GDT: Your New Jersey Devils @ Detroit Red Wings, 7:30 PM, MSG+

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

The Wings' diving and hitting the ice like a ton of bricks after minimal contact was an absolute joke last night.

Shame on them and they should not have to resort to such embarrassing tactics since they are a high skilled/energy team.

It's a shame because honestly the Wings have/had a lot of my favorite all-time non-Devils players: Yzerman, Lidstrom, and Datsyuk. But I really can't stand diving. It encourages bad officiating and just isn't how the game should be played in my opinion.

 

[Better Call Sal]

I'm a big fan of Nyquist and Larkin, but they were definitely trying to sell calls all night long. Give the Wings some credit, they were controlling the play more than we were, so it gave them those opportunities to draw penalties. Nature of the beast. But I really thought the Gionta penalty and Merrill penalty included some embellishment.

Oh well, we won. Onto the next one.

 

[Cheddabombs]

Upset that I missed this one. I looked up the score at one point in the first and was shocked to see us winning 3-0, then I looked at the scoresheet some more and saw it was 3 goals on 6 shots

I'll have to watch the highlights soon, but I saw Palms goal on twitter. Man I'm soooo happy we have him on the team, there's not much he doesn't do for us.

 

[Captain Lou]

We could have conceivably drafted Larkin if we had our regular pick that year, but that's another can of worms

Like Lou would have drafted him.

 

[NJDevs26]

Like Lou would have drafted him.

A talented USA prospect would have certainly been on their draft board.

 

[Devils Dominion]

Yeah I think Lou would have been interested in Larkin.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Palmari is just awesome. Loving him more and more.

Wanted to stay in a playoff spot going into the break but a point out is still WAY better then I ever expected at the start of the season.

 

[Cheddabombs]

Palmari is just awesome. Loving him more and more.

Wanted to stay in a playoff spot going into the break but a point out is still WAY better then I ever expected at the start of the season.

I was thinking about this earlier. For all the complaining that's gone around here the past few days, if I had told you we'd be one point out of a playoff spot by Christmas break would you have believed me? This team has exceeded expectations of our own fans and blown away the expectations the rest of the league had for us. I don't know if they can keep it up for the rest of the season, but even being a bubble playoff team is a step in the right direction IMO.

I have very little to complain about the way the team has played up until this point.

 

[Emperoreddy]

I was thinking about this earlier. For all the complaining that's gone around here the past few days, if I had told you we'd be one point out of a playoff spot by Christmas break would you have believed me? This team has exceeded expectations of our own fans and blown away the expectations the rest of the league had for us. I don't know if they can keep it up for the rest of the season, but even being a bubble playoff team is a step in the right direction IMO.

I have very little to complain about the way the team has played up until this point.

Hell we are only 4 points behind the Isles for 3rd in the Metro and 5 behind the Rags with a game in hand.

We right in the thick of it when everyone said at the beginning of the year we had no business being there.

The team is still going through lots of growing pains. The roster is still incomplete and certain players are still developing.

Despite it all we are doing rather well.

We also just beat the Wings in Detriot which almost never happens.

We need consistency but that is something I guess takes a lot of time.

 

[Bleedred]

If we could get some the bottom 6 scoring we got last game, we'd be doing really good. We obviously won't get it every game, but every few games would be nice to chip in.

More goals from the defenseman would be nice too. It's kind of funny that Schlemko leads the defense in points. His career high in goals is 4 in the 10-11 season, and he's only had two seasons exceeding 1 goal scored. That's including this season. Last game wasn't his strongest, but he's been pretty solid for us all year long. Probably our third best defenseman.

I did forget Greene scored in Boston, so Schlemko is in a tie for most goals on defense with 3 with Greene. Does Moore have 3 or just 2?

Severson only has 1 goal, he might lead the defense in overall scoring though, so I can't get on him too much.

Tootoo always seems to put up the points against the Red Wings. Not sure if it's a coincidence or he's sticking it to them for the buyout. They gotta be pissed how much he scores against them when we play them.

We're usually gonna get the goaltending for the most part, but Cory maintaining some absurd streak of allowing fewer than 3 goals in 15 or 16 of 17 or 18 games was unrealistic. Even though he's gone on streaks like that every year, he needs some help on some nights and it's nice to score a bunch for him.

 

[John Pedro]

There is no better development for a young team than winning games. Even if this team made the playoffs and got swept in the first round, playing in playoff games would be huge.

Except we are not a young team. Devils are bottom 10 in age average. Most of our impact players are league veterans. Other than Severson and Larsson we don't have any young player playing a big role on the team.

 

[BomaLightDevils]

Is it just me or why can't we try to acquire guys like Flinn and Michell like Montreal did last deadline?

Perfect role players, strong in possession, fast, good on draws, and can chip in important goals in close games.!

I've would want those types on my 4 line going forward to next season. Veterans that could help down the stretch and help younger guys who's starting down in the lineup to get some knowledge on how to play 3-4 line and get accustomed to the NHL.

I like Gionta for he's heart and never quit mentality, he's got good speed and a real character guy I think. Remember he's from Lou's time so you know he's a good guy

Look at a guy like Jannik Hansen I Vancouver, can play with the sedins on the 1 line and can play all the way down to the 4 line. He's speed is incredible.

 

[NJDevs26]

Except we are not a young team. Devils are bottom 10 in age average. Most of our impact players are league veterans. Other than Severson and Larsson we don't have any young player playing a big role on the team.

Palmeri's still 24 years old, even Henrique's only 25.

 

[Tedenboozled]

If we could get some the bottom 6 scoring we got last game, we'd be doing really good. We obviously won't get it every game, but every few games would be nice to chip in.

More goals from the defenseman would be nice too. It's kind of funny that Schlemko leads the defense in points. His career high in goals is 4 in the 10-11 season, and he's only had two seasons exceeding 1 goal scored. That's including this season. Last game wasn't his strongest, but he's been pretty solid for us all year long. Probably our third best defenseman.

I did forget Greene scored in Boston, so Schlemko is in a tie for most goals on defense with 3 with Greene. Does Moore have 3 or just 2?

Severson only has 1 goal, he might lead the defense in overall scoring though, so I can't get on him too much.

Tootoo always seems to put up the points against the Red Wings. Not sure if it's a coincidence or he's sticking it to them for the buyout. They gotta be pissed how much he scores against them when we play them.

We're usually gonna get the goaltending for the most part, but Cory maintaining some absurd streak of allowing fewer than 3 goals in 15 or 16 of 17 or 18 games was unrealistic. Even though he's gone on streaks like that every year, he needs some help on some nights and it's nice to score a bunch for him.

You reckon? I actually can't recall him having a game where he's impressed me as much as he did on Tuesday.

As for your point about offensive contributions from the backend, I'm not overly concerned as of now except for Gelinas and Merrill. Gelinas has been suffering because the PP can't set up shop well enough for him to get his shot off so I'll give him a partial pass because we know that's his one redeeming quality and he's otherwise not that good, but Merrill's got exactly one point to his name and a barrage of bad games to boot. He needs to get his **** together.

 

[Bleedred]

You reckon? I actually can't recall him having a game where he's impressed me as much as he did on Tuesday.

As for your point about offensive contributions from the backend, I'm not overly concerned as of now except for Gelinas and Merrill. Gelinas has been suffering because the PP can't set up shop well enough for him to get his shot off so I'll give him a partial pass because we know that's his one redeeming quality and he's otherwise not that good, but Merrill's got exactly one point to his name and a barrage of bad games to boot. He needs to get his **** together.

I thought Schlemko had a couple shaky defensive plays early on, I think it might have been him also who caused the even strength goal that Cory should have stopped. But he's been pretty awesome the entire season and better than more than half the defensemen on the team overall.

I don't even think Gelinas has gotten barely any power play time lately.

Merrill finally got his first point last game. It was a power play point technically, but I believe it was just seconds after the 4 on 4 ended.

 

[New Jersey]

Wings dive. Devils have a spine again. Onto the next one, Merry Xmas, folks!