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So how does the Devils offensive machine work? If the Devils were a car, Zach Parise surely would be the axle, showing the rare ability to control the puck and keep balance despite an underwhelming size differential. Parise was his usual speedy self Monday against a much bigger Flyers team. Parise zips around, with his head on a swivel, understanding full well that opposing defenses focus on him. This allows him to find his teammates who have space and time. Ask Travis Zajac and Niklas Bergfors, two beneficiaries of playing with this superstar; both have put up spectacular numbers already and are headed for 60-70 point seasons.

Then there is the captain, Jamie Langenbrunner, whose selfless play is commendable. Once heading the first line with Parise and Gionta, now he is put in the position of making the second line work. With journeyman Danius Zubrus and bruiser-turned-dynamic-scorer Clarkson, Langenbrunner has helped both teammates blossom and turned their line into a viable threat.

What Clarkson is accomplishing this season deserves league-wide recognition. Not since his days in the OHL, has he peaked offensively like this. Perhaps to a fault, Clarkson was type-cast into a grinder/bruiser, entering the league for the Devils in 2006, and seldom finding himself on the score sheet. Not this season, as Clarkson may shatter his previous point total high before the halfway point. He has shown a fleetness and soft hands that few knew he possessed, and Coach Jacques Lemaire deserves all the credit for getting it out of him.

When you lose two defensemen as important as Johnny Oduya and Paul Martin, someone will be asked to fill those big skates. Well, Andy Greene has been that man, stepping in and showing a real talent for getting his name not only on the score sheet, but also in front of snipers' shots. Drawing comparisons to Devils' great Scott Niedermayer, Greene has shown an ability to move the puck through the neutral zone that has been essential in the Devils' success.

Still, all of this would add up to an average team if it were not for the man behind the pipes. From night to night different players score, but the controlled variable in this equation is Brodeur. A goaltender with a laundry list of accomplishments — four Vezinas, three Stanley Cups, and the most wins and shutouts of all time — Brodeur is consistently spectacular.

The most pertinent point is that he is as sharp as ever. Even at age 37, Brodeur is showing once again that he is in top form to help the Devils and Team Canada win championships. The worry with Brodeur, like with a pitcher approaching 40, is that now his amount of time on the game field needs to be rationed. One can only hope the Devils will play Brodeur 70 times maximum this season, and allow him to be fresh for the playoffs. With the break for the Olympics and the strong possibility of him starting, Brodeur's fatigue will be a big issue going down the stretch. But for now, he is showing no worse for wear, using his stick and his flexibility to keep the puck from crossing the line and each night being rock solid.

All of these are contributing factors to a Devils team that seems rejuvenated. Last year they finished strong, despite lapses throughout the season. The difference between this season and the last few is that in the NHL, to have a Stanley Cup contender you need to really excel in a particular area. Last year the Penguins were spectacular in offense. With an NHL more geared towards offense, rule changes encourage a more aggressive, dynamic, flashy style of play that is fan friendly and exciting. The Devils the past few years had scored more goals, playing more opportunistically, perhaps trying to change with the NHL. But this year, Lamoriello has gone the other way, disbanding players who did not fit his system, and centering around a style of play which won him the '95 cup.

In 1995, when the Devils defeated the heavily favorite Red Wings, it was not because they were putting up 5-6 goals a night; it was because they were the best defensive team in the league and were able to successfully neutralize the talents of Detroit. With Lamoriello's hiring of Lemaire, the team is once again seeking a strategy of patience, a strategy that insists on hard forechecking by its forwards, and even harder backchecking. When defense is the primary concern, the team learns how to play and act in close games (a strategy extremely beneficial come playoff time). It would seem that Lamoriello is setting the learning curve again, and like always, we fans are trying to keep up with the star pupil.