Mike Cammalleri Red Hot Since Returning to Devils Lineup

Mike Cammalleri (Photo by Catalina Fragoso – Double G Media)

Mike Cammalleri’s return has energized a New Jersey Devils team that was missing a spark after losing him and fellow left wing Taylor Hall earlier in the month.

While Hall left the team after tearing his meniscus, Cammalleri left to be by his 9-year-old daughters side who had to under-go surgery.  With his little girl doing well, he returned to the team this past Wednesday and has recorded eight points since then.  While Cammy might not maintain this fiery pace, he has shown how important he is to the dynamic of the team.

Not only is he a solid producer, but Cammy is a fan favorite.  Friday night, the 15,000+ fans at the Rock were more engaged in the game than in most of their previous home starts and it had a lot to do with the solid performance of him and linemate Travis Zajac.

While Zajac has always seemed to be a favorite of the Devils’ faithful throughout the last decade, these last few games he and Cammy seem to give the fans play-off hope early in the season.  Even though they lost in overtime to the Red Wings, the fans were invested in the game until the puck shot by Mike Green passed Corey Schneider with 1:42 left in the game.

This is the kind of play the fans have been waiting for, it has a been a few years since they have really thought of the postseason as a possibility and it has shown.  However, with players like Cammalleri and Zajac grinding out each game that restored hope is palpable especially when you add Hall, Pavel Zacha and Schneider to the mix.  And while the Devils’ seem to favor overtime games lately (7 of the last 13 went into OT) they need to find a way to get more than one point to keep the fan base faithful.