GDT: 3/20/18 @ San Jose Sharks

[Bleedred]

You really have to be utterly insane to suggest that goaltending isn’t the number one reason why we’re going miss the playoffs. Insane.

It's the most important position in the game and it's been enough to cost teams a playoff spot and get average to mediocre teams into the playoffs. That's the different between us and Florida right now. They're not really better than us, it's just the goaltending they've had is better than the goaltending we've had that's for damn sure.

And a few years ago, people were blaming Marty and Hedberg (and it certainly was valid, don't get me wrong) for costing us a playoff spot, yet we also had a bottom 3 offense those years. Now we have a top 20 (maybe even a top 16-17?) offense, we're barely in the lower half of the league in goals scored, but our goals against also isn't that good (it's not terrible either) and it's not like we allow the most shots in the league to the point where poor goaltending isn't a factor since we allow a zillion shots to begin with.

 

[Call Me Al]

honestly not sure how anyone can defend cory at this point

 

[Bleedred]

According to Jim's logic a goalie who gives up 4 goals every night and wins 55% of his games would be superior to a goalie who gives up 2 every night but only wins 48% of his games.

Before Kinkaid's 9-3 run he was 10-7-2 and had given up 3 or more goals 13 times. So please don't tell me Kinkaid has been "just fine" all year.

Both goaltenders (and Lack) have been terrible at different times this season. Even Lack flushed two points down the drain against Boston. I'm not gonna say the one soft goal against Minnesota cost us when he played, but 2 soft goals in one goal (not including empty netter) loss against Boston? Cory against Winnipeg and Vegas. That game against Edmonton in November, where Cory let in two bad regulation goals and we lost in OT. That Ottawa game last month was a disaster in net. We lost 5-3 with multiple bad goals allowed. That home game against Calgary was another disaster in net for Keith. That was a 3-2 loss, maybe 4-2 with an empty netter.

Those games hurt more than blowout losses, as you're never really in a blowout game, but we were in all those games and multiple stoppable goals went in.

 

[Richer's Ghost]

Pepperidge Farms remembers...

It was Marty getting this treatment when Cory was in the Kinkaid role.

What goes around comes around.

 

[Zezel22]

The Flyers, Panthers and Jackets have all come back from 2 goal; deficits in the last week to win games. They are all playing gritty, clutch, hockey. They are better right now.

The schedule is not luck. These teams all went west earlier in the year. They all played Pittsburgh, Tampa. And while they were doing it, the Devils were playing the teams they are playing now. And the Devils didn't get enough out of those games.

I am a Devils fan who hopes like heck that they find a way in. Mathematically its very possible. And if you told me in September they would be a point up in the last wildcard on March 21 regardless of any games in hand or anything I would have been thrilled and beyond excited. It just doesn't feel good right now.

 

[Bleedred]

If we end up missing by a few points, it will either be goaltending or getting jobbed by officiating decisions in 3 or 4 games that will be an easy culprit.

Add in getting demolished by both Florida and Columbus (who will both make the playoffs if we miss) in the season series against each.

 

[Its a Trap]

Sorry but seeing as our beat reporters are literally flaming hot garbage, where can I find post game quotes? Were there any?

 

[Devils Dominion]

I posted it early in the first that if the Devils didn't raise their game a few notches they would get run out of the rink.

They were not ready to compete last night, plain and simple .

And they were not in Anaheim either.

Maybe they see the out of town scoreboard and get spooked, who knows, bottom line is if they don't raise their compete level they will be eliminated from contention sooner than later.

The other teams are playing with urgency and desperation.

 

[Bleedred]

Pepperidge Farms remembers...

It was Marty getting this treatment when Cory was in the Kinkaid role.

What goes around comes around.

It's almost like Cory is cursed for how much we wanted him to play over Marty that year haha. Or Marty put a voodoo doctor spell on him for being brought in before he retired. I was thinking that earlier.

 

[Bleedred]

The Flyers, Panthers and Jackets have all come back from 2 goal; deficits in the last week to win games. They are all playing gritty, clutch, hockey. They are better right now.

The schedule is not luck. These teams all went west earlier in the year. They all played Pittsburgh, Tampa. And while they were doing it, the Devils were playing the teams they are playing now. And the Devils didn't get enough out of those games.

I am a Devils fan who hopes like heck that they find a way in. Mathematically its very possible. And if you told me in September they would be a point up in the last wildcard on March 21 regardless of any games in hand or anything I would have been thrilled and beyond excited. It just doesn't feel good right now.

Well I think the way that we got here (one point up in the last wild card spot on March 21st) is a bigger letdown than the fact that we're here. The context of it all is pretty sad. First place in the Metro at New Year's? Okay, we weren't ever good enough to win the Metro. I never thought we were gonna win the Metro when were in first at New Year's, but I thought the playoffs were like 99% sure by then. Then like 9 points up at the end of February? Playoffs seemed 99.5% sure at that point, even though we had a lousy record for the previous two months.

How we got here or only ended up here at this point, it's like a bad kick to the groin.

 

[NJDevs26]

Sorry but seeing as our beat reporters are literally flaming hot garbage, where can I find post game quotes? Were there any?

Devils YT clips are pretty much all you’re gonna get in that vein

 

[devilsblood]

I think it's a bit too late in the season for that considering our position in the standings now relative to where we've been for 72/73 games.

We were down 4-1 already. We were not likely going to turn it around, and whether we have faith or not in Cory, we will have to play him again this season.

So if the idea of pulling Cory last night was in hopes of helping our playoff chances, I think it was short sighted.

 

[Bleedred]

The app is all trash for me, but I thought the Fire & Ice was a little more filled in compared to the very miniscule coverage by the Gross substitutes after he left.

The app keeps freezing up though, but the regular site worked fine for me.

I'm not sure if the new permanent beat writer is there yet, or if she hasn't started yet and it's Andy Vasquez or one of those substitutes again.

 

[devilsblood]

According to Jim's logic a goalie who gives up 4 goals every night and wins 55% of his games would be superior to a goalie who gives up 2 every night but only wins 48% of his games.

Before Kinkaid's 9-3 run he was 10-7-2 and had given up 3 or more goals 13 times. So please don't tell me Kinkaid has been "just fine" all year.

For a backup he's been fine.

 

[Its a Trap]

Zajac and Greene need to be thrown away as quickly as possible this offseason. They combine for 10 million against the cap and total 34 points with a -20. They have to go. Loosing them will be addition by subtraction especially considering they're the "leadership" on the team.

 

[Its a Trap]

Devils YT clips are pretty much all you’re gonna get in that vein

That is so pathetic I can't even fathom.

 

[MadDevil]

We were down 4-1 already. We were not likely going to turn it around, and whether we have faith or not in Cory, we will have to play him again this season.

So if the idea of pulling Cory last night was in hopes of helping our playoff chances, I think it was short sighted.

The idea of pulling Cory was probably that he already has no confidence and leaving him in to give up even more goals isn't likely to help. I think his issues go beyond just "playing through it".

 

[GameSeven]

Pepperidge Farms remembers...

It was Marty getting this treatment when Cory was in the Kinkaid role.

What goes around comes around.

I'm not meaning this to defend Cory (avatar aside as this is an artifact of the latter Marty/Cory time period).

But this is not the same case. Cory's '13-'14 stats were .921/1.97! His Quality Start % from 2010-2014 was 65.8%

This is the equivalent of Keith's hot streak for 2 full seasons.

That said, Cory today is a shell of this player. I can't argue for playing him at this point, he seems mentally shot. I wanted badly to see him pull it together for yesterday's start. Even though it looked like a loss no matter what. The team mustered only two goals again, the seventh time in his eleven straight losses that he's gotten two or fewer goals of support.

But there is a difference between losing such a game and losing badly. Cory looks pretty shell-shocked out there. I feel like we will see him return to a more reasonable form, but too little too late to help down the run, I'm afraid. Last night would have been the time to do that, and he looked shakier than ever. Like he'd not yet bottomed out.

Sadly, the composition of this team is struggling with a combination of tough scheduling, and a difficulty matching the intensity of the playoff ramp-up. Almost *all* of our scoring these days is coming off the rush. We get pushed around in the offensive zone and our passing is not precise and creative enough to use our speed to sustain an attack. Look at our recent 5-on-3 debacles... Teams that can stifle our attack and play a disciplined game cause us fits and Cory appears mentally compromised for these important matchups.

 

[devilsblood]

The idea of pulling Cory was probably that he already has no confidence and leaving him in to give up even more goals isn't likely to help. I think his issues go beyond just "playing through it".

But pulling him there and having him watch from the bench yet again is good for his confidence? I know it's not clear cut, but I think I would have kept him in.

 

[devilsblood]

Pepperidge Farms remembers...

It was Marty getting this treatment when Cory was in the Kinkaid role.

What goes around comes around.

Except Marty was winning games while Cory was not. So Marty in a way is Kinkaid in this comparison.

 

[MadDevil]

But pulling him there and having him watch from the bench yet again is good for his confidence? I know it's not clear cut, but I think I would have kept him in.

Honestly, I don't know if anything can be good for his confidence anymore this season. I think he's just shot for now and needs a mental (and physical) break from everything. Unfortunately the way things are going he may be getting that break soon in the form of another missed playoffs.

 

[Devils Dominion]

They prob would have lost both games anyways due to low compete level but Hynes screwed up the goalie decisions royally as a lot of us predicted.

You don't play Kink back to back for starters, plus Cory has good stats vs Anaheim and Kink had good stats vs SJ.

Hynes once again went against the grain and it hurt the team's chances.

 

[Call Me Al]

it's also not the same as marty vs. cory at all because we traded a 9th overall pick for cory to be the guy and marty was at the end of his career. but marty was marty and like was mentioned was winning games. it was a complicated situation but marty was open about not wanting to sit on the bench when he came to the rink. marty kept winning so there was no reason to bench him.

this situation is entirely because cory's results. he's not winning games. he doesn't deserve to play because he is being outplayed by his backup and has been for 3 months now. it's not even a question

 

[devilsblood]

Zajac and Greene need to be thrown away as quickly as possible this offseason. They combine for 10 million against the cap and total 34 points with a -20. They have to go. Loosing them will be addition by subtraction especially considering they're the "leadership" on the team.

I think both guys are just playing above their roles. Zajac was good as the 3rd C. Greene (almost maybe) literally get's the toughest minutes in the league.

They def get paid too much(which should be further warning to giving guys contracts that extend into their 30's), but I think they can still be effective players if deployed right.

 

[Call Me Al]

honestly though these last two games feel like a dagger that could end it. they look mentally defeated and by the time they play friday they could be on the outside of the playoff bubble for the first time all season.