(Sports Network) - When the news arrived in early November that New Jersey's franchise goaltender Martin Brodeur was going to miss three-to-four months of action, many believed that a death knell had sounded for the Devils' 2009 playoff chances.
However, the Devils have somehow been able to thrive without the future Hall of Famer between the pipes. Jersey did struggle at first without Brodeur, losing five of six games following the injury, but the Devils have since won nine of 11 to hush the skeptics.
First and foremost, the Devils have staved off a free-fall without Brodeur thanks to an excellent job in net by Scott Clemmensen. The 31-year-old Clemmensen hadn't seen any action with the Devils this year until Brodeur went down, but is now 8-3-0 with a .919 save percentage and a 2.43 goals against average in 11 starts.
Kevin Weekes had been Brodeur's backup and was given the first crack at filling in for the injured star, but the job is clearly Clemmensen's for the time being.
However, in addition to solid goaltending, the Devils have also offset Brodeur's absence by picking up their offensive effort. The Devils scored 40 goals in their first 16 games of the year for an average of 2.5 goals per game.
In the last 10 games, New Jersey has lit the lamp 42 times for an average of 4.2 goals per game. The stretch includes a six, a seven and an eight-goal outburst.
The Devils started December with a 4-0 record, but were defeated, 4-2, by visiting Buffalo on Saturday.
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New Jersey has 34 points and is currently seventh in the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
FLYERS: GETTING THE POINT
It appears as though the Philadelphia Flyers' early-season struggles are a thing of the past.
The team that lost its first six tests of the 2008-09 campaign is currently one of the hottest clubs in the league and has recorded at least a point in 15 of their last 16 games.
The surge has helped Philadelphia climb its way up the Atlantic Division ladder and the club is now just four points behind the New York Rangers for the division lead.
The Flyers have used their scoring depth to their advantage, just as they did last year when the team boasted six players with 20 goals or more. This season the team already has five players with double digit goal totals. Jeff Carter is leading the way with 21 markers and is second in the NHL only to Buffalo's Thomas Vanek.
Philadelphia has been a scoring threat even without the services of prolific forward Danny Briere, who has played in just nine games this year while battling abdominal and groin injuries. Briere, who had 72 points with the Flyers last year, is expected to be out until at least early January.
The Flyers will wrap a four-game homestand Tuesday against Colorado and will then play eight of their next 10 games on the road.
PENGUINS: COLD IN DECEMBER
After going 9-2-1 in November, the Pittsburgh Penguins haven't been able to get on track this month.
The Pens are just 2-4-1 in December and were handed a 6-3 loss by the rival Flyers in Philadelphia on Saturday. Pittsburgh is now third in the Atlantic Division and two points behind the Flyers.
The good news is that franchise goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is nearing his return from an lower-body injury that has kept him sidelined for almost a month. Fleury last played on November 15, but was available as a backup in Saturday's loss to Philadelphia.
Fleury could start in net when the Pens play their next game Thursday night in Atlanta.
Pittsburgh still has the top-two scorers in the NHL as Evgeni Malkin leads the league with 49 points through Saturday's action and Sidney Crosby is next with 44.
Malkin has recorded a point in six straight games, but Crosby has been held scoreless in two of his last three tests.
RANGERS: ATLANTIC CATCHING UP WITH BLUESHIRTS
The New York Rangers jumped out to a great start to the 2008-09 season, winning their first five games of the season.
The Rangers were the early leaders in the Eastern Conference standings until the Boston Bruins took over that honor. New York has been first in the Atlantic Division for the entire season, but soon that could also change.
New York has 42 points on the season, but is now just four points ahead of Philadelphia for the division lead.
It's not that the Rangers have been playing bad hockey lately, it's simply the fact that the rest of the division is catching up to New York in terms of games played.
The Blueshirts opened the season in Prague, Czech Republic, where they played Tampa Bay in a two-game series as part of the NHL's opening weekend. New York has still played the most games (33) in the league and the rest of the Atlantic gets to pick up points with their games in hand.
New York has lost four of its last seven games, but was able to beat the Carolina Hurricanes in a shootout on Saturday.
Next up for the Rangers is a three-game road trip to California. The swing begins Tuesday in Anaheim and will also feature stops in Los Angeles and San Jose.
ISLANDERS: BASEMENT BLUES ON LONG ISLAND
The Atlantic Division sent four teams to the Eastern Conference playoffs a year ago and if the regular season ended today, the same four teams would be included in the tournament.
The New York Islanders are not one of those teams.
The Isles have compiled just 22 points on the season and are by far the worst team in the Atlantic Division once again. In fact, New York is 12 points behind New Jersey, the next lowest team in the division.
Head coach Scott Gordon wasn't given an impressive roster to work with in his first NHL season as a bench boss and it didn't help when franchise goaltender Rick DiPietro went down to injury early this season.
The Islanders have been outscored, 110-76, in 30 games this season and have frequently been on the wrong end of blowouts this year. That was clearly the case on Thursday when the Pittsburgh Penguins hosted New York and breezed to a 9-2 thrashing of the Isles.
Even worse, New York was unable to rebound from the rout in Pittsburgh, as it was handed a 3-1 loss in Columbus on Saturday. That setback was the sixth straight loss for the Isles, who last won in a November 29 game against Ottawa.
Next up for the Islanders is Tuesday's home test against Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.
