GDT: #65 - 3/6/15 - Columbus Blue Jackets @ New Jersey Devils 7:00 PM ET

[Bleedred]

Power play cost them this game Jmac. 1 out of 5 is a joke.

And it's almost completely on the set up.

It's not just that the PP was bad tonight, it was insanely bad in the game in Columbus too.

I haven't seen the PP look as bad as it did this year any other time than these last two games against Columbus.

You would almost think it was a conspiracy with Foligno to help his son's team win, though he doesn't actually coach the power play.

When you see they're bottom 8 in the league in penalty killing, it's really puzzling why our PP looks like swamp ass against them. Our PK is down there too, but it's been above average since about week 4 or 5 of the season. Maybe their's is just that bad because of a really bad or long slump at some other point. Not sure.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Elias has never been that careless inside the offensive blueline... that was just a dumb move that had absolutely nothing at all to do with being to slow. He tried a blind cross ice pass two feet inside the blue line...what the hell does that have to do with" slow"?

It means he's not catching the guy to make up for his mistake. I agree he's usually not THAT careless, but he has definitely pulled that blind drop pass all over the ice for the majority of his career.

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

Tough loss. I thought Cammy tied it up before the buzzer (false hope) and Devils had some chances where they were beaten more by the post than the goalie. The young defense looked good, and our power play was pathetic, per usual. Turnovers and not showing up on time for the game cost the Devils the game. Lou summed it up well in his presser in my opinion.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

While the setup up of the PP and 4 forwards is dumb, I think what hurts this PP more than anything is lack of urgency and focus, especially on early PPs. It's like they view it as a break from 5 on 5 where they can just cruise around for 2 minutes. There is very little effort on puck battles, no urgency to get from one end of the ice to the other, no urgency to get the puck on net, poor effort in front of the net to get to rebounds, and little hustle to get to the pucks that are cleared down the ice. If they fought as hard on the PP as they do 5 on 5, it would be a lot better IMO.

 

[NJDevs26]

Oh I agree. Believe me I'm glad to see the kids staning out in a really good way since Pete left, and I think you can directly attribute there success to the end of his reign. It's just funny that ultimately this is exactly the kind of game we would all be pissed at under Pete and we're actually taking positives out of it now. It's a good thing really. Just shows how much the vibe has changed for the better since Pete was canned.

It's also the fact we pretty much know these games are meaningless now too, so signs are all we're looking for

I mean if there was ANY doubt, any holdovers on the impossible dream train - tonight ended it. Especially with the way they showed up the first twenty minutes, we didn't deserve to win. I knew the comeback would come up short when Larsson hit the post.

It was just a total wtf game all around. Elias playing like a bum and Harrold looking like Tarasenko...I haven't seen anything that ludicrous since the movie Space Jam where the aliens took all the best basketball players' talents and made them jabronis

Merrill himself had a bad turnover early just before the first goal but then flicked a switch and was dominant the rest of the game. I do think him and Severson are good for each other, especially with Severson's penchant for swashbuckling play while Merrill can be the solid counterpoint.

 

[NJDevs26]

It's not just that the PP was bad tonight, it was insanely bad in the game in Columbus too.

I haven't seen the PP look as bad as it did this year any other time than these last two games against Columbus.

You would almost think it was a conspiracy with Foligno to help his son's team win, though he doesn't actually coach the power play.

When you see they're bottom 8 in the league in penalty killing, it's really puzzling why our PP looks like swamp ass against them. Our PK is down there too, but it's been above average since about week 4 or 5 of the season. Maybe their's is just that bad because of a really bad or long slump at some other point. Not sure.

The PP where they actually scored was one of the best PP's of the year, while the other PP's were eye-sore type bad. It's almost like you need people to basically execute perfectly with no margin of error on this PP, otherwise you get an easy clear with thirty seconds to get it back in the zone, another easy clear and the boos start.

 

[AfroThunder396]

We really need a veteran mobile D to solidify all three pairings. Fraser/Harrold is an enormous red flag and a huge weakness to our D-corps.

That being said, his move was pretty sick tonight. But I still hate his guts and he's still an atrocious player.

 

[Emperoreddy]

It's also the fact we pretty much know these games are meaningless now too, so signs are all we're looking for

I mean if there was ANY doubt, any holdovers on the impossible dream train - tonight ended it. Especially with the way they showed up the first twenty minutes, we didn't deserve to win. I knew the comeback would come up short when Larsson hit the post.

It was just a total wtf game all around. Elias playing like a bum and Harrold looking like Tarasenko...I haven't seen anything that ludicrous since the movie Space Jam where the aliens took all the best basketball players' talents and made them jabronis

Merrill himself had a bad turnover early just before the first goal but then flicked a switch and was dominant the rest of the game. I do think him and Severson are good for each other, especially with Severson's penchant for swashbuckling play while Merrill can be the solid counterpoint.

Couple plays where Severson maybe went to far but Merrill covered him pretty well.

None of the kids were perfect. (Lars even made a play or two that was questionable early on) but overall they all still had strong games.

You can really see the glimpses of true high level play these kids are capiable of and that is extremely exciting.

I mean they already are a pretty good defensive unit but you can see we aren't near the ceiling yet.

 

[Bleedred]

We really need a veteran mobile D to solidify all three pairings. Fraser/Harrold is an enormous red flag and a huge weakness to our D-corps.

That being said, his move was pretty sick tonight. But I still hate his guts and he's still an atrocious player.

I think I like him better as a forward than a defenseman.

Still would rather he goes back to D and we get POS Fraser outta there.

Still maintain that Harrold is the lesser of two evils among the two of them. Fraser is terrible.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

I think I like him better as a forward than a defenseman.

Still would rather he goes back to D and we get POS Fraser outta there.

Still maintain that Harrold is the lesser of two evils among the two of them. Fraser is terrible.

Fraser makes Harrold look like Bobby Orr gone Super Saiyan. Actually, no, that's underestimating how terrible Fraser is. I don't even know how to express that level of terribleness. I don't know if it's actually possible.

 

[NJDevs26]

It's kind of sad that Harrold's looked better as a forward than Ryder has all year, or Havlat has for most of it. If we really get out of the race the next couple weeks Lou should just cut the trash twins and start playing a couple different forwards from Albany since we know Harrold isn't REALLY going to be a top six winger next year

 

[Emperoreddy]

Would rather Hulk up then Frasier but Lou won't play 5 kids on D.

 

[R8Devs]

I want to see Hrabrenka

 

[Emperoreddy]

I want to see Hrabrenka

I do too but guess we will have to wait until camp next year.

Fully expect him, hulk and Scarlett to be battling for a spot.

 

[AfroThunder396]

Would rather Hulk up then Frasier but Lou won't play 5 kids on D.

I want to see Hrabrenka

Valid points.

Both are placeholders for Santini though.

 

[NJD Kula]

Mike Green + Andy Greene + kids = Cup

 

[Emperoreddy]

Valid points.

Both are placeholders for Santini though.

Maybe not. I mean I expect Santini to become a mainstay (barring we don't trade him) but im not counting out these Albany kids yet. There is still talent there.

 

[NJDevs26]

Would rather Hulk up then Frasier but Lou won't play 5 kids on D.

I'm not saying I disagree that Lou feels that way but I get tired of that reasoning cause kid or not, Hegelson's just better than what we've seen from Fraser. He ran into a guy today yipeee, other than that he's useless. Harrold's better than Fraser too but now we need him up front

 

[Richer's Ghost]

That Harrold dangle and snipe... Can't get over it. Lol.

Trolling Ryder and Havlat so hard.

 

[Emperoreddy]

That Harrold dangle and snipe... Can't get over it. Lol.

Trolling Ryder and Havlat so hard.��

Good. Harrold to his credit plays his heart out even if he isn't that talented

Troll the floaters right out of here.

 

[Unknown Caller]

Good. Harrold to his credit plays his heart out even if he isn't that talented

Troll the floaters right out of here.

Yep, you have to admire the heart that Harrold has. I'd carry him as the 7th defenseman any day of the week. He quietly goes about his business and steps up when called upon.

 

[Sascha Goc]

Tonight I had two fans in my section wearing Devil Jerseys who ****ing stood up and cheered when Columbus scored and sat there quietly like dopes when the Devils scored. In between play they complained about everything you can imagine during the game it was like listening to someone reading an HF GDT with a megaphone. Then to top off their idiocy the ****ing sat down during the heroes among us and tonight it was honoring a soldier who had died serving our country giving those two the freedom to act like jackasses all night. I had to vent tonight because they have done this few times this season and it blows my mind.

 

[billingtons ghost]

Gelinas leading with 22 minutes of ice time. And was even on the night.

 

[Benedict Parisechuk]

Tonight I had two fans in my section wearing Devil Jerseys who ****ing stood up and cheered when Columbus scored and sat there quietly like dopes when the Devils scored. In between play they complained about everything you can imagine during the game it was like listening to someone reading an HF GDT with a megaphone. Then to top off their idiocy the ****ing sat down during the heroes among us and tonight it was honoring a soldier who had died serving our country giving those two the freedom to act like jackasses all night. I had to vent tonight because they have done this few times this season and it blows my mind.

I'd have a REALLY tough time not throwing hands with those "fans", if I was around them. Who pays money to go to a game and root for your team to lose?

 

[Sascha Goc]

I'd have a REALLY tough time not throwing hands with those "fans", if I was around them. Who pays money to go to a game and root for your team to lose?

I understand that we suck this year and people rightfully so have gripes. But these guys literally complain every second from opening face off to the end of the game. They stand up and clap when the Devils take a penalty. It boggles my mind that these guys have some kind of ticket package and just waste money more or less actively rooting against the team. But the complete lack of respect for the fallen soldier tonight really put me over the edge.

At a season ticket holder event a few weeks ago , allegedly someone walked up to Zajac and showed him a picture of money being flushed down the toilet and said "this is what I think of you". Dumb **** like this is why nice things get taken away and our fan base gets a bad name.