GDT: Devils @ Hurricanes - 7:00 PM - MSG

[Richer's Ghost]

Bratt is having a real meh stretch right now, but he’s still PPG on the year. He’s not a complimentary player. I’m sure he’ll turn it around, right about now would be nice though.

I'm gonna hold you to that. THIS IS NOW ON YOU. lol

<Rally cap time - change the avatar. Juice the mojo and ditch the pain.

 

[guitarguyvic]

Bratt is having a real meh stretch right now, but he’s still PPG on the year. He’s not a complimentary player. I’m sure he’ll turn it around, right about now would be nice though.

A point per game player in today’s nhl is like a 65-70 point player five years ago.

Which is fine but it’s not the level we thought he was a few weeks ago. Maybe Fitz is onto something if he doesn’t want to pay him top dollar. Let’s see where his production is when the season is done.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Time for a warmup brawl tonight. I think the distinction is important, b'y.

 

[Blender]

Is Jesper Bratt just a shadow player that can thrive if someone else is pulling the coverage on his line leaving him open to roam and find the soft spots? I don't see him driving the net alone and leading the rush. He's not even scoring on breakaways now which makes me wonder if he's just a complimentary player, not a feature one. We don't need to sink tons of money long term into one of those guys if it ends up costing you true feature players elsewhere.

??

He's been one of the best play drivers in the league the last few seasons, but he looks like a corpse of his former self lately out there. He needs to be more consistent than this if he wants Hughes money.

That being said as well, Nico's offensive game has also dried up significantly. He also needs to be better.

 

[Dylan9z9]

I know some might say it's melodramatic, but this is starting to look like a death spiral.

Well I said we were heading for an 8 game losing streak at the 3rd loss but what do I know

 

[Blackjack]

I don’t care what the models say, we aren’t a “Cup Contender” yet. That takes longer to establish than 30 games.

The strong start means that now I would be disappointed if we don’t make the playoffs but that’s the extent to where I raised my expectations. Well, I want 100 points.

The models have consistently had us as a playoff team (or at least close to it) for years now, and the team has so regularly and substantially underperformed them that it became something of a joke. This is, or at least was, the first year they were outperforming the model.

I don’t think anyone expected the 135 points or whatever we were on pace for. But is it really too much to expect that a team that is challenging records for best start in NHL history can pull itself out of a funk before it turns into a full-on tail spin?

I don’t think it’s fair to wag your finger at fans that are frustrated watching the team turn into a pumpkin. I don’t agree that expectations were out of line, I think they were reasonable and the team is now failing to meet them.

IMO people had gone overboard due to statistical anomalies related to the streak and our strong analytics during an easy portion of the schedule early in the year.

And now people are overreacting the other way, saying this is like worse seasons even though it’s not, if you win way more and perform a lot better that in fact means something and is even more fun. Pessimism is mostly an emotional reaction.

In what way did they go overboard? Who was projecting a 135 point season, or even a president’s trophy? Everyone had the team coming back down to earth, and even losing a few in a row. What’s frustrating is the wheels came off completely.

I don’t know what the magic solution is but we aren’t going to play ourselves out of the playoff race in December even if we lose to Boston twice. Didn’t people want to play meaningful games in March? Well here you go.

Yes, we need to get points, starting with Florida hopefully.

I don’t know, I don’t care much at this point. I agree with you that they’ll make the playoffs. They’ve already shown that they don’t have the ability to respond to adversity, and that pretty much rules out a playoff run. After ‘17-‘18 I cared way less about making token playoff appearances.

Carolina always looked like they could win the Metro. Pittsburgh is always does their Jeykll and Hyde act where they look dead in the water and then look like the best team in the Metro the month. They aren’t going to be like this all season.

Carolina is a mid team. They’re nothing special. If the Devils were real they would have come out and rolled them.

 

[Dylan9z9]

I think Geertsen needs to be in tonight to keep these goons from targeting Nico. Smith needs to be out....

 

[HBK27]

Well I said we were heading for an 8 game losing streak at the 3rd loss but what do I know

Wow - that's amazing! Congratulations!

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Carolina is a mid team. They’re nothing special. If the Devils were real they would have come out and rolled them.

There isn’t a team that has been “rolled” less than Carolina this year other than Boston and probably us. We controlled flow of play better than I expected, that’s what Carolina does.

 

[Guttersniped]

Haula has been good for us, minus his ability to score goals with grade A chances. He is putting up points, helping defensively a huge amount and has some chemistry with Hughes.

We were curious about the boos for Haula on the thread here earlier...it was louder than Dougie even.

Yeah was surprised to hear the boos for Dougie. I thought he was relished down there (even after leaving)

I get Dougie. Not saying it makes sense or is right but he turned them down (well, their worse offer) and left. It doesn’t take a lot of fans doing for it to be audible.

Pretty sure Bratt is playing injured.

It’s tough with Nico against better teams because he’s our shutdown line and no other line is particularly trusted. You can see him get close, he just hasn’t potted one. The PP not producing is problem, he gets more done lately there. Nico’s not the problem and other guys need to score.

Zetterlund has been pointless for 7 games. Sharangovich has one point (an assist) in 9 games. Tatar has one point (a goal) in 9 games. Wood has one point (a goal) in 7 games. Boqvist has no points in 11 games.

We haven’t been scoring other than Jack so the drought is everywhere.

Well I said we were heading for an 8 game losing streak at the 3rd loss but what do I know

Everything, clearly.

 

[Devs3cups]

There isn’t a team that has been “rolled” less than Carolina this year other than Boston and probably us. We controlled flow of play better than I expected, that’s what Carolina does.

The Corsi Canes, they’re called!

 

[guitarguyvic]

Well I said we were heading for an 8 game losing streak at the 3rd loss but what do I know

Well since you knew, I assume you wagered a boatload of money on the outcomes, right? How much richer are you now?

 

[NjDevsRR]

Someone post a basic GDT, I made a draft but not allowed to post (bad me). I have a good one for tonight, Ill post it in the second comment. I hope it changes our fortunes!

 

[Dylan9z9]

Wow - that's amazing! Congratulations!

Thanks Bro, wasn't it you that said back then no way we were going to lose 4 in a row?

Well since you knew, I assume you wagered a boatload of money on the outcomes, right? How much richer are you now?

Not a gambler I'll leave that to degenerates like you