GDT: Spidey's Angry! Bruins @ Devils, 7 PM, MSG+ 2

[Bleedred]

I didn’t expect playoffs this season but now that we’re being teased a bit, they’re not going to have enough imho, unless Cory becomes the best player on the team. He’ll need to play at an elite level for it to happen. It’s a young team that’s going to make their share of defensive mistakes and I just don’t think we have the finishing required to make the jump right now. The conference is just too tight. That said, I fully expect them to compete for a spot, assuming they can get and stay healthy. NJ is a tough team to play against.

Even though Cory is giving up more than the occasional weak goal this year, it's sad that if he was playing as bad as last year, we'd be blown out of the building most nights.

He's got a .918 save percentage (quite a bit above league average) but his GAA is like 2.80 or something. If we had the .908 Schneider of last year, his GAA would be like 3.10-3.20 right now. His GAA is right around where it was last year, despite his actual goaltending being improved.

That's another reason I'm quick to take credit away from Hynes. We're allowing more shots/scoring chances than last year, which is what seems to happen when we're gonna generate more shots/scoring chances of our own.

 

[Bologna 1]

I see all the coaches on here are active again tonight. Is the team and coach perfect? No way. But they are at least enjoyable to watch and improving. Are they a playoff team? They might not be, but it's not like they are Tampa, Chicago, etc who are expected to make a run and anything less is a failure. Just enjoy the ride and hope they can keep building towards the next few years.

 

[Sir Fenwick Corsi]

They probably need to get to 95 points to make the playoffs. That's 67 points in 61 games. Really doesn't seem too crazy.

They’ve put themselves in good position to at least try, no question about it. But as the season gets into the later months and the games get tighter, I can just see more games like tonight occurring, that’s all. I don’t want to be negative because there is a lot to like right now. This is a fun and inspired group. Maybe I wouldn’t be as bugged about this game if they didn’t recently lose to Toronto in the same fashion.

 

[Sir Fenwick Corsi]

Even though Cory is giving up more than the occasional weak goal this year, it's sad that if he was playing as bad as last year, we'd be blown out of the building most nights.

He's got a .918 save percentage (quite a bit above league average) but his GAA is like 2.80 or something. If we had the .908 Schneider of last year, his GAA would be like 3.10-3.20 right now. His GAA is right around where it was last year, despite his actual goaltending being improved.

That's another reason I'm quick to take credit away from Hynes. We're allowing more shots/scoring chances than last year, which is what seems to happen when we're gonna generate more shots/scoring chances of our own.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not bagging on Cory. I’m typically very fair to goalies. I’m just saying we need him to be at his 2016 level if they plan on getting in. I mean he helped keep that limited roster relevant for a good 4 and a half months. This is a much better team and a stellar run from him can make the difference. Considering his workload this season, I’m not going to hammer the guy for every questionable goal. I think he’s been very good for the most part.

 

[Bleedred]

I see all the coaches on here are active again tonight. Is the team and coach perfect? No way. But they are at least enjoyable to watch and improving. Are they a playoff team? They might not be, but it's not like they are Tampa, Chicago, etc who are expected to make a run and anything less is a failure. Just enjoy the ride and hope they can keep building towards the next few years.

This is the problem with the ''As long as we're winning, the coaching is great!'' mantra.

This is the reason that coaches like Todd McLellan, Alain Vigneault and Bruce Boudreau get jocked. Because they all get stacked or solid rosters, and they win with them. And then people turn around and say it's because these teams are products of their great coaches.

 

[Bleedred]

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not bagging on Cory. I’m typically very fair to goalies. I’m just saying we need him to be at his 2016 level if they plan on getting in. I mean he helped keep that limited roster relevant for a good 4 and a half months. This is a much better team and a stellar run from him can make the difference. Considering his workload this season, I’m not going to hammer the guy for every questionable goal. I think he’s been very good for the most part.

I don't disagree with you. He looks more like the pre 16-17 Cory, when he's playing. Much more confident looking (for the most part) unlike last year, but he still allows a lot of weak goals.

That's why I didn't kill him after the Winnipeg game, because I don't think he played that poorly in that game, just like he hasn't played as well in other games where he only allowed 2 goals or 3 goals on a zillion shots.

 

[guitarguyvic]

Feels like this team loses the games it should win and wins the games it should lose. Weird fortune.

Are people really fretting about lack of finish just because of this game? The team shooting percentage has been sky high, it wasn't going to remain that way so now things are balancing out. Nico, though...that kid is going to have a solid career but I don't think it will be as a goal scorer. Honestly him and Hall are kind of cut from the same cloth. Both seem to be more playmakers than anything. No doubt the team will need a pure sniper at some point to get to that next level.

I don't see any reason why we can't expect them to make it in as a bottom seed. Of course that's a crapshoot by its very nature, but they should be in the hunt throughout the season. I think if they miss the playoffs it will be by a slim margin.

 

[VaxjoDevil]

Just got back home from the game. Devils deserved to win this one even if they came out a tad flat but let's keep getting points at least. Cory left a lot of net to shoot at on the first goal. I just love watching Hischier play. Bratt was great. The shootout attempts were mostly awful, the last game-winning one from Boston was sick tho. I wonder how many games we give Zajac before determining that he is not a number one center on this team anymore, right now he is playing like a hard working third liner. Boyle early in the shootout LOL wtf where did that come from.

 

[Bleedred]

Feels like this team loses the games it should win and wins the games it should lose. Weird fortune.

Are people really fretting about lack of finish just because of this game? The team shooting percentage has been sky high, it wasn't going to remain that way so now things are balancing out. Nico, though...that kid is going to have a solid career but I don't think it will be as a goal scorer. Honestly him and Hall are kind of cut from the same cloth. Both seem to be more playmakers than anything. No doubt the team will need a pure sniper at some point to get to that next level.

I don't see any reason why we can't expect them to make it in as a bottom seed. Of course that's a crapshoot by its very nature, but they should be in the hunt throughout the season. I think if they miss the playoffs it will be by a slim margin.

As far as I'm concerned, this game was the odds evening out. We should have won tonight, and we probably didn't really even deserve a point against Minnesota. The start to that game was really awful, it was our worst start to a game since when we played in Edmonton a few weeks back.

 

[VaxjoDevil]

Good to get a point. I'll take it. But good lord what a terrible display in the shootout. At least Boston made Cory work, khudobin could have eaten a sandwich in the crease and nobody would have scored.

I lol'd.

 

[Bologna 1]

Y'all are great fans and I really do like that we have a large, active posting group here. But the constant complaining and negativity drives me crazy sometimes. I just wish sometimes we would all just sit back and enjoy that NJ actually looks like a real damn hockey team, unlike the past few seasons.

 

[VaxjoDevil]

The ultra huge jumbotron is awesome, but please Devils... when you look up to watch a replay of a penalty or else and all you get is a picture of a f***ing turkey. Come on now.

 

[glenwo2]

The ultra huge jumbotron is awesome, but please Devils... when you look up to watch a replay of a penalty or else and all you get is a picture of a ****ing turkey. Come on now.

Gary Bettman never looked better.

 

[Devils Dominion]

Have we scored on a breakaway this season?

Had 3 tonight

 

[Emperoreddy]

How is this the lose to make you question if we are a playoff team? We were the better team tonight and lost in a 10 round shootout.

 

[Emperoreddy]

No we're not...especially with Palm on the shelf till New Year's. If Cory can ever straighten out then it's a different story but I don't really think the offense is good enough to carry the team for the whole year yet. This East is tight anyway, one little losing streak and we go from first to bubble.

Cory was fine tonight.

The fretting and negativity going on in here is a bit of an overreaction.

 

[Bleedred]

Hynes actually did a lot of things right with the ice time tonight. Severson had the most ice time on the team, Santini was scaled way back to a little over 17 minutes. Still like to see Butcher playing a couple more minutes. Only blemish is Zacha played just over 10 minutes.

Boyle only played a little over 12.5 minutes tonight, almost half of which seemed to be on the power play, but probably weren’t. Only annoyance was it seemed like him, Greene and Santini played a few of those shifts after we tied it, his “Checking” or “Shutdown” guys.

I’m bummed that the ice times were probably a product of “We’re trailing and we need a goal to tie”. They should be the ice times (aside from Zacha and a few nitpicky things) every night, leading, trailing or tied.

 

[NjDevsRR]

I thought they looked great. Just one of those nights.

 

[Cult of Hynes]

This loss and the Leafs loss really piss me off.

They're never going to take Boyle off the PP for some reason. Ward seriously is f***ing clueless and Hynes is just as clueless for not overriding such an asinine move, probably because he thinks its a good idea which is kind of evident by his head scratching use of Boyle in the shoot out.

Also, the ice at the Prudential Center is f***ing garbage.

 

[Cult of Hynes]

I thought they looked great. Just one of those nights.

3rd one of those nights in the last week and a half. Oilers, Leafs and now the Bruins.

 

[Emperoreddy]

People really need some perspective.

It is past the 20 game mark at American Thanksgiving.

We are 2nd in the Metro. We are one point out of first with a game in hand.

We have accomplished this despite having an extremely young roster that has not been 100% healthy at any point this season.

How you can look at that and focus only on the negative is beyond me.

 

[Bleedred]

3rd one of those nights in the last week and a half. Oilers, Leafs and now the Bruins.

To be fair, we’ve won quite a few that we shouldn’t have even gotten a point in.

The 1st period against Minnesota was very bad. We also should have probably been buried in the 1st of the Chicago game.

We also looked really bad against Florida and beat them, that was one of our worst games of the season.

 

[Cult of Hynes]

To be fair, we’ve won quite a few that we shouldn’t have even gotten a point in.

The 1st period against Minnesota was very bad. We also should have probably been buried in the 1st of the Chicago game.

We also looked really bad against Florida and beat them, that was one of our worst games of the season.

Winning games they played shitty in doesn't wash away the bad taste in my mouth that losing games they out played / dominated the other team leaves.

 

[Comparison Ford]

People really need some perspective.

It is past the 20 game mark at American Thanksgiving.

We are 2nd in the Metro. We are one point out of first with a game in hand.

We have accomplished this despite having an extremely young roster that has not been 100% healthy at any point this season.

How you can look at that and focus only on the negative is beyond me.

This.

This year we are winning games and losing in extra innings.

Last year the only way we got points was losing in overtime.

We are a significantly better team, and it's showing.

 

[Oneiro]

The most annoying yet encouraging thing about the team is that they usually lose the plot in a 2-5 minute sequence. And get burned badly on one or two brutal possessions. That is something that can be corrected with time.

I was watching Tampa and Chicago during the breaks and you can tell what experience + speed does for a team. Both teams are high risk, but they have guys who can settle things down and control the tempo when the game gets a bit wild.