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DeBoer: I’m not going stand here and tell you I’m not worried

Johan Hedberg

RALEIGH, NC - MARCH 9: Chris Terry #58 of the Carolina Hurricanes and Marek Zidlicky #2 of the New Jersey Devils watch a puck deflect off the blocker of Johan Hedberg #1 during an NHL game on March 9, 2013 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Karl DeBlaker/NHLI via Getty Images)

After another crushing defeat on Saturday, New Jersey Devils coach Pete DeBoer was left looking for answers.

“I’m not going to kid you and stand here and tell you I’m not worried,” DeBoer said, according to the Bergen Record’s Tom Gulitti.

“We’ve got to find a way and I know it’s in that dressing room and we’ve just got to get everyone to have a good performance on the same night.”

The Devils have lost nine of their last 11 games, putting themselves in a rather deep hole after a strong start to the season.

“Too deep,” DeBoer said in the Record’s report. “We didn’t quit. That’s the silver lining, but it doesn’t help you in the standings.”

One player easy to put the blame on is goaltender Johan Hedberg, who has been pulled in two of his last three starts. However, DeBoer downplayed his decision to yank him after allowing five goals on 18 shots Saturday night.

“When you look at our schedule we’ve got back-to-back (games). It made no sense to keep Heddy in there,” DeBoer said. “He’s got to play again tomorrow. It’s our fifth game this week, so it was a decision more about energy than anything.”

Devils forward Ilya Kovalchuk also stood up for Hedberg, saying the team has given up too many rebounds.

“They just walk in and Moose he can just stop so much,” Kovalchuk said.

“It’s a team effort out there,” Elias added. “It’s not only on goalies. It’s not only on D. It’s not only on forwards.

“It’s everyone that is out there and a lot of the times the mistakes happen in the offensive zone, in the neutral zone by the forwards.”

They will have a chance to shake off this loss against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday.