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Devil_Dane
25 Comments
I have no doubt others will get it going. Its not like they never did it before. Im just enjoying every game cause we havent had this in like 15 years lol
I’m really enjoying watching Jack cook along with the rest of the offensive attack, but holy moly does the defense and goaltending stink.
I feel selfish being disappointed Jack only put up three points last night. What a player.
So Jack and I played golf in my dream last night. He was impressed by my drives.
When should I tell him how he makes me feel?
Well the good news is overall, the team has looked like shit and despite that we’ve managed to stay about .500. The bad news is both the defense and goal tending look bottom 10 in the league which does not bode well for us at all.
Over the last 18 games (start of the playoffs into this regular season) we have given up an average of 3.55 goals a game. We can all agree that over the course of those 18 games the team has under performed as a whole. But man we are getting absolutely no help in net. Are there defensive breakdowns that lead to the opportunities for the other team? Yes of course. But man it would be nice if whoever was in net could step up and make big saves.
Schmid is still very raw and Vanecek seems to play only as well as the team in front of him. There is no way to fix this issue besides making a trade. I expect that we will stay on current trajectory for another 10-20 games before considering making a move, hoping that either the defense or goal tending pick up the quality of play.
As a side note I think Holtz has looked way more comfortable this year. He clearly needs more time to marinate and he won’t hurt us while he figures it out on the third line. His skating looks much better and he hustles on the back check. Needs to figure out how to get himself in position to use his shot when he is off the puck in the offensive zone.
Positives:
– Jack’s great
– Toff good
– 5-on-5 scoring
– Still a good road team
– When the team actually plays, they can overwhelm anyone
Negatives:
– They only play 10-20 minutes a night
– They forget how to pass and defend the rest of the time
– Bratt and Timo aren’t allowed to both just be good at the same time
– Defense (and especially the guys we thought we could count on) looks real bad
– Goaltending would not be any worse if we held on to MackBlack
– Physical teams still kick our ass
– Still not a good home team
Neutrals:
– Nico, Timo, Siegs and Akira
Change the defense pairings up, starting with going to Hamilton – Bahl. They worked well together last year. Siegenthaler and ~~Graves~~ Marino have been the most disappointing. Siegs responds to demotions and benchings (as per the Ranger series), and ~~Graves~~ Marino has just been worse than Smith, but I don’t expect that to last.
Edit: My pairings I’d go with
Bahl – Hamilton
Siegenthaler – Hughes
Smith – Marino
Not worried but we are currently a really, really bad defensive team. We gotta figure it out.
We need another defenseman
I’m real pissed off after last night. I work in the city and go straight to the games from NY so weekday game nights I’m forgoing seeing my 2 year old son for the night. And yet it seems like I put forth more of an effort in catching 2 subway trains and the Path to get there than the team did on a game plan. Or executing that plan.
It irks me to no end to see Jack out there giving his all, slamming his stick on the way off the ice while pretty much everyone else is just gliding around trying not to have to fucking do anything. Seriously!? This kid is special. How can a professional watch the crown jewel of this team try so hard and put out such garbage?
I’m kind of wondering if we have a locker room cancer. But who could it be? Toffoli is new…Timo kind of new but we already know the team loves him so not likely and Lazar seems the same, that leaves Nosek and I hate to say it but Luke Hughes as well (who I want to give a pass but really don’t know enough about.) Also Palat really doesn’t seem to have bought in – maybe he thought he would be a more important piece than he has been? Idk what do you guys think.
They gotta figure out how to play a 60 minute game one of these days. It was an issue last year and it’s looking to be one this year as well. Defense and goaltending have been subpar all around but we definitely shouldn’t overlook how the team only managed 2 SOG in that first period against the slowest team in the league. The whole team was abysmal that period.
Going back to last year, this is a team that has a definite learning curve, from individual periods, to full games, to full weeks or even months of a season. I have no doubt that within the next two weeks we’re going to see the defense solidifying and more complete games being played. My god if we can play every period like last night’s 2nd, we’d never lose again.
You win some, you lose some. Let’s not forget this was the 2nd night of a back to back, the devils are still really good
And now starting on defense #17 Simon Nemic!
The team needs to figure out how to play with urgency when they are not losing. They seem to play hard when they are down a few goals and need to claw back fast or are running out of time in the game, but if they have the lead (which is rare) or the game is tied there is no urgency and they take their foot off the gas which leads to quick goals against. Also 22 shots against an AHL goalie’s first start, not acceptable. Also I think it’s notable that the Caps only took one penalty all night, so the Power Play that has been carrying us didn’t get to work much.
Pretty cool that we were able to get back in the game so quickly, but shitty that we let up in the third. So many of us said we thought we’d have a bit of a learning curve/bumpy start with the losses/new additions, yet so many think the sky is falling when that happens
Is Jack ok after that hit he took late? Hate seeing that
Once again not ready to play at puck drop.
Akira gets yanked
Jack gets smushed into the boards
Not great
Wouldn’t hate if we still had Graves
These games are rollercoasters, I feel like I am watching Lindy’s Dallas Stars
There’s work to do with this team, but it’s all a learning process. We need to sort out the D assignments and plays, to not expose our goalies all the time. We need to figure out how to start a game with our 2nd period intensity. And we need to handle teams that want to be physical like the Caps.
The world is not falling. These are not deep lows. Our goalie pair will be fine. Our D will sort things out. And we will have a great season. Let’s all breathe and relax a bit here.
I know the goalies were left hanging, but sometimes you gotta make a save that you’re not supposed to make. I don’t recall a big one from either G last night.
Anyone have video of jack getting slammed into the boards and no one doing anything ?
FWIW scoring 4 unanswered even strength goals is a step in the right direction if people were worried about suddenly becoming a power play team (oh how fast the night changes).
The slow starts continue to haunt this team. 6 games of starting slow and giving up the first goal needs to end.
Not excusing the defensive breakdowns and goaltending, but it’s still too early to worry about that.
At 4-3 in the 2nd, Devils had some really good opportunities to score again (Bastian and Meier breakaways) and really rattle the Caps, unfortunately the Caps were able to regroup in the 3rd.