then he stopped. Again.
He had not scored in eight straight games as the Devils visited the Rangers last night, and the Devils did not score more than two regulation goals in that eight-game stretch. They went 2-5-1 during those eight games.
“Every year’s different, and last year’s gone, but I was in a similar situation last year,” Friesen said. “My production wasn’t there, and bang, it turned around and I had the best finish of my career.”
The Devils depend on him for offense. He finished second on the team with 23 goals last season, trailing only Patrik Elias’s 29. He finished second in the league in the playoffs, one behind Jamie Langenbrunner.
And he was acquired with Oleg Tverdovsky in the Petr Sykora trade as Lou Lamoriello broke up the ‘A’ Line for keeps.
Friesen has been dropped to third-line duty and went minus-6 in his last five games. If the Devils could deal him, they probably would. Lamoriello is believed to be shopping for a scorer or a center.
In the meantime, the 27-year-old, who was chosen in 1994’s first round by San Jose, says he can only try to snap out of his slump.
“Work hard and prepare, that’s all you can do,” said Friesen, who scored 31 goals for the Sharks in 1997-98. “Certainly there’s frustration as far as where you want to be production-wise.
“When things are rolling, it’s simple. But when they’re going like this, working hard and preparing are the only two things you can stick to.”
His history has been hot-and-cold. If it holds true, he’s due, because cold is all he’s been this season. If it doesn’t, the Devils will starve for scoring unless Lamoriello acts.
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Scott Stevens sat out his fourth straight game with flu and is unlikely to play against Caps in tomorrow afternoon’s Scott Stevens Day, honoring his NHL record of 1,636 games by a defenseman.
Devils visit Pitt Tuesday . . . Devils were 1-3 in four, lone victory being last road game, a 1-0 shutout in Toronto.