GDT: Your New Jersey Devils vs. San Jose Sharks, 7 PM, MSGSN

[PKs Broken Stick]

Meh, I don't know. They're bleeding high danger chances more than last year but at some point you just need saves so your team has some confidence in the net minder so they can play looser. I can guarantee you that they think every shot against is gonna end up in the back of the net with how they play. Also, have to factor in this team has regularly not played with the lead in games early on this year which has due to the ineptitude of this coaching staff not getting them ready.

I said it before. If they are afraid of their goalie giving up a goal on any HD chance...why don't they play more safer? I don't think that's a concern for them whatsoever...or they're just dumb, who knows.

 

[Satans Hockey]

Absolutely f***ing embarrassing, so happy I wasn't there for this infuriating bullshit.

I'm so f***ing sick of early whistles ruining shit. This joke of a league wants more goals and then has these dog shit refs blow the whistles early. Intent to blow the whistle is an absolute joke of a rule.

Did they even show any replays in the arena? Should have thrown all the trash on the ice for this one.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

No team bleeds chances more then San Jose but somehow their goalies are out performing ours.

The idea that our team, and only our team, uniquely gives up chances that are somehow above high danger at a rate that no other team does and that no goalie can play here is absurd.

So now the standards are teams like the Sharks? Ooof.

 

[glenwo2]

Absolutely f***ing embarrassing, so happy I wasn't there for this infuriating bullshit.

I'm so f***ing sick of early whistles ruining shit. This joke of a league wants more goals and then has these dog shit refs blow the whistles early. Intent to blow the whistle is an absolute joke of a rule.

Did they even show any replays in the arena? Should have thrown all the trash on the ice for this one.

I agree with the "intent to blow the whistle" rule.

That is such an ultimate cop-out rule to give the Refs the power to do whatever they want to change the game.

And they should've thrown chicken nuggets out on the ice just because.

Maybe Blackwood who was on the bench with them would later say he was "scared for his life" from the nuggets.

 

[JK3]

Good morning.

Booooooooooooooo!

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

He also blamed the game on the puck management and the turnovers. That you need better puck management (eliminating the big mistakes) but you also need some timely saves.

That’s a fair assessment.

Whatever I think of his coaching sometimes, I love the guys direct honesty.

"My system is fine. The players just need to execute better".

Idk Lindy...maybe if the players are still struggling, tweak it..simplify it? Anyone can just say they need to do better. And yes, I realize that's just interview talk but like, it's still an issue, so clearly there has been 0 changes from Ruff's side.

 

[Satans Hockey]

Good morning.

Booooooooooooooo!

I watched the game this morning so there's nothing good about it! God I'm f***ing pissed off, someone needs to go into this locker room and throw some jelly against the wall.

 

[glenwo2]

Good morning.

Booooooooooooooo!

More like :

Brutal morning.

But hope you're doing well, JK3.

 

[guitarguyvic]

ahh the ol "I trust my eyes". Got it. Carry on!

LOL my man, this isn’t some subtle shit that requires great attention to detail and strict tracking. These are literally the most obvious dangerous chances in a hockey game, and there’s maybe ten of them in a game between the two teams.

You’re literally ignoring blatantly observable failings and just defaulting to a subjectively interpreted data set. I’m not the one who should be getting mocked here.

 

[JK3]

I watched the game this morning so there's nothing good about it! God I'm f***ing pissed off, someone needs to go into this locker room and throw some jelly against the wall.

Yeah a very frustrating game.

 

[glenwo2]

Okay everyone.

Want to have a good laugh?

Found this comment just now at AATJ :

Why is everyone surprised at the outcome of this game?!

When you take a Norris caliber defenseman like Brendan Smith out of the lineup, this is what happens.

Just breathe people, Brendan is back in two games.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

Honestly I do agree with take.

And it's happened multiple times. I feel exhausted repeating what the core issue is here.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

LOL my man, this isn’t some subtle shit that requires great attention to detail and strict tracking. These are literally the most obvious dangerous chances in a hockey game, and there’s maybe ten of them in a game between the two teams.

You’re literally ignoring blatantly observable failings and just defaulting to a subjectively interpreted data set. I’m not the one who should be getting mocked here.

so are you. You are agreeing with one random image posted with no backup whatsoever.

I get it, the Devils have the worst defensive system in NHL history, and no other team gives up breakaways or odd man rushes. Because your eyes showed you in 1/4 of a season. Got it. We can move on.

 

[Call Me Al]

maybe youre right? I dont know. The way its worded is confusing.

My question to you is why do you believe this chart, which is seemingly based on....nothing? But you don't believe in the HD chances which are at least based on something?

I wonder why........

I also think way too many people are caught up in the "HOW COULD THEY LOSE TO THE SHARKS!" nonsense.

Yeah, and? The Sharks have more regulation wins than Toronto does. I know they are terrible, but good teams lose to bad teams all the time. Getting caught up in that stuff is pointless.

i think this is reasonable, and when the bolded happens to a good team it’s a disappointing blip. however, this team loses to bad teams kind of a lot. it’s not a blip, it’s a trend and it’s an indicator of where this team is. they aren’t last years powerhouse, they are what their record says they are.

i dunno, i get the gloom and doom is over the top after losing to the sharks, but it’s not a given that they figure it out now. every step forward has been met with a step back

 

[guitarguyvic]

so are you. You are agreeing with one random image posted with no backup whatsoever.

I get it, the Devils have the worst defensive system in NHL history, and no other team gives up breakaways or odd man rushes. Because your eyes showed you in 1/4 of a season. Got it. We can move on.

Three claims in this post about me and every single one is a strawman. Impressive.

 

[Satans Hockey]

I didn't read the whole thread but two people who sit near me both said they didn't even show any replays of that puck crossing the line. Our in game presentation when it comes to replays is an absolute joke.

 

[MadDevil]

Jesus Christ, this "it has to be the defense or goaltending" argument is so dumb. As if two things can't possibly both be bad at the same time. Do we have defensive breakdowns? Yes. Do we have more defensive breakdowns than most good teams? Probably. Do we have so many more that asking a goalie to not be a complete effing sieve behind ii is out of the question? Doubftul. Nobody is asking or expecting Vitek and Schmid to be Dominik Hasek out there. But I don't think asking them to not be active detriments to the team some nights (more so Vitek than Akira) is too much of an ask.

 

[guitarguyvic]

Jesus Christ, this "it has to be the defense or goaltending" argument is so dumb. As if two things can't possibly both be bad at the same time. Do we have defensive breakdowns? Yes. Do we have more defensive breakdowns than most good teams? Probably. Do we have so many more that asking a goalie to not be a complete effing sieve behind ii is out of the question? Doubftul. Nobody is asking or expecting Vitek and Schmid to be Dominik Hasek out there. But I don't think asking them to not be active detriments to the team some nights (more so Vitek than Akira) is too much of an ask.

But this is not an accurate portrayal of the dichotomy. From my observations almost all of us that are extremely critical of this D also recognize goaltending is not very good.

There are several posters who routinely imply that our defense doesn’t have significant problems and simply getting a better goaltender fixes the GA issue enough for the D to not be a concern. I’m sorry but this take is wildly wrong.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Accumulating points is the only thing that matters at this point in the season. Nothing is killing our ability to accumulate points more than the goalies are. It doesn’t matter that much that the defense isn’t “championship caliber” in game 20 something in the season. It can and will tighten up as the year goes on. You get nothing for peaking in November/December. But you can kill your season by piling up 0 point losses because your goalie can’t make a timely save.

 

[guitarguyvic]

so are you. You are agreeing with one random image posted with no backup whatsoever.

I get it, the Devils have the worst defensive system in NHL history, and no other team gives up breakaways or odd man rushes. Because your eyes showed you in 1/4 of a season. Got it. We can move on.

And I have to come back to this again because it’s such a perfect example of how infuriatingly ingenuine discussions here can be.

I write that the devils routinely give up more high risk breakaways/odd mans/cross ice feeds than they get in games. That instead becomes “no other teams give up breakaways or odd man rushes” and “the devils have the worst defensive system in history”.

I point out that it’s refreshing to finally see a stat that appears to back this up, but I did ask for a source for it. This gets turned into “you agree with a random chart” as if I’ve never mentioned my stance on this topic before seeing said chart.

This is a junk way of not engaging with what people are actually saying.

 

[guitarguyvic]

Accumulating points is the only thing that matters at this point in the season. Nothing is killing our ability to accumulate points more than the goalies are. It doesn’t matter that much that the defense isn’t “championship caliber” in game 20 something in the season. It can and will tighten up as the year goes on. You get nothing for peaking in November/December. But you can kill your season by piling up 0 point losses because your goalie can’t make a timely save.

The types of chances this team gives up are below bubble team caliber. How many JAG goalies are we gonna cycle through before the relationship between these two things becomes apparent to some of you?

But you won’t agree so whatever.

 

[NJDevs26]

This is where I agree with guyvic...we can all agree the goalies have been rancid bad - but few people care to look at WHY have two goalies who were above average to average for the most part last year (and in Vitek's case the rest of his career) all of a sudden now 1980's NHL caliber? I'm sure it has nothing to do with everything around them objectively being much worse this year than last year.

You can explain Vitek away with mental issues maybe, but then what's the excuse for Schmid also wildly regressing? Or Blackwood and every other goalie that's come around the last few years?

 

[billingtons ghost]

The biggest problem the Devils have is goaltending. If Fitz doesn’t improve it we won’t make the playoffs. That’s how bad those two bums are.

Nah. We would lose with 95% of the leagues goaltenders the sloppy way we are playing this year. It was really evident against playoff teams like Florida that make a concerted effort to play a smart game and less so against the pond hockey garbage teams we've been playing against. Even the Isles played pond hockey with us.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

And I have to come back to this again because it’s such a perfect example of how infuriatingly ingenuine discussions here can be.

I write that the devils routinely give up more high risk breakaways/odd mans/cross ice feeds than they get in games. That instead becomes “no other teams give up breakaways or odd man rushes” and “the devils have the worst defensive system in history”.

I point out that it’s refreshing to finally see a stat that appears to back this up, but I did ask for a source for it. This gets turned into “you agree with a random chart” as if I’ve never mentioned my stance on this topic before seeing said chart.

This is a junk way of not engaging with what people are actually saying.

Prove it. You can't. Thats why I have no desire to continue this. You're just talking to talk.

Which do you think is more accurate- the Devils give up way more odd man rushes/breakaways than literally ANY OTHER TEAM, or maybe, because you watch the Devils every night, you kind of have a skewed opinion on that just a little bit? I won't claim to watch every single game because nobody can, but from what I see in other games when I watch, there are odd man rushes and breakaways just as much as there are in our games. And this is backed up by the advanced statistics of high-danger chances. and yeah, I know, I know you hate that stat, etc. Thats why I am done with this argument. You "trust your eyes".

Have a great day.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

The types of chances this team gives up are below bubble team caliber. How many JAG goalies are we gonna cycle through before the relationship between these two things becomes apparent to some of you?

But you won’t agree so whatever.

Nah, bullshit. Schmid was a perfectly average goalie before last game by the numbers, which was so unbelievably bad that it dragged down his whole season to looking as though he’s been awful.

Vitek hasn’t been an average goalie stretching back well into last season. Not entertaining your shitty “durr how could 7 goalies all be bad” stuff from a couple years ago when all of the guys were AHLers or injured.

Carolina has gotten worse goaltending than us, so I guess their system is worse?

If we get a couple more saves this year we have a good chunk more points. There is no level of goaltending ineptitude that you won’t excuse.