Lignes pour ce soir
A ton to cover for tonight’s #NJDevils lineup:
🔸Holtz returning, Johnsson out.
🔹Smith back in, team returning to regular defense core. Bahl out. 600th NHL game for Smith.
🔸Haula moved off Hughes’ wing.
🔹Tatar-Hischier, Hughes-Bratt duos stay together. New wingers. pic.twitter.com/aDZ1PAMhEu
— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) December 15, 2022
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HeadHighSauce26
18 Comments
When you have the opportunity to play the best shooting prospect in the world not named Bedard in a 4th line shutdown role, you simply have to do it.
Remember when we played Holtz next to Hughes for an entire preseason, as we intended when we drafted him, and then literally never considered going back to it?
Free my man Kevin Bahl!
Shango unchained!
Sad to see Bahl taken out but not surprised, if they’d won with him in he’d have stayed. Mango didn’t really do anything so eh, sure, but Holtz as a 4th liner really makes no sense, he doesn’t fill the role that’s needed there. Hell Smith is more of a 4th liner than Holtz. I see the reasoning for reuniting Zetterlund with the top line though, it hasn’t been as effective since he came off it.
Moving Mercer off of Hughes wing is an unforgivable act
I have a feeling that 4th line is going to get caved in tonight. I hope I’m wrong.
The top 9 forwards and top 4 D are exactly what I want. I would rather Bahl over Smith, and I hate 4th line winger Holtz, but nobody else is suited for that role with Palat and Bastian being out so I guess I’ll just have to live with it (Not that I had any other choice lol)
Guess it’s fair to give Smith and Holtz more chances given the loss Tuesday. But to take Bahl out- a big defenseman with a great perimeter shot- against a physical Philly team feels like the wrong move. Guess we’ll see.
You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me with Smith>Bahl
That 4th line is… something.
Bahl is an NHL player and should be getting way more time.
I’m liking that 2nd line! The 4th line… well, hopefully we don’t see a lot of them tonight. I really don’t understand why Smith continues to have a roster spot at this point. Sunk cost fallacy maybe? Either way, I can’t wait until he’s permanently replaced.
I feel like we’re going to have the same problem we’ve had since Bastian left and for the last handful of games. We won’t be rolling four lines. I guarantee that fourth line is going to get no ice time.
I’m not saying they *should* get lots of ice time, but Lindy seems to just be throwing the same things at the wall in different combinations. If Holtz/Boqvist/Johnsson isn’t working out up here, then maybe its time to give some other prospects a shot?
Glad Haula is out of the top six though.
Yes, Holtz isn’t going to get many (or any) opportunities to clap bombs on the 4th line, but his major detriment has been his poor forecheck and defensive responsibilities (on a team that creates massive opportunity on the forechek and stifles opponents by a 5-man buy-in).
Playing some 4th line minutes with where he focuses on being more responsible will allow him to ulltimately get those 1st/2nd line minutes where he can thrive offensively without being a defensive liability. I think the coaching team is not only trying to be successful now but making sure we remain success into the playoffs and future seasons.
I really do not understand why the Devils have not put Bastian on the injured reserve. He has been out since Nov. 26th.
He is injured enough that he is not even on the ice in practices, so it is not like he will return in a few more days.
Why would they decide not to move him to the IR?
At any rate, his absence really has degraded at least three lines: The 4th BMW line is not as good because there is no replacement that can match what he brought to that line, and the 2nd and 3rd lines because it has caused the Devils to move personnel to replace Bastian’s spot on the 4th line with a domino effect moving personnel on the 3rd and 4th lines.
Four very solid lines (with the 4th lines getting healthy minutes) made the Devils a top 3 team. Without Bastian, and consequent domino effect, the Devils are two good lines and two lines that–are not really producing (and the 4th line now gets very few minutes), which makes them a team that is 4-4 in the 8 games since Bastian was injured (first period of Caps game on Nov. 26th).
Hey 4th line – don’t get scored on.
One thing I’m more than happy to see is Haula out of the top 6.
Top 6 should be reserved for those who can score goals from the slot when the goalie is laying flat on his back.
I like these lines.
Bratt and Hughes could be magic for a long time if Brat stays here.
Tatar has been great with Nico too
Wish the sportsbook would add an option for ice time, because I’ll be taking the under on that 4th line all day. Betting by the 3rd we’re rolling 3 lines
I like Haula at 3d line center (I’d like it a lot more if it were due to Palat being back at top two line wing). I like the scoring potential of Sharan-Hughes-Bratt. That 3rd line is constructed to get a rebound/screen/tip-in type of goal. Make that their plan. Tell the 3rd line to not always try for the extra pass for the perfect shot, but get a body down low and fire on net.
Maybe just have the 4th line play a super conservative style with forwards staying back taking no risks and D me never going forward into offensive play. To win the 4th line must avoid being negative in +/-. That is all that should be asked of them tonight. If they could soak up 9 minutes of ice time and finish at 0 on the +/-….that is what the Devils need and more than good enough.
Really, until Bastian returns, that should be the plan every night for the 4th line.