Post-Game Talk: Bruins 3, Devils 2 (SO) - a wild ride indeed

[JimEIV]

17 for me. he even reminded me of my boy kovy a few times out there

You're just not used to seeing players who can both skate and shoot at the same time....It's been about decade since we had a player that could do both.

 

[Based Anime Fan]

Kulikov had the perfect 'didn't notice him' game, as did Murray.

 

[NjDevsRR]

You can tell how smart and good of a player Murray is. Just stay healthy son.

 

[Nubmer6]

So has this board come to a consensus on Sharangovich’s nickname/abbreviation? We doing Rango/Yegor/#17? These are the important discussions we should be having lol

GO! GO! GOVICH!!!!!!

 

[Emperoreddy]

Its still just Goose and Palms who I thought had pure stinkers all night. Palms was not able to shake his rust off as the game went on.

Goose just seemed super hesitant and was over passing. Getting too cute with it too. Can't try to thread passes like that against Boston unless you know you can get it through and are selling it.

Hopefully they shake it off quick, as we really need them to help lead the way for these kids.

 

[MartyOwns]

Kulikov had the perfect 'didn't notice him' game, as did Murray.

eh...watching him pinch deep a few times was quite an adventure. but honestly i thought he would be so much slower and worse than he was.

 

[Emperoreddy]

eh...watching him pinch deep a few times was quite an adventure. but honestly i thought he would be so much slower and worse than he was.

Yeah. He was ok in the end. Not good but not really bad either.

 

[OmNomNom]

Yeh I think I'll stick w Sharangovich. Rango doesn't sound too bad either

 

[Cheddabombs]

Pretty sure Goose was benched for part of the 3rd and OT as well, I thought he was injured but then he came out for the shootout.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Yeh I think I'll stick w Sharangovich. Rango doesn't sound too bad either

Sticking with Yegor for now. Easier to spell

 

[Patrik26]

The game was actually fun to watch, which how many times could you say that last year?

I'll take that.

I actually found it to be a lot better than the bubble games, even without fans in the seats. Having a true rooting interest in a team makes a world of difference between just watching a game and truly paying attention.

 

[Nubmer6]

Its still just Goose and Palms who I thought had pure stinkers all night. Palms was not able to shake his rust off as the game went on.

Goose just seemed super hesitant and was over passing. Getting too cute with it too. Can't try to thread passes like that against Boston unless you know you can get it through and are selling it.

Hopefully they shake it off quick, as we really need them to help lead the way for these kids.

I wonder if our opinion of Goose's performance would be different if he had hit that open net last night.

I though Goose and Palms were pretty bad, and Johnsson and Koukonnen were pretty disappointing (as in, I was expecting more from them). I didn't notice Tennyson being bad, and I didn't notice Murray much, which I guess is a good thing.

I do love Wood's aggressiveness. In fact, I loved how the entire team was aggressively applying pressure on both ends of the ice, giving Boston a hard time breaking out and taking away time in our own zone. I didn't think an aggressive D in our own zone would work because our D is so slow, but so far so good. The forwards were covering nicely when the D chased.

What I didn't like team-wise was the sloppiness, but that should work itself out as we progress through the season, players get their timing back, and we get more comfortable with our new system.

 

[NjdevilfanJim]

If he plays like he did tonight he isn’t gonna score many... he’s a black hole if he’s not shooting.

speaking of shooting... remember when he used to take one timers from the ovi spot and actually score (or even hit the net)? There’s a reason he doesn’t play there anymore... he started whiffing or missing the net on all of them. His coordination has somehow gotten significantly worse than the day we acquired him

Long layoff plus new system and the fact that's it's KP given how he has been a pretty consistent forty plus point player I think we can give him more time before abandoning ship.

 

[Devil X]

I like Sharangovich. (The full name)

Who said during the GDT "Who is this Sharon Govich broad everyone is talking about" I literally laughed out loud and ran to tell my wife...She just rolled her eyes, which made it even more delightful.

Maybe thats is we call him Sharon

 

[Devil X]

You're just not used to seeing players who can both skate and shoot at the same time....It's been about decade since we had a player that could do both.

Maybe I missed it but Jim what was your take on Sharon for game 1?

 

[JimEIV]

Maybe I missed it but Jim what was your take on Sharon for game 1?

I didn't say anything about him...But my take is he is raw, as expected for a 1st NHL game...

I had seen him live before and I never saw him rifle the puck like I saw him do last night. His shot is at 2 other levels than it was a year ago. And he showed some bursts of speed I didn't know he had either. I was definitely intrigued by the tools. But I think he has a tremendous amount of refining to do to be a regular NHL player, I don't think he is there honestly - but it is a process and we'll have to see how that goes.

 

[Emperoreddy]

I wonder if our opinion of Goose's performance would be different if he had hit that open net last night.

I though Goose and Palms were pretty bad, and Johnsson and Koukonnen were pretty disappointing (as in, I was expecting more from them). I didn't notice Tennyson being bad, and I didn't notice Murray much, which I guess is a good thing.

I do love Wood's aggressiveness. In fact, I loved how the entire team was aggressively applying pressure on both ends of the ice, giving Boston a hard time breaking out and taking away time in our own zone. I didn't think an aggressive D in our own zone would work because our D is so slow, but so far so good. The forwards were covering nicely when the D chased.

What I didn't like team-wise was the sloppiness, but that should work itself out as we progress through the season, players get their timing back, and we get more comfortable with our new system.

A lot of the posession and transition issues stemmed from poor passing due to being pretty badly out of sync (Boston also gives you little room to work in so that was a factor too)

It improved as things went on so you hope that is something that will continue to improve. Especially on the PP.

Need to hit the net more. Missed the net way too many times.

 

[Patrik26]

The 3 stars were Blackwood, Mackenzie and Mackenzie Blackwood

"Save by Blackwood!"
"Save by Blackwood!"
"Save by Blackwood!"
"Save by Blackwood!"
"Save by Blackwood!"
"Save by Blackwood!"

That's all I heard in my sleep last night.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

He just wasn’t doing these things last year. Progress

 

[mort4345]

After the first period if Vegas was offering 5000 to 1 odds for the Devils to win the Stanley Cup I wouldn't have even considered wasting my $1. But by the end of the third period I was on the edge of my seat, something that I had not anticipated. So by that standard, it was an awesome first game. Most of the rookies aquitted themselves quite well. Sharangovich and Blackwood were outstanding. Gusev and Palms clearly had an off game. I also think I have a little harsher take on Hughes than some on this board, still looks and plays way too tentative for my liking - but in fairness, it's only one game. Lots of rookies, young players, new players, new coach and new system so there are going to be plenty of bumps in the road. Overall though, good to get through Game 1 without wanting to jump off a 4-story ledge. Now let's see what Game 2 reveals as this entire board could have a completely different take on this team after Saturday.

 

[My3Sons]

Maybe thats is we call him Sharon

Sharango-lama-ding-dong

 

[JimEIV]

After the first period if Vegas was offering 5000 to 1 odds for the Devils to win the Stanley Cup I wouldn't have even considered wasting my $1. But by the end of the third period I was on the edge of my seat, something that I had not anticipated. So by that standard, it was an awesome first game. Most of the rookies aquitted themselves quite well. Sharangovich and Blackwood were outstanding. Gusev and Palms clearly had an off game. I also think I have a little harsher take on Hughes than some on this board, still looks and plays way too tentative for my liking - but in fairness, it's only one game. Lots of rookies, young players, new players, new coach and new system so there are going to be plenty of bumps in the road. Overall though, good to get through Game 1 without wanting to jump off a 4-story ledge. Now let's see what Game 2 reveals as this entire board could have a completely different take on this team after Saturday.

I've been thinking about this very fact...Another step forward and this board will be euphoric...A Step backward and were going to need to sticky the suicide hotline number.

 

[JK3]

I'm calling him Sharon but in Ozzy's voice.

 

[mtnet]

Yeah the first period last night I was thinking, wow this is even worse than I could have imagined.

They woke up for the second half of the game and I was definitely entertained for the final third and OT. Regretful it went to a shootout but the effort to to steal a point and Blackwood's performance were encouraging. I couldn't even be upset about the loss honestly except the way that we lost kinda sucked.

It will take time for the new coach/system to take hold and everyone to solidify roles and assignments, but once we add our missing starters I think at minimum we have the makings of a fun team to watch. Too bad Blackwood got worked so hard last night but he seems to thrive on that at times.

I'm hoping we'll be further entertained under a different staff this season. I'm intrigued to see what Ruff can do with this young club but I like that he gave lots of them plenty of leash last night. They faced a perennial deep run playoff team last night, so a point with all things considered was a pleasant surprise.

 

[MNDevilsfan]

Maybe I'm drinking the kool aid a bit, but I thought Hughes looked like an entirely different player vs what we saw last year in the second half of the game. The same elite transition play and much better poise in getting set up in the offensive zone. And that was with one of his wingers very clearly shaking off the rust. Not a huge step maybe, but definitely a step. Let's see if he can keep it up.

Smith clearly had some nerves but I thought he looked very solid from the middle of the game on. Sharangovich, McLeod, and Bastian all did their jobs.

On the other hand, I may have already see enough of that Gusev - Zacha - Johnsson line, though I get it's a bit out of necessity with Hischier and Bratt out of the lineup.