New Jersey Devils vs. New York Rangers 10.21.14

Devils defenseman Bryce Salvador (24) defends against Rangers forward Mats Zuccarello (36) Tuesday night at Prudential Center. (Saed Hindash | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

(Saed Hindash)

NEWARK — It is a curious situation. Some Devils fans, so passionate about their team, have given up on captain Bryce Salvador.

The 38-year-old defenseman is minus-3 in six games this season. The Devils’ penalty-killing ranks 28th out of 30 teams (72.4 percent) and Salvador has been on the ice for six of the eight power play goals the team has allowed.

So how badly is Salvador playing?

"I think Sal has given us everything he can," coach Pete DeBoer told NJ Advance Media on Wednesday. "This guy missed most of last year (with injuries). The one thing when he suits up is you know that his heart is in the right place and he's going to give you his best effort.

“We don’t have a lot here of what he brings to the table as a defenseman. We need that in the lineup.”

That is a physical element and a veteran presence.

“It’s a tough job. He doesn’t have a lot of insulation there doing what he does,” DeBoer said. “But he’s a great leader and no one prepares more and no one cares more. When you watch Sal you have to look at the intangibles he brings. I think that is what people have to recognize.”

But many do not. Salvador admits he is not playing as well as he’d like, but he seems surprised at the amount of blame he has endured.

“I think where my game is at is not where I want it to be at,” Salvador admitted. “Each game I’m getting to where I want to be. You’re never happy with your game. You never want to get complacent. You always want to improve on it. From where it’s at now, I know I can still improve on it.”

And the criticism?

“I don’t really get too caught up in social media and stuff like that,” Salvador said. “If that is the case that I’m taking the blame and stuff like that, I have no concerns or issues about taking it. We’ve missed the playoffs the last two years and everyone wants to make sure we’re in, so there is going to be frustration. I’d rather take the blame that comes with being a leader and the captain.”

Does he deserve it?

"Whether it is merited or not, I don't look at it that way. I look at it from where the team is at and how it's doing," Salvador said. "The blame always starts with the leaders. You want to take that blame. Whether it's warranted or not, I try to keep things in perspective and remain pretty level-headed.



"We can easily get on another winning streak. As soon as you win, everything is better."

Salvador said he does not fear for his job.

“Not really. I think that’s why we play. I personally like the responsibility and to be put in those situations. I embrace it,” he said.

Penalty killing is an issue for the Devils and that is one area in which they rely on Salvador.

“We’ve got to get back to what we do best on the PK and that’s being aggressive and being hard to play against. Taking advantage of opportunities to be aggressive,” DeBoer said. “I think what happens is, like different parts of your game, when you get scored on early you lose a little confidence and you tend to sit back a little bit more. And a lot of times that’s totally counterproductive.

“You look around the league and teams have struggled on the power play when (they) lose that confidence to make plays and it doesn’t feel good. It’s hard to get out of that and that’s what we’re dealing with right now. Like I said, we have a great foundation here over the last three years of having a good penalty kill. I’m very comfortable we’re going to fix it.”

The Devils have lost three in a row, but Salvador is optimistic.

"I think the team is fine," Salvador said. "It's professional sports.You want to win every night and when you don't win, you hear about it. That's the way it is with the pressure. We're playing good. We've played some good teams and we've had opportunities to get points. The league is so close.



"Coming from the fans' perspective, you want wins. You can't blame them. We want to win, too. Especially when you have your rivals (the Rangers) in."

The cry from those who've lost faith in Salvador is why not play a young defenseman instead? Seth Helgeson, who has a physical presence, is in Albany (AHL).



"I think we pride ourselves here on playing the guys that we feel can help us win, regardless of their birth certificate or age," DeBoer said. "Coaches at this level, that's what we do. We're not opposed to playing young guys, as you can see by (Adam) Henrique and (Damon) Severson and some of the guys that have come in.



"At the same time, you need a veteran presence in your lineup. All the good teams in the league have that. Even when you read what Edmonton has gone through over the last three or four years. You read some of their quotes in the offseason and I think they haven't had the right veteran mixture with their key young guys. They've made an effort to to go out and fix that. You need that."

Salvador admits he has to play better. And it appears his coach believes he will.

Rich Chere may be reached at rchere@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Ledger_NJDevils. Find NJ.com on Facebook.