Post-Game Talk: Devils Win 3-2 in the shootout

[Emperoreddy]

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[13BearerOfHope]

Good win. 3rd period was particularly strong. Someone suggested we should play 4 on 4 on PPs and I agree.

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

This game doesnt get to overtime if it wasnt for Kuokannen. This game would not be a win if it wasnt for Bernier. I'm glad Kuokannen finally showed up and scored a big goal. Graves getting his first goal as a Devil and Severson scoring that clutch shootout winner after last nights flurry of penalties. Those 3 had big moments buh Bernier was solid tonight. The 2 goals he gave up he had no chance on really. He gave up only one in the shootout and got a little lucky on the Balcer's post shot but other than that he made plenty of big stops. Remember that sprawling breakaway save he made after the game was 2 to 1 Sharks ? That goes in and its probably game over. Bernier was tonight's 1st star easily.

 

[BurntToast]

A win is a win, but the lack of finish is concerning.

 

[NJDevs26]

Their play doesn’t exactly give me confidence they’ll be able to do anything with the brutal schedule this week, otoh Florida has to put up a dud sometime right? And at least we have both goalies dialed up.

 

[ninetyeight]

Yep pretty much what you said, great goaltending and I'm happy for the guys to finally get a win, but this road trip doesn't exactly give much hope that they are close to a wild card slot.

1 win, 4 goals scored in 3 games against the ducks, kings and sharks. That's hardly anything to celebrate.

So far this season has been a big disappointment for me. Every season you hope for the best case scenario. You expect young players to improve and older players to stay at the same level and when you add new good players (Hamilton, Graves, Bernier, Tatar) you expect them to do what they've done. But obviously that's not how it goes, most won't improve and a lot will regress.

Right now it seems we took few steps forward in some areas and few steps back in some. Hamilton and Graves have been great for us, but Smith and Severson haven't been able to give their best.

Johnsson looks like a whole different player, Mercer has been good and Jack seemed to have improve. But then a lot of the other guys haven't been able to take the next step or are playing way worse than last season.

 

[DevilDog]

Good win. 3rd period was particularly strong. Someone suggested we should play 4 on 4 on PPs and I agree.

I suggested firing Recchi instead and I stand by that. How many 0-fer nights on the PP do we need to see?

 

[Better Call Sal]

The West coast trip can be a march of death and has been for us in the past. 3 out of 6 points isn’t ideal, but given how poor the special teams has been on both sides along with the scoring drying up, take that as a small victory.

We absolutely have to correct those issues this week as the schedule gets significantly more difficult.

I think the defense is actually holding up fairly well in the past two games, which is a positive given we haven’t had Dougie available. Yes the Kings and Sharks aren’t world beaters but when you’re missing your top defender, you expect to take a hit on that side and we haven’t too much to this point.

Went with Bernier who keeps impressing me with how well he is playing, Nico who I thought was a consistent factor in putting us in the zone to create chances and Kuokkanen for the hard work to get that tying goal. Really happy he came through, he needed that one badly.

22 minutes to the Johnsson-Nico-Bratt trio last night. They’re shouldering a heavy load up front. Zacha was next with 20 minutes then Mercer with 18.

 

[captainscott]

Didn’t see the game but two points. Long season. They need to stay relevant until they get some guys back. We have both goalies back which is huge. Not sure what can be done about PP. but it’s been a few years w same problem . And the PK. And I’m sorry the PK has the personal. I will give the PK a month now that both goalies are back. I don’t expect much to change in pp until Hughes is back. Other than him bratt is the only one that can enter zone .... Mercer too but he is 14

 

[Barry Tallackson]

We miss jack.. crazy the success of this decade long rebuild still hinges on one player

 

[AfroThunder396]

We didn't play our best but still found a way to win missing our best F and best D, on the road, at the end of a back to back.

12 points in 10 games, 98 point pace over a full season. Some of you guys need a reality check.

 

[Whaddagoal]

The West coast trip can be a march of death and has been for us in the past. 3 out of 6 points isn’t ideal, but given how poor the special teams has been on both sides along with the scoring drying up, take that as a small victory.

We absolutely have to correct those issues this week as the schedule gets significantly more difficult.

I think the defense is actually holding up fairly well in the past two games, which is a positive given we haven’t had Dougie available. Yes the Kings and Sharks aren’t world beaters but when you’re missing your top defender, you expect to take a hit on that side and we haven’t too much to this point.

Went with Bernier who keeps impressing me with how well he is playing, Nico who I thought was a consistent factor in putting us in the zone to create chances and Kuokkanen for the hard work to get that tying goal. Really happy he came through, he needed that one badly.

22 minutes to the Johnsson-Nico-Bratt trio last night. They’re shouldering a heavy load up front. Zacha was next with 20 minutes then Mercer with 18.

Ruff made a point in the post game how he shortened the bench to rely on his "vets" to close out the game, so that probably explains the minutes distribution last night. So it's good they get a day or so off till Florida, rest up our top 6 and D pairings. Hopefully Hamilton is back in business.

Give the PP more practice time. Maybe it'll come through on Tuesday because we'll sure as hell need it this week. Isles/Bruins are close by to us, so those potential wins will really matter, standings wise. I'd really hope we can eek out 2 wins in those 3 games (doesn't matter how, just get it done by committee if needed, no heroes required specifically).

Glad to see we didn't blow this shootout, Bernier makes a difference I think.

Nico's game is coming together (offensively). He's put a lot of hard work this season so far, and in the rest of his game it is showing up fine. Keep the points flowing, sprinkle in a few more goals and he'll be fine.

 

[Derps]

We didn't play our best but still found a way to win missing our best F and best D, on the road, at the end of a back to back.

12 points in 10 games, 98 point pace over a full season. Some of you guys need a reality check.

All about racking up as many points with Jack and dougie out. Idk why anyone cares how a win looks right now.

 

[Cheddabombs]

Of course they win in a shootout in a west coast game. Pretty much the Loch Ness monster of wins, a few people claimed to have seen it but did it really happen

 

[Whaddagoal]

Of course they win in a shootout in a west coast game. Pretty much the Loch Ness monster of wins, a few people claimed to have seen it but did it really happen

They dont even have Bratts SO goal on replay...! The condensed replay showed all but Bratters..

 

[Cheddabombs]

They dont even have Bratts SO goal on replay...! The condensed replay showed all but Bratters..

Ahahaha I watched the replays this morning and noticed that! Did he actually score? The world may never know

 

[Darkauron]

Oh wow nico is putting up points.. Hmm very strange...

Also it is amazing having two goalies I can trust in the net. Bernier is so good

 

[devilsblood]

They dont even have Bratts SO goal on replay...! The condensed replay showed all but Bratters..

Ahahaha I watched the replays this morning and noticed that! Did he actually score? The world may never know

Nice little move to his forehand in tight that Reimer got a good piece of but it just barely trickles in.

 

[ninetyeight]

Idk why anyone cares how a win looks right now.

The point isn't how it looked, but what the future games will look if they keep playing like this. The panthers are gonna absolutely slaughter us if we play like we did this roadtrip.

 

[Whaddagoal]

Nice little move to his forehand in tight that Reimer got a good piece of but it just barely trickles in.

Thanks...

 

[Buck Dancer]

I’ve said several times that Mercer has been our best player so far this year but I think I have to bump him down a spot and actually give it to Bernier. He’s been keeping this teams head above water in each and every game he’s started and now that Blackwood is back, we can now roll 2 goalies without having the fear of an automatic loss, like we’ve had in years past.

The return of Hamilton will also be a huge boost for us next week.

 

[devilsblood]

PK's turnovers on the PP's late in the 3rd, were so abysmal. Down a goal, on the PP, have in zone possession, and just weak flips up the board. Very frustrating.


Smith is playing like poop as well, so I don't really know what to do besides hope Hamilton gets back quickly.

 

[Camille the Eel]

It's great that we kept coming back from a goal down the last two nights and tied up two games with minutes left in them. But we are making a bad habit of it. When is the last time we actually scored the first goal in a game? I think I have to go back a ways.

I think troubles with the power play aren't just confusion and poor zone entries - those are big troubles to be sure - but also that we don't have anyone out there who can really stand up to pressure by the opposing PK or who can break a full court (full ice) press by themselves. When we had Zacha and Holtz on the half walls with Subban on the point in a diamond formation with five minutes left in the game, I thought every single one of them was vulnerable to being pressed off the puck. Zacha has a fine shot given the room and can operate on the point given the room but when you press him he isn't strong on the puck; Holtz is a light rookie; Subban right now is slow to react when he gets jumped. It's scary that those were our three guys out high at that key moment of the game.

And on the zone entries . . .

At times, when we were trying to reorganize and rush up ice for a zone entry, I thought we were actually going to drop the puck to the penalty killers who were hanging out at our own blue line. We were on the verge of giving up high quality shorthanded chances.

We're very fortunate we got three points out of the last two games.

 

[devilsblood]

It's great that we kept coming back from a goal down the last two nights and tied up two games with minutes left in them. But we are making a bad habit of it. When is the last time we actually scored the first goal in a game? I think I have to go back a ways.

I think troubles with the power play aren't just confusion and poor zone entries - those are big troubles to be sure - but also that we don't have anyone out there who can really stand up to pressure by the opposing PK or who can break a full court (full ice) press by themselves. When we had Zacha and Holtz on the half walls with Subban on the point in a diamond formation with five minutes left in the game, I thought every single one of them was vulnerable to being pressed off the puck. Zacha has a fine shot given the room and can operate on the point given the room but when you press him he isn't strong on the puck; Holtz is a light rookie; Subban right now is slow to react when he gets jumped. It's scary that those were our three guys out high at that key moment of the game.

And on the zone entries . . .

At times, when we were trying to reorganize and rush up ice for a zone entry, I thought we were actually going to drop the puck to the penalty killers who were hanging out at our own blue line. We were on the verge of giving up high quality shorthanded chances.

We're very fortunate we got three points out of the last two games.

I think that is a good point about Zacha PK Holtz on the umbrella. Obviously we would have Hughes and Hamilto if healthy, but they aren't. So what do we do in the meantime? Move Holtz down to the 2nd unit, and put either Bratt or Mercer there? I mention it above but while PK has been lousy, Smith has been equally lousy so I think we just have to wait patiently for Hammy.

 

[Azathoth]

I think the question going forward is do the coaches have an answer for the special teams nightly shit show? The team is actually pretty good 5 on 5 and if they can just get to average on special teams they could be real dangerous.