Post-Game Talk: Devils beat Bruins 3-2! f***ing Right Edition

[TBF1972]

You have to think there is a couple people in Boston thinking, I don't want to see the Devils in the playoffs.

i think, it's way to early to talk about po's. let's first qualify for them, before trying to pick the opponent. with the limited scouting opportunities teams might also not be as prepared now. once the po's come around those same teams will be more familiar with ruff's devils.

 

[TBF1972]

Not even...nine lol, the seven in our division through the first two playoff rounds than the final two series with non division teams

i haven't looked at the playoff format, yet. is it already fixed, which divisions face off in the semi-finals?

 

[JimEIV]

i just searched on grubhub for 'lindy ruff crow' so i could have a big spoonful but i couldn't find any within 20 miles of me.

what a job he's done, under the most ridiculous circumstances.

I don't believe Ruff was anyone's first or second choice...

In hindsight we are pretty lucky some of the other "names" didn't want the job

 

[Emperoreddy]

Yeah I am not sure Lavs would be as kid friendly as Ruff has been.

 

[The Wumpus]

I've been reading through opponent GDTs this year and they all keep talking about how it looks like their team isn't trying hard and complain about how annoying the Devils are. I love that shit. That tells me we've got something real going on here.

Literally half their comments are how Frederic should beat up everyone on our team. The Devils got under a lot of skin last night.

 

[Blender]

Yeah I am not sure Lavs would be as kid friendly as Ruff has been.

Who knows, might be why we got the job. Some older coaches refuse to learn and adapt, others will do so though. If when they were interviewing him he committed to playing youth and giving guys a chance with an up-tempo aggressive forecheck system, that might have won him the job. That's certainly what we've been seeing from him.

 

[Blender]

I've been reading through opponent GDTs this year and they all keep talking about how it looks like their team isn't trying hard and complain about how annoying the Devils are. I love that shit. That tells me we've got something real going on here.

This team is very fast and Ruff has them working their ass off. We also always have 2-3 guys on the puck with other players expected to provide coverage from when players move out of position. Ruff really has the team using their speed to swarm other teams and pressure the puck all game.

 

[Devil X]

This team is very fast and Ruff has them working their ass off. We also always have 2-3 guys on the puck with other players expected to provide coverage from when players move out of position. Ruff really has the team using their speed to swarm other teams and pressure the puck all game.

Good point and having the 2 Dman collapse on the puck carrier below the goal line has been a good touch also. The forwards are picking up the assignments right and the puck carriers are getting mauled by the 2 defenseman.

Its an interesting system.

 

[AfroThunder396]

It's pretty hilarious in retrospect how much people were shitting their pants with rage after Lindy was hired.

Especially because so many of them did it solely because they believed Rangers fans who claimed he was responsible for their defense being trash.

 

[JimEIV]

It's pretty hilarious in retrospect how much people were shitting their pants with rage after Lindy was hired.

Especially because so many of them did it solely because they believed Rangers fans who claimed he was responsible for their defense being trash.

Dallas fans contributed to the "doubt" too...So you had his last two job references give not too stellar reports.

 

[Combat Koala]

Watched quick highlights of the game and seeing Zacha do a spin-o-rama pass and then score made me smile. Hope they encourage him to shoot more and get him pumped up. I don't think I've seen him shoot a onetime slapper even once but he was supposed to have a bullet of a shot. I've fallen too many times for his short streaks of games where he looks like he's about to break out only to have him go pointless in the next 10 games and look like a ghost while doing it so I'm not gonna hype him up yet. f*** the gentle giant style of play, I want him to go berserk and play like a reckless power forward shooting and hitting left right and center.

Also noticed how Hughes was able to pull in two defenders to open up Palmieri before that nice pass. Good to have Palms on the scoreboard finally.

 

[RangerDoggo]

I don’t think there was a Devils fan out there who put Ruff anywhere near the top of their list when it was announced he was the mystery candidate. I sure as hell wasn’t. My view was “at least he’ll be better than Hynes.” Needless to say, he’s far exceeded my very low original expectation.

It’s way too early to talk playoffs but if nothing else, we should be in the thick of things.

Also noticed how Hughes was able to pull in two defenders to open up Palmieri before that nice pass. Good to have Palms on the scoreboard finally.

That pass from Hughes was absolutely filthy. I love that he’s showing his true power this year.

 

[Triumph]

I don’t think there was a Devils fan out there who put Ruff anywhere near the top of their list when it was announced he was the mystery candidate. I sure as hell wasn’t. My view was “at least he’ll be better than Hynes.” Needless to say, he’s far exceeded my very low original expectation.

It’s way too early to talk playoffs but if nothing else, we should be in the thick of things.

That pass from Hughes was absolutely filthy. I love that he’s showing his true power this year.

He'd had a good run in Dallas but his Buffalo teams were usually outshot and the Rangers defense was just terrible - all the Rangers fans were laughing when the Devils hired him.

I don't know how much of the system is his and how much is what Dennehy was doing down in Binghamton but that doesn't really matter all that much, this team is playing excellent hockey 5 on 5.

 

[SJinNewJersey]

i think, it's way to early to talk about po's. let's first qualify for them, before trying to pick the opponent. with the limited scouting opportunities teams might also not be as prepared now. once the po's come around those same teams will be more familiar with ruff's devils.

You really read a lot into my post that wasn't there.

 

[AfroThunder396]

Dallas fans contributed to the "doubt" too...So you had his last two job references give not too stellar reports.

The Dallas situation was weird. Those teams finished with 91, 92, 109 points his first three years. The fourth year they had 79 points, but it was mostly goaltending that let them down. Lehtonen had a 2.85 GAA/.902 SV% and Niemi had a 3.30 GAA/.892 SV% in Lindy's final year. The next season they brought in Ben Bishop and went back up to 92 points under Ken Hitchcock (who was only back for that one year and still missed the playoffs).

Those Dallas teams were also constructed to be very top heavy, and Lindy is at his best when he can roll four lines. The 06 and 07 Sabres teams would steamroll you top to bottom, and that's clearly what his game plan for this Devils team is. Dallas had like 4 guys you had to take away to beat them.

 

[TBF1972]

You really read a lot into my post that wasn't there.

it's not your post specifically. it's the general vibe, that we as devils fans take more out of that small sample size, as there is.

i have my personal ranking of fan bases most disconected from reality. obviously every fan base has homers, who are borderline trolls and the once, who are completely in a different stratosphere. i just would like the devils fan base to stay modest, until they actually have won something, that counts. we all have seen the dynasty talk about the leafs like two, three years ago and they haven't won a single po round since. close to new jersey the fastest rebuild happened and was immediately followed by shortest window of contention.

staying grounded on our own board, might keep some of us from opening stupid mainboard threads. who cares, if smith is in the hfboard calder race. the votes at the end of the season are the only ones, that count. keeping the win% above 60% will take care of the rest.

 

[CDJ]

Bruins fan here, who the hell is this sharangovich kid and how does he only have 3 points? Every time I see him play he’s doing something good

what’s his upside?

 

[Darkauron]

Bruins fan here, who the hell is this sharangovich kid and how does he only have 3 points? Every time I see him play he’s doing something good

what’s his upside?

The moon. He is such a good hard working kid, but it is hard to know exactly what he will end up being.

Id take a wild guess as a middle six foward/high end PKer

 

[JimEIV]

Bruins fan here, who the hell is this sharangovich kid and how does he only have 3 points? Every time I see him play he’s doing something good

what’s his upside?

I am sure you'll get many responses and I am sure I will have a different take than most...He has come out of nowhere. We drafted him as an overager in 2018 and spent the last two years in the AHL doing very little...Came on strong in the AHL right before it was shutdown for the pandemic...Continued his strong play in the KHL scoring 17 goals in 34 games for Minsk...

My talent analysis...Good speed and strong on his skates. Has shown a bit of snarl from time to time Hard, fast(meaning quick release) shot not very accurate. His accuracy needs improvement and so does his shot selection...Could be just a learning process

It is hard to say what his upside is based on the past. There is a potential for a late blooming middle 6 forward in my opinion.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Bruins fan here, who the hell is this sharangovich kid and how does he only have 3 points? Every time I see him play he’s doing something good

what’s his upside?

Another one of the high level middle 6 forwards our system is absolutely flush with. Can move up and down the lineup as necessary. Just solid all around, but no exceptional traits.

 

[JimEIV]

Another one of the high level middle 6 forwards our system is absolutely flush with. Can move up and down the lineup as necessary. Just solid all around, but no exceptional traits.

We have a couple of interesting forwards in the system for sure. But I am not sure we are flush with anything. I think biggest organization strength right now is ironically LD

 

[Guttersniped]

At the time, I think it was perhaps unnecessary, although I personally didn’t have a strong opinion against the pick.

But due to the unforeseen erosion of Cory it turned out to be something that was needed.

It was always needed, you can’t have nothing in your goalie prospect pool and we had nothing. Some people were upset because they thought it was too high a pick to spend on a goalie.

 

[OmNomNom]

The Dallas situation was weird. Those teams finished with 91, 92, 109 points his first three years. The fourth year they had 79 points, but it was mostly goaltending that let them down. Lehtonen had a 2.85 GAA/.902 SV% and Niemi had a 3.30 GAA/.892 SV% in Lindy's final year. The next season they brought in Ben Bishop and went back up to 92 points under Ken Hitchcock (who was only back for that one year and still missed the playoffs).

Those Dallas teams were also constructed to be very top heavy, and Lindy is at his best when he can roll four lines. The 06 and 07 Sabres teams would steamroll you top to bottom, and that's clearly what his game plan for this Devils team is. Dallas had like 4 guys you had to take away to beat them.

I'm wondering if lindy's current system mirrors what he used w those teams though. 15 yrs is a long time

 

[AfroThunder396]

Bruins fan here, who the hell is this sharangovich kid and how does he only have 3 points? Every time I see him play he’s doing something good

what’s his upside?

He was drafted in the 5th round as an overager, went directly to the AHL and did nothing of note, then when COVID happened he went back to play in Russia and exploded seemingly out of nowhere (17 goals in 34 games I believe). Came into camp and blew the door down.

His NHL play has been hit or miss, I would say his best games this year have been the three against Boston so there might be a bit of bias. You likely didn't see the games against Philly and Buffalo where he was invisible/bad. But he's still young and learning. I think he ends up as a 20-30 point guy on the 3rd line who can play up in a pinch.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

We have a couple of interesting forwards in the system for sure. But I am not sure we are flush with anything. I think biggest organization strength right now is ironically LD

Relative to a lot of other teams, we are flush with those types of players.