GDT: Jimmy Hayes Plays - New Jersey Devils at New York Rangers 7PM MSG+, MSG2

[Azathoth]

Well at least we didn't spend the last 5 pages arguing about Zacha .

 

[Tundra]

The two undersized teenagers should not be mentioned in this post. They aren’t part of the problem at all.

They aren't, but we can't expect them to continuously defy expectations against long odds. Fast, Hayes & Nash abused them last night, but that's the rough and tumble nature of the NHL.

 

[Bologna 1]

Let us accept reality.

We have two undersized teenagers manning the first line.
Zajac and Greene are on their last legs.
Zacha is in limbo.
The team is constructed to hemorrhage shots based on it's personnel.

Still many flaws that need attention. Especially the backend. Not sure what shero can do this summer to improve that, given that everyone sans Moore (who is far from a problem) is under contract at least next year.

 

[Call Me Al]

the devils have been playing bad lately and there are a lot of flaws creeping into their game but the reality is they are still in a playoff spot with our best goal scorer out of the lineup with games in hand and 53 games to play. writing the team off now is insane. it's not like they can't figure it out.

they've demonstrated that when they click they can play with and beat any team in the league. it just seems like they are having trouble staying focused for a full 60 minutes and teams are adjusting to their strategy, it's their turn to adjust again and hopefully they figure it out.

that said these last two games have been terrible and if they play like that again they are going to get killed on tuesday

 

[Azathoth]

So here's a question I don't really have an answer for regarding the defense: is is personnel or is it the strategy? I know Greene has picked up cliff diving as a hobby Santini is still basically a rookie etc, but I'm starting to wonder if the (lack of) possession system isn't doing the D and favors?

 

[Call Me Al]

probably a combination

 

[guitarguyvic]

So here's a question I don't really have an answer for regarding the defense: is is personnel or is it the strategy? I know Greene has picked up cliff diving as a hobby Santini is still basically a rookie etc, but I'm starting to wonder if the (lack of) possession system isn't doing the D and favors?

I don’t know what the defensive strategy is, been three years and I don’t really see one. Although I don’t think Vatenan is anything special, he is at least a second pairing d man and his addition makes the defense look respectable on paper. Yet, the coverage in our own zone remains an absolute dumpster fire. There also seems to be this insistence from the d-men that they rarely try to chip it out of the zone even when they are completely under fire. They almost always try to make a cutesy pass for a breakout even when the option simply doesn’t exist. This has been the case since Haynes took over. It doesn’t seem to be a problem of making poor decision individually, it’s like they have beeen told as a unit to engage in that kind of strategy.

 

[MadDevil]

Why would you assume that the same people who wanted Henrique benched are the same people complaining about Vatanen?

I'm not. My comment is more on the tendency of this board to make sweeping generalizations based on incredibly small sample sizes. Vatanen has played a whopping 5 games (the first two before having had a single practice with the team). Maybe we can give the guy the benefit of the doubt until he's played 15-20 games?

 

[guitarguyvic]

I'm not. My comment is more on the tendency of this board to make sweeping generalizations based on incredibly small sample sizes. Vatanen has played a whopping 5 games (the first two before having had a single practice with the team). Maybe we can give the guy the benefit of the doubt until he's played 15-20 games?

I don’t see it that way. Maybe you are making sweeping generalizations about this board lol

 

[BenedictGomez]

i dont hate him at all but id like to see at least a mention of the officiating.

Officiating?

I assume you mean the Columbus game and not the Rangers game?

It could be argued bad officiating cost the Devils in the BJ game, but bad officiating was not a difference maker last night.

 

[BenedictGomez]

I dont like when the goalie calls out the players like that. Thats Lundqvist level garbage.

Agreed.

Kinkaid throwing Severson under the bus made me think immediately of about 50 different Lundqvist interviews over the years.

 

[BenedictGomez]

The ranger announcers even said they were shocked how many uncontested shooting opportunities the rangers compiled.

Kinkaid faced a ridiculous amount of breakaways, uncontested shots from the slot, and shots immediately following cross ice passes tonight.

Yes, anyone blaming Kinkaid for last night is not objectively analyzing that game, but is "analyzing" it emotionally.

Dominic Hasek in his prime lets in all those goals with the exception of maybe one.

 

[NJ07102]

You're telling me that Vatanen isn't an improvement over any of those guys you named? He's not an improvement over Lovejoy? Or Prout? Really? Prout?

Ok, ok, I give you Prout.

 

[Saint Beaurivage]

With every passing game, Zajac’s relative corsi looks worse and worse. And he doesn’t get loaded up close to 70% of defensive zone starts like Andy Greene does, who has a pretty bad relative corsi himself. This is especially troubling, as Zajac has always been a + in that regard throughout his career, save for barely being below 0 in 15-16 and 15 games in 11-12, which still weren’t nearly as bad. Zajac is playing like the Miles Wood we saw last season. It’s not just the 1 point in 12 games that’s troubling.

Miles Wood has been unbelievably good this year, he’s also starting in the D-zone quite a bit more than the O-zone and has vastly improved from last year.

Coleman’s numbers are studly for getting close to 70% defensive zone starts. It’s a shame that he’s so poor at scoring points. I think too many bad players get too much credit for “Doing all the right things, despite not bringing enough points to the table”, but he certainly would not fit this category. I’m still skeptical he has an offensive ceiling that’s much higher than this, but maybe with different usage he might.


Hall has a PPG though. He’s not gonna score every game.

Spot on!

 

[Burner Account]

This board will always ignore the big picture in favor of the previous 3-5 games’ narrative. Always.

 

[haak84]

Surprised to see the Rangers revert to the 5 man turtle strategy with Lundqvist when they had the lead. Feel like they've gone away from that with AV for the past couple seasons.

Also, Kinkaid has about a third of his starts left. He's looked bad but he's also been peppered by opposing teams. Cory's had games much like Kinkaids last night. He made some saves that I don't think Cory would have and vice versa. Hynes described the problem and now he has to fix it. The team just looks sloppy and the schedule has been so inconsistent. Feel like its hard for teams to get into rhythms when they have a week off then 5 games in 8 nights etc.

 

[Wingman77]

Didn't see much wrong with what Kinkaid said, it was an accurate summation of the game, we've seen far more blunt responses than that - context of the question is a factor as well.

I will say however, that his body language at times over the years after some goals is something I've never cared for.

 

[Brooklyndevil]

In the long run the Devils may be better off not making the playoffs this year. There are a lot of good defensesmen coming out of this draft. Andy Greene is on the downside of his career. Zajac needs to be a third line player. One more solid draft may get us over the hump, because it also gives Shero more bullets to make deals. Next season guys like Hayes and Stafford won’t be here. We have to pray that either McLoud or Zacha will win the 2nd line center job. Hopefully, JQ makes the team and we draft a guy like Bodie Wilde and sign a UFA winger. Definitely draft another goaltender in the later rounds. And most importantly, we need a better coach. The way we get pinned in our zone really worries me and it’s been like that since Hayes arrived. You can say he didn’t have the right players, however, who are the right players? I question the system more than the players. My post is not in anyway about tanking. Don’t want it and especially watch it.

 

[glenwo2]

This is more of the reality for this team. They're not better. Inconsistent as always. True colors starting to show and a lot of underperforming players.

Of course it was nice to be at the top while it lasted but it's time to realize that the playoffs are probably wishful thinking for this team considering the division we're in.

Hang on there. It's not over yet.

Next week will determine whether the Playoffs are still a possibility or a pipe dream.

They manage to get 4 out of 6 points next week, then there's reason to hope.

 

[glenwo2]

This board will always ignore the big picture in favor of the previous 3-5 games’ narrative. Always.

The big picture being : To Make The Playoffs or NOT to Make The Playoffs? That is the question.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Or maybe this is just a slump?

Some of you are way too eager in trying to be the first to proclaim this season as doomed.

 

[Call Me Al]

next week will determine the playoffs? lol. we're still missing our top goal scorer with over 50 games to play. something tells me that even if we don't have a great week and somehow fall to 3 or 4 points out of a playoff spot this team will still have a shot of making that up over the next ~4 months of hockey

 

[Bramskii]

It's going to be a rollercoaster ride all season. We're going to experience stretches where the team is firing on all cylinders and everyone is producing, just like the start of the year. We're also going to go through ruts like the one we've been in. It's important not to overreact to either situation, and just accept that this is a bubble team. I guess a good month after 5 years of irrelevance really spoiled some of you. I still believe this is a playoff team.

 

[Bleedred]

I don’t know what the defensive strategy is, been three years and I don’t really see one. Although I don’t think Vatenan is anything special, he is at least a second pairing d man and his addition makes the defense look respectable on paper. Yet, the coverage in our own zone remains an absolute dumpster fire. There also seems to be this insistence from the d-men that they rarely try to chip it out of the zone even when they are completely under fire. They almost always try to make a cutesy pass for a breakout even when the option simply doesn’t exist. This has been the case since Haynes took over. It doesn’t seem to be a problem of making poor decision individually, it’s like they have beeen told as a unit to engage in that kind of strategy.

Sadly, I think this is the strategy and I’ve been saying it for over a year now.

 

[Zippy316]

The team is built around the forwards. Team is successful when we're attacking and pressuring the puck up the ice.

When the forwards are struggling, the defense will be exposed. We either have extremely good games or extremely bad games because we lack a defensive group that can control the game.