Devils' Travis Zajac: Tallies second career hat trick in vain

Zajac scored all three of New Jersey's goals -- one on the power play -- in Thursday's overtime loss to the Blackhawks.

Analysis:

With the second hat trick of his career, Zajac now owns a respectable 18 points in 23 games -- a far better scoring rate than anything he's managed to achieve in recent years. Once upon a time (that is, the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons), Zajac posted consecutive 60-plus-point campaigns, but his reputation in fantasy circles these days is that of a guy who skates enormous minutes and produces marginal point totals. The veteran pivot's doing a good job trying to erase that perception, but he'll need to maintain this degree of success awhile longer yet.