GDT: YOUR NEW JERSEY DEVILS @ Buffalo Sabres (Army of one edition)

[Sir Fenwick Corsi]

Didn't see the game.

Can't see this team making the playoffs.

You know what, you would think that they should be done but they keep buying themselves time to get back on track. Its crazy but they're only one islanders loss fro controlling their own destiny again.

 

[engy]

That is extremely easy to say now in hindsight isn't it?

Coming into the season did you expect everybody to be as bad as they have been? There isn't a single poster here that would have told you things would be this bad, a little struggle here and there without Parise and Sykora's production sure, but this bad? Nobody. The longest losing streak we've had since the 80s? Nobody.

Actually, I did predict in the beginning of the season that Devils weren't going to make playoffs unless Kovalchuk carried them. The team composition didn't make sense to me, especially with the style Deboer espouses.

 

[NJD Kula]

I'd like to believe that, but we are not the Kings. That was a deep team who underachieved most of the regular season and then got ridiculously hot in the playoffs.

ummm sounds like the devils

 

[Mogwai211]

...We just need to get in.

It's not out of the realm of possibility...yet. Strangely, I could see this team sneaking into 8th for a first rounder against the Pens, now that would certainly be interesting.

 

[Devilsfanatic0421]

ummm sounds like the devils

We are deep?

another scoring top 6 player and some synergy and I might agree with you.

 

[Volodya Krutov]

I'd like to believe that, but we are not the Kings. That was a deep team who underachieved most of the regular season and then got ridiculously hot in the playoffs.

We are underachieving big time too but we're not heading in the right direction. Unlike the Kings we're regressing when they were only getting better as the season progressed.


Gigantic difference.

 

[AfroThunder396]

Post them in both!

Very well.

Okay, so my thoughts.

I hope FMASC was watching this game tonight, because this is a PRIME example of how shot quality >>> shot quantity. I have never seen a team get SO much possession time and not create any legitimate scoring opportunities. The Sabres were an abomination in their own zone tonight, we had MULTIPLE instances of +2 minutes of solid zone time and only made low percentage shots. We dominated in time of possession and shots taken but didn't have many quality chances at all.

Defensive zone coverage was awful. We're lucky their forward lineup is pond scum, we left the gate open the entire game. I felt bad for Marty on both goals, awful defensive zone turnovers combined with standing around and watching instead of covering the other team.

I have never seen a team shoot into so many shin pads. There aren't even shooting lanes, they just blindly fire into bodies. Zidlicky telegraphs that he's going to shoot, the defender goes down, AND HE STILL SHOOTS DIRECTLY INTO HIS BODY. Mind-numbing.

Zubrus was a ****ing boss all night long. He looked like Bobby god damn Orr on the 2nd goal.

I didn't even realize Poni and Dags were scratched until the 3rd period, that's also when I realized #9 was Josefson and not Pesonen.

Sullivan looked great, as did Bernier. Loki and Fayne were decent. I don't think Volch took a shift in the 3rd, if he did I didn't notice it.

I am so pissed with Patty right now. This guy is one of the smartest and most creative players in the sport of hockey over the last 20 years and he's out there making rookie mistakes. Blind passes, forcing low percentage shots, shooting right into the goalie, soft dump-ins, cheating out of the zone, not elevating the puck....things he knows not to do.

Kostopulous adds nothing to this team except another name to the "obscure Devils" thread.

Zajac got physically abused all night and never stood up for himself. He just stood there and let them punish him.

Side note: I've been wearing my Devils gear to NJ/BUF games in Buffalo for almost 10 years now, and this is the first time I've EVER been antagonized by Sabres fans leaving the building. People were yelling expletives and someone actually got out of their car and tried to fight me. I've been a Sabres mini-pack holder for four years now and I can't described how humiliated I was, not just for the Devils loss, but because I've never had a bad experience with the fans I share this city with. All of my closest friends are Sabres fans and I can't say how disappointed I was.

 

[Devils Dominion]

We are underachieving big time too but we're not heading in the right direction. Unlike the Kings we're regressing when they were only getting better as the season progressed.


Gigantic difference.

Yes, night and day in the comparison, plus we don't have a goaltender standing on his head each night as Quick did for them in their run.

 

[Bleedred]

That is extremely easy to say now in hindsight isn't it?

Coming into the season did you expect everybody to be as bad as they have been? There isn't a single poster here that would have told you things would be this bad, a little struggle here and there without Parise and Sykora's production sure, but this bad? Nobody. The longest losing streak we've had since the 80s? Nobody.

I honestly said it in the offseason too. I really tried to be positive, and thought maybe we had a few things in our favor that would work. Like maybe having a much more improved power play, and maybe getting more scoring from our defensemen. I had higher hopes for Josefson, and Butler. Tedenby I had not one iota of confidence in, and it doesn't look like the coach did either.

 

[Devils Unseen Hand]

Only thing keeping me from saying screw it to this season is the kings last year. It's not over till we're mathematically eliminated...a fully healthy devils not slumping could 100% go on a similar run

I feel the same way, but the reality is that we are out of it as of tonight. PERIOD! With another SO loss piled onto our heap of crap, we're out for many reasons.

This team's hockey IQ is absolute crap. Endless bad positioning & decisions, and that goes from upper management down to the coaching as well.

Couple that with zero leadership from anyone stepping it up a notch, the team lacks toughness, confidence & the testicular fortitude to man up and just play, back-to-basic hockey. Simple plays, shooting at the net, etc. Hands down, they are about as frustrating to watch as JMac's Devils Squad.

Petey D. will get a reprise for being in the SC Finals last year. Next year, if the team's at .500 at Thanksgiving time, his ass will be canned.

And if the Devils don't make a playoff run next year & I was Jeff Vanderbeek, I'd ask Lou to step down & retire because in my opinion, his decisions (as of the past few seasons) have been utter garbage.

The amount of money we pay for tickets & everything that goes with it, I expect better. And I have been a Die-Hard fan for over 22 years.

 

[Devils Dominion]

Very well.

Okay, so my thoughts.

I hope FMASC was watching this game tonight, because this is a PRIME example of how shot quality >>> shot quality. I have never seen a team get SO much possession time and not create any legitimate scoring opportunities. The Sabres were an abomination in their own zone tonight, we had MULTIPLE instances of +2 minutes of solid zone time and only made low percentage shots. We dominated in time of possession and shots taken but didn't have many quality chances at all.

Defensive zone coverage was awful. We're lucky their forward lineup is pond scum, we left the gate open the entire game. i felt bad for Marty on both goals, awful defensive zone turnovers combined with standing around and watching instead of covering the other team.

I have never seen a team shoot into so many shin pads. There aren't even shooting lanes, they just blindly fire into bodies. Zidlicky telegraphs that he's going to shoot, the defender goes down, AND HE STILL SHOOTS DIRECTLY INTO HIS BODY. Mind-numbing.

Zubrus was a ****ing boss all night long. He looked like Bobby god damn Orr on the 2nd goal.

I didn't even realize Poni and Dags were scratched until the 3rd period, that's also when I realized #9 was Josefson and not Pesonen.

Sullivan looked great, as did Bernier. Loki and Fayne were decent. I don't think Volch took a shift in the 3rd, if he did I didn't notice it.

I am so pissed with Patty right now. This guy is one of the smartest and most creative players in the sport of hockey over the last 20 years and he's out there making rookie mistakes. Blind passes, forcing low percentage shots, shooting right into the goalie, soft dump-ins, cheating out of the zone, not elevating the puck....things he knows not to do.

Kostopulous adds nothing to this team except another name to the "obscure Devils" thread.

Zajac got physically abused all not and never stood up for himself. He just stood there and let them punish him.

Side note: I've been wearing my Devils gear to NJ/BUF games in Buffalo for almost 10 years now, and this is the first time I've EVER been antagonized by Sabres fans leaving the building. People were yelling expletives and someone actually got out of their car and tried to fight me. I've been a Sabres mini-pack holder for four years now and I can't described how humiliated I was, not just for the Devils loss, but because I've never had a bad experience with the fans I share this city with. All of my closest friends are Sabres fans and I can't say how disappointed I was.

Point on summary, thanks for posting.

I sadly agree with you about Patty's play lately.
Glimpses of old school Patty but more often than not what you described above.

I'm not sure why Sabres fans are pounding their chests after a SO win over a sinking Devils squad. Especially when the Devils outplayed them by a wide margin for most of the contest.

It's not like Buffalo is serious about winning in the short term after dealing away their popular captain amongst others.

 

[Bleedred]

Very well.

Okay, so my thoughts.

I hope FMASC was watching this game tonight, because this is a PRIME example of how shot quality >>> shot quality. I have never seen a team get SO much possession time and not create any legitimate scoring opportunities. The Sabres were an abomination in their own zone tonight, we had MULTIPLE instances of +2 minutes of solid zone time and only made low percentage shots. We dominated in time of possession and shots taken but didn't have many quality chances at all.

Defensive zone coverage was awful. We're lucky their forward lineup is pond scum, we left the gate open the entire game. i felt bad for Marty on both goals, awful defensive zone turnovers combined with standing around and watching instead of covering the other team.

I have never seen a team shoot into so many shin pads. There aren't even shooting lanes, they just blindly fire into bodies. Zidlicky telegraphs that he's going to shoot, the defender goes down, AND HE STILL SHOOTS DIRECTLY INTO HIS BODY. Mind-numbing.

Zubrus was a ****ing boss all night long. He looked like Bobby god damn Orr on the 2nd goal.

I didn't even realize Poni and Dags were scratched until the 3rd period, that's also when I realized #9 was Josefson and not Pesonen.

Sullivan looked great, as did Bernier. Loki and Fayne were decent. I don't think Volch took a shift in the 3rd, if he did I didn't notice it.

I am so pissed with Patty right now. This guy is one of the smartest and most creative players in the sport of hockey over the last 20 years and he's out there making rookie mistakes. Blind passes, forcing low percentage shots, shooting right into the goalie, soft dump-ins, cheating out of the zone, not elevating the puck....things he knows not to do.

Kostopulous adds nothing to this team except another name to the "obscure Devils" thread.

Zajac got physically abused all not and never stood up for himself. He just stood there and let them punish him.

Side note: I've been wearing my Devils gear to NJ/BUF games in Buffalo for almost 10 years now, and this is the first time I've EVER been antagonized by Sabres fans leaving the building. People were yelling expletives and someone actually got out of their car and tried to fight me. I've been a Sabres mini-pack holder for four years now and I can't described how humiliated I was, not just for the Devils loss, but because I've never had a bad experience with the fans I share this city with. All of my closest friends are Sabres fans and I can't say how disappointed I was.

Sorry your game experience didn't go over so great, but thanks for your review! Why are their fans so uptight? Team has sucked for a few years now, and hasn't done jack **** in 40 ****in years of existence. Why the high horse from so many of them?

And yes you're dead on with shot quality. More shots into Miller's crest, easy saves for a goalie like Miller too. It's not like the goalie is standing on their head every night. Rask in Boston maybe, but not Reimer, nor Miller. FMASC and I argued the Maclean era about this too with shooting percentage. BAD teams will have a low shooting percentage. The Maclean team outshot opponents every night. Low quality scoring chances, and then brutal defensive mistakes in their own end. Miller made some good saves, and didn't give up softies unlike Reimer yesterday who screwed himself out of a shutout with that soft goal from Clarkson. His positioning was very good too, but he wasn't standing on his head like Hasek. Both goalies were good, but not tested a whole lot.

 

[SchneidsAndHynes35]

I hope FMASC was watching this game tonight, because this is a PRIME example of how shot quality >>> shot quality. I have never seen a team get SO much possession time and not create any legitimate scoring opportunities. The Sabres were an abomination in their own zone tonight, we had MULTIPLE instances of +2 minutes of solid zone time and only made low percentage shots. We dominated in time of possession and shots taken but didn't have many quality chances at all.

Defensive zone coverage was awful. We're lucky their forward lineup is pond scum, we left the gate open the entire game. i felt bad for Marty on both goals, awful defensive zone turnovers combined with standing around and watching instead of covering the other team.

I have never seen a team shoot into so many shin pads. There aren't even shooting lanes, they just blindly fire into bodies. Zidlicky telegraphs that he's going to shoot, the defender goes down, AND HE STILL SHOOTS DIRECTLY INTO HIS BODY. Mind-numbing.

Zubrus was a ****ing boss all night long. He looked like Bobby god damn Orr on the 2nd goal.

I didn't even realize Poni and Dags were scratched until the 3rd period, that's also when I realized #9 was Josefson and not Pesonen.

Sullivan looked great, as did Bernier. Loki and Fayne were decent. I don't think Volch took a shift in the 3rd, if he did I didn't notice it.

I am so pissed with Patty right now. This guy is one of the smartest and most creative players in the sport of hockey over the last 20 years and he's out there making rookie mistakes. Blind passes, forcing low percentage shots, shooting right into the goalie, soft dump-ins, cheating out of the zone, not elevating the puck....things he knows not to do.

Kostopulous adds nothing to this team except another name to the "obscure Devils" thread.

Zajac got physically abused all not and never stood up for himself. He just stood there and let them punish him.

I disagree on Kostopolous; I like the element brings. He knows his role and is more effective then Poni and Dago combinded.

Agree with Zajac assessment. I think he was just afraid of taking another penalty.

I think Loki was better than decent. He makes so many slick plays and is unfortunately being brought down by not the offensive play of Clarkson, but rather Henrique. Henrique has only been effective in the d-zone

 

[Benedict Parisechuk]

You know what, you would think that they should be done but they keep buying themselves time to get back on track. Its crazy but they're only one islanders loss fro controlling their own destiny again.

This is why I still think somehow, someway we get in. I just cant see the Islanders continuing to play well. I think they choke at some point. If some of our players ever get their heads out of their ***** I think we can sneak in

 

[njdss4]

I'd like to believe that, but we are not the Kings. That was a deep team who underachieved most of the regular season and then got ridiculously hot in the playoffs.

Exactly. Devils and Kings are apples and oranges.

 

[SchneidsAndHynes35]

How much money are we willing to give Zubrus?

I say 2.7-3.25 million/ per 2 years

 

[Benedict Parisechuk]

Very well.

Okay, so my thoughts.

I hope FMASC was watching this game tonight, because this is a PRIME example of how shot quality >>> shot quantity. I have never seen a team get SO much possession time and not create any legitimate scoring opportunities. The Sabres were an abomination in their own zone tonight, we had MULTIPLE instances of +2 minutes of solid zone time and only made low percentage shots. We dominated in time of possession and shots taken but didn't have many quality chances at all.

Defensive zone coverage was awful. We're lucky their forward lineup is pond scum, we left the gate open the entire game. I felt bad for Marty on both goals, awful defensive zone turnovers combined with standing around and watching instead of covering the other team.

I have never seen a team shoot into so many shin pads. There aren't even shooting lanes, they just blindly fire into bodies. Zidlicky telegraphs that he's going to shoot, the defender goes down, AND HE STILL SHOOTS DIRECTLY INTO HIS BODY. Mind-numbing.

Zubrus was a ****ing boss all night long. He looked like Bobby god damn Orr on the 2nd goal.

I didn't even realize Poni and Dags were scratched until the 3rd period, that's also when I realized #9 was Josefson and not Pesonen.

Sullivan looked great, as did Bernier. Loki and Fayne were decent. I don't think Volch took a shift in the 3rd, if he did I didn't notice it.

I am so pissed with Patty right now. This guy is one of the smartest and most creative players in the sport of hockey over the last 20 years and he's out there making rookie mistakes. Blind passes, forcing low percentage shots, shooting right into the goalie, soft dump-ins, cheating out of the zone, not elevating the puck....things he knows not to do.

Kostopulous adds nothing to this team except another name to the "obscure Devils" thread.

Zajac got physically abused all night and never stood up for himself. He just stood there and let them punish him.

Side note: I've been wearing my Devils gear to NJ/BUF games in Buffalo for almost 10 years now, and this is the first time I've EVER been antagonized by Sabres fans leaving the building. People were yelling expletives and someone actually got out of their car and tried to fight me. I've been a Sabres mini-pack holder for four years now and I can't described how humiliated I was, not just for the Devils loss, but because I've never had a bad experience with the fans I share this city with. All of my closest friends are Sabres fans and I can't say how disappointed I was.

This is a really great, spot on analysis. I noticed pretty much every thing you did especially with Elias. He's really disappointed me lately. Also with the shot quality, I've been seeing that a lot as well. We basically just kill time in the other team's zone, stay to the outside, and then throw some garbage, weak shot on goal. Very frustrating to watch

 

[SchneidsAndHynes35]

I don't understand how some of you are saying thrat Marty hasn't been standing on his head. The goals scored on him have been absolutely unstoppable. Defense has to be blamed for poor giveaways, coverage

 

[Bologna 1]

Marty and TG Hitting the nail right on the head. Just because you Hang on to the puck For three quarters of the game Doesn't help you score. Then TG About the Devils having enough All last year And just needing To plug in some bottom end depth. And also the fact that since parise left there honestly has not been anyone worth the acquisition cost. I mean it is still on Lou Or basically filling a team With a bunch of grinders That lacks the true talent. II honestly have no issue with the team effort Because clearly when you see them dominating possession wise In these games It shows you that they are working hard. Elias and lokti are really the only two forwards on this roster right now with kovy out who can create opportunities as a result of their skill and creativity ( maybe you can argue Sullivan can somewhat and Zid I would say definitely falls into that category but at the end of the day he is a defenseman). the other guys who are expected by us to be top six players need other guys to really generate the chances so they can clean up whatever is left over. That's what I see here plain and simple

 

[SchneidsAndHynes35]

People pointing to fact that Lou has failed to bring in top six talent via free-agency ---> as mentioned above and by TG - price would have been too hefty. Also, it takes two (2) sides to get a deal done. Believe it or not, this isn't NHL 13. More factors then money.

 

[Volodya Krutov]

Zajac's offensive contribution of a 4th liner this season is killing us too.

 

[aboriginal]

pattys been brutal lately. nothing but bonehead decision after another. his shot selection is in the ****ing toilet. hes not playing his best hockey at all.

 

[aboriginal]

yea zajac ****ing sucks....something fierce. i think hell have a good year next season tho.

 

[Devils Unseen Hand]

People pointing to fact that Lou has failed to bring in top six talent via free-agency ---> as mentioned above and by TG - price would have been too hefty. Also, it takes two (2) sides to get a deal done. Believe it or not, this isn't NHL 13. More factors then money.

You have to start with Clarkson. Lou doesn't like to do contracts during the year. Yet, had he learned from MANY YEARS of doing this nonsense, he'd learn that money talks. Players rarely stay here because they like the atmosphere. So why not get a trade worth value when you can?

Clarkson and ??? combo and/or combination of players could have landed somebody of value.

Then again, seeing how this teams has performed lately, it goes much deeper than what we see on the ice.

 

[Bleedred]

I don't understand how some of you are saying thrat Marty hasn't been standing on his head. The goals scored on him have been absolutely unstoppable. Defense has to be blamed for poor giveaways, coverage

Because he has a 908 save percentage for the season which is .01 percent lower than the league average. The stats show he's a below average goaltender. I don't give a **** what my eyes tell me cause I'm blind!

Agreed, and he's done a good job keeping it at 2 goals per game for the most part. That's the best you can ask for from your goalie. Not too many in the league with a GAA lower than 2. He gets no goal support in the shootout, and doesn't get enough in the game. And while he doesn't have to make the most saves of the game usually, he does have to make the more difficult ones. Aside from last week when he gave up a few softies I can't really say he's been playing any less better than he did from 05-10. Maybe even better than some of those seasons. The reason his save percentage is even that low is because of our PK mostly. It wasn't that good earlier in the season.