Post-Game Talk: Devils 4-Refs 2

[Devil X]

Of all things with a Devils logo on the ice tonight, it was a tie between Lovejoy and the ice itself that sucked the most. Guys falling all over the place. It was disgusting.

Mueller drives me nuts. Really nuts.

Bratt keeps me sane. He deserved that goal so much.

I thought Mueller had a pretty good game. I noticed he was being more physical then normal. He went after Malkin and knocked him down a couple times. Im wondering if that was a point from the coaching staff about his play.

 

[Devil X]

I think him on the 3rd line would be fine.

He might not score there either though.

I wouldnt be opposed to that. Once Nico is back maybe

Hall - Zajac - Palmieri
Bratt - Nico - Anderson (I just really like the make up of this line, I just want to give it a few games and see)
Wood/Seney - Zacha - MoJo
Boyle/Wood - Seney/Boyle - Coleman
Noesen Dea

 

[Better Call Sal]

Anyone who openly shits on Zajac in any capacity should revoke their fan card.

I f***ing love that guy, man.

 

[Devil X]

Oh also for those getting on MoJo, you should be getting on Wood also. He hasnt dont anything, and kills far more offensive plays then MoJo does, at least IMO.

 

[Jets012]

I don't know man, the defense sure looks much much better when Kinkaid is in there. I wonder if there's a reason

All in all though, very good game. First line was awesome. Hall was awesome, Severson was awesome. Mueller keeps doing his job. Coleman was great. Lovejoy/Butcher were much better we play like that we'll be fine and tough to beat

 

[Nubmer6]

BTW, saw some replays on the challenged goal. They made the right call. Vatanen's stick pushed out the skates from under Crosby. There's no way he could stop.

 

[New Jersey]

whoomp there it is

 

[Devils731]

BTW, saw some replays on the challenged goal. They made the right call. Vatanen's stick pushed out the skates from under Crosby. There's no way he could stop.

The league ruling doesn’t mention Vatanen at all, only that Coleman shoved Crosby.

Despite the shove, does it seem like Crosby did everything in his power to avoid contact? To my eyes Crosby made little to no effort to avoid contact.

 

[Bleedred]

I don't know man, the defense sure looks much much better when Kinkaid is in there. I wonder if there's a reason

All in all though, very good game. First line was awesome. Hall was awesome, Severson was awesome. Mueller keeps doing his job. Coleman was great. Lovejoy/Butcher were much better we play like that we'll be fine and tough to beat

I actually don't think Mueller gets enough praise around here, considering that Santini was praised to high heaven last year on the top pairing.

 

[Blender]

The league ruling doesn’t mention Vatanen at all, only that Coleman shoved Crosby.

Despite the shove, does it seem like Crosby did everything in his power to avoid contact? To my eyes Crosby made little to no effort to avoid contact.

I don't think he did anything to avoid contact. His feet were essentially pointed at Kinkaid the entire time, so it's not like he was crossing in front of Kinkaid but was pushed into him, he was already skating into Kinkaid.

 

[Nubmer6]

The league ruling doesn’t mention Vatanen at all, only that Coleman shoved Crosby.

Despite the shove, does it seem like Crosby did everything in his power to avoid contact? To my eyes Crosby made little to no effort to avoid contact.

Maybe they thought it was Coleman's stick. Either way, if you see the replay again, you can see Crosby leaning back trying to stop, and his skate gets kicked forward toward KK. At least that's what it looked like to me.

Either way, I'm glad it didn't matter.

 

[Richer's Ghost]

I thought Mueller had a pretty good game. I noticed he was being more physical then normal. He went after Malkin and knocked him down a couple times. Im wondering if that was a point from the coaching staff about his play.

Go watch the challenged Crosby bump on Kinkaid goal again and find Mueller. He drives me nuts for those reasons. And then late in the game protecting a 1 goal lead he's following the rush in deep and skating around the back of the net?? WTF is he thinking there? He needs a summer camp with Lemaire.

 

[Blender]

I actually don't think Mueller gets enough praise around here, considering that Santini was praised to high heaven last year on the top pairing.

People were pulling all the corsi stats out to trash Santini last year, but there hasn't been much of that for Mueller despite his shooting stats being great.

 

[Jets012]

I actually don't think Mueller gets enough praise around here, considering that Santini was praised to high heaven last year on the top pairing.

I agree. He's actually doing what people thought Santini was.

And the reality is he's actually playing 100000x better than Santini was.

 

[Nubmer6]

I agree. He's actually doing what people thought Santini was.

And the reality is he's actually playing 100000x better than Santini was.

I thought Santini started strong his first few games, then fell off a cliff.

 

[Bleedred]

People were pulling all the corsi stats out to trash Santini last year, but there hasn't been much of that for Mueller despite his shooting stats being great.

I think Mueller was a slight negative in relative corsi (even strength) coming into this game, which is to be expected with the tough competition. Even Larsson was like a -2 or -3 something in relative corsi his last year here in that role.

 

[Nubmer6]

 

[Bleedred]

I don't know man, the defense sure looks much much better when Kinkaid is in there. I wonder if there's a reason

I'm actually not sure if I made the right decision not giving Schneider a stoppable goal on goal 1 the other night. I only gave him one on the pathetic goal 5. I got roasted for initially calling out Schneider for that one, but I've seen that shot hit him (not 100% of the time) more than half the times when he was still a good goaltender.

It's evident that Kinkaid is the best goalie on the team, which is something I think has been true for almost a year now. He's been better than Schneider since the start of the 16-17 season, but he also was a clear cut backup for almost all of 16-17. We didn't really see enough of him in an increased workload until last year, outside of a 4 week stretch in March of 2016 when he got the job over an injured Schneider and lost it to Wedgewood for a while and didn't do well. I don't think he's great, but he's our best bet right now. Hynes has done a good job by mostly sticking by him, but I think if he gets blown up again like he did in Toronto, he can't go back to Schneider over it like he did last game. At this point, I would treat him like you would if you're starter got blown up in a game and go right back to him.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Oh also for those getting on MoJo, you should be getting on Wood also. He hasnt dont anything, and kills far more offensive plays then MoJo does, at least IMO.

Wood has been awful, he will never be anything more than what he is now until his hockey IQ improves. It still has a ways to go but I did like some parts of his game tonight. Baby steps.

 

[Bleedred]

Why didn't the Bratt goal count? So lame.

Whistle shouldn't have been blown, they were getting the penalty anyway.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Lovejoy and Hall had the most shots in the game at 6 a piece. All Stars

 

[NjDevsRR]

Why didn't the Bratt goal count? So lame.

Whistle shouldn't have been blown, they were getting the penalty anyway.

Seney got a penalty as well so that leads to an automatic whistle when both teams committed an infraction. Correct call IMO. Also DeSmith did not even try haha, if there wasn’t a whistle who knows if Bratt would have scored.

 

[NJDevs26]

I just saw elsewhere that Zajac has 14 goals and 18 assists in his last 45 regular season games...not bad for a stonehands. That's damn close to his production in the salad days with Parise and Langs.

And I'm sure this has been mentioned before but:
6-1-1 at home
1-7 on the road

If you want to be generous and count the Sweden one as a road game (which it isn't since you get the last change) then 5-1-1 and 2-7.

 

[MadDevil]

For some reason I've never noticed how much of a bitch Hornqvist is until these last couple games against the Pens. He was going ballistic on the clear by Anderson that went off the top of the glass. I don't think he ate enough hotdogs tonight.

 

[NJDevs26]

For some reason I've never noticed how much of a ***** Hornqvist is until these last couple games against the Pens. He was going ballistic on the clear by Anderson that went off the top of the glass. I don't think he ate enough hotdogs tonight.

I was just waiting for them to reverse it and call a delay of game so I could go ballistic. Actually I found the nonsense amusing most of the night and was actively laughing when they waved off, then denied the review on the two goals respectively. It's like of course, wtf else is new?