Pre-Game Talk: Devils (M2) vs Rangers (M3), Round 1, 2023 NHL Playoffs.

[Tundra]

 

[Clam Jensen]

If you can’t beat us at our Smith and Graves you don’t deserve to beat us at our Hughes and Nemec

 

[RememberTheName]

I don’t really have any evidence to back it up but for me, Hischier and Meier have been the Devils’ best forwards in the series. I feel like they’ve looked a little more calm and composed and been more valuable in all 3 zones. But at the end of the day, everyone’s just gonna look at the scoresheet and judge you by how many times your name is there.

I haven’t been happy with how Hughes and Bratt have looked; like they’re trying to win the whole series every time the puck’s on their stick. But it’s a testament to their skill that they can still tilt the ice and get good scoring opportunities (and score now and then) even when they kinda look like shit. Everyone else on the roster doesn’t have that luxury. Overall it’s just tough to watch a bunch of talented youngsters fail to reach their potential due to a lack of structure.

But i bet if i could go back in time to October, I’d have had really similar thoughts at the beginning of the season. I’d love to think there’s something to the players saying they’re gonna reach another level, but i’ll believe when I see it. The team finally started to look like themselves in overtime on Saturday. Hopefully they can build off that.

I don't necessarily disagree on Nico playing well (certainly not better than Hughes but I'm not gonna argue), but Meier? The only thing he has done is been physical (and I'd argue he's been taking himself out of plays to be needlessly physical). I am wondering what you have seen that is giving you this opinion on Meier, because it seems like I must be watching a different game than you are. To me, I see a player who is careless all over the ice, whether it being him taking penalties at a rate only Brendan Smith could match or just making consistently bad decisions with the puck on his stick. His passing has been Sharangovich levels of bad and he has seemingly been turning the puck over a ton in the neutral zone through either these bad passes or just a lack of awareness with the puck on his stick. It's nice seeing him make all of these power moves around the net and skilled plays in the neutral zone but when the puck inevitably gets either softly shoveled on net for an easy save or poked away and turned over, it's hard for me to say he has generated anything offensively. He hasn't been setting anyone up, he hasn't really gotten all that many dangerous chances on net by my viewing, he turns the puck over way too much. I really would like to see much more out of him.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Game 6 is currently scheduled for 8PM Saturday night on ABC/ESPN+

 

[Guttersniped]

I don't necessarily disagree on Nico playing well (certainly not better than Hughes but I'm not gonna argue), but Meier? The only thing he has done is been physical (and I'd argue he's been taking himself out of plays to be needlessly physical). I am wondering what you have seen that is giving you this opinion on Meier, because it seems like I must be watching a different game than you are. To me, I see a player who is careless all over the ice, whether it being him taking penalties at a rate only Brendan Smith could match or just making consistently bad decisions with the puck on his stick. His passing has been Sharangovich levels of bad and he has seemingly been turning the puck over a ton in the neutral zone through either these bad passes or just a lack of awareness with the puck on his stick. It's nice seeing him make all of these power moves around the net and skilled plays in the neutral zone but when the puck inevitably gets either softly shoveled on net for an easy save or poked away and turned over, it's hard for me to say he has generated anything offensively. He hasn't been setting anyone up, he hasn't really gotten all that many dangerous chances on net by my viewing, he turns the puck over way too much. I really would like to see much more out of him.

I would very much like a goal from Meier too, preferably next game, but he’s gotten a bunch of scoring chances by getting pucks to the net.

I don’t understand how you can say Meier hasn’t generated anything offensively, as frustrating as it is for him to not have a goal yet.

Devils Forwards 5v5

Devils Forwards Overall

 

[Emperoreddy]

 

[Richer's Ghost]

 

[glenwo2]

With 2 days off it will be interesting to see what wrinkles both teams come up with.

For the Rangers, I think they’ll want to attack through the sides of the neutral zone with speed and dump pucks hard around for their opposite side winger and instigate puck battles where the Devils are prone to overcommit and not dangerous if the Devils win the puck.

For the Devils, I think they want to stress the instances where the defenseman can safely activate and/or pinch to generate more possession and opportunities.

The Rangers had the better gameplan games 1 and 2. The Devils have now put in place a new strong plan so it’s incumbent on the Rangers to adjust and the Devils to guess the adjustment and already have the next plan ready.

The Rags can have all the "gameplanning" they want.

The bottom line, though, is that Akira Schmid will still be in net and make no mistake (despite how many excuses Gallant has made for them), Akira IS IN THEIR HEADS.

 

[glenwo2]

@Hockey Sports Fan I haven’t been happy with how Hughes and Bratt have looked; like they’re trying to win the whole series every time the puck’s on their stick.

Just saw a response to this quote above that apparently I missed.

WTF?

What is wrong with trying to win the whole series?

Isn't it the whole goal in the game to GET A GOAL to help the team win?

For instance, Bratt and Nico were two of the more dangerous offensive players in this game not named Jack.

Every time they were on the ice and on a rush, Bratt would make his usual outstanding pass to Nico for a high-quality scoring chance.


This is the first time I have ever seen a Devils fan COMPLAIN about their players trying to win basically. Weird.

 

[RSeen]

I would very much like a goal from Meier too, preferably next game, but he’s gotten a bunch of scoring chances by getting pucks to the net.

I don’t understand how you can say Meier hasn’t generated anything offensively, as frustrating as it is for him to not have a goal yet.

Devils Forwards 5v5
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Devils Forwards Overall
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As good as these numbers paint Meier, the eye test does not tell the same story. He has been a big negative on the PP with turning the puck over and making poor plays.

At even strength, the shots he is generating might be overrated in terms of xG since public metrics do not account for puck movement. A shot that is getting the goal to move laterally is different than a outside shot with Meier coming in 1 on 2 on a rush.

He easily could have costs us game 4 with bad plays and taking a bad penalty.

I think he can be better but I think you need to keep him on the 3rd line and PP2. He has clearly had trouble adjusting to our system.

 

[glenwo2]

So we now know what time Game 6 is.

Hopefully it's going to be a Series-Clinching game for the Devils.

 

[NjDevsRR]

 

[Richer's Ghost]

So we now know what time Game 6 is.

Hopefully it's going to be a Series-Clinching game for the Devils.

 

[glenwo2]

What?

did I say something wrong?

I used the word "Hopefully", not GUARANTEE (if a "jinx" is what you're worried about)

 

[OmNomNom]

Brooooo why so late

 

[Richer's Ghost]

What?

did I say something wrong?

I used the word "Hopefully", not GUARANTEE (if a "jinx" is what you're worried about)

You posted the same thing I did hours earlier.

You posted the same thing I did hours earlier.

Is there an echo in here?

 

[glenwo2]

You posted the same thing I did hours earlier.

You posted the same thing I did hours earlier.

Is there an echo in here?

Sorry but I don't go back and look through threads to find if someone posted something already.

It's how I roll.

Besides, if it was hours earlier and I spent most of my time either in the GDT or the Devils Discussion thread, how the hell would I know what you posted hours before in this thread?

 

[AfroThunder396]

Yeah, I mean those gaudy 48-20 SOG numbers we saw during the regular season just aren't going to happen in the playoffs.

That being said, 103 shots in 4 games (25.75/game) is worst in the playoffs and pretty astonishingly bad for a team that was 4th in the league with 2821 shots in 82 games (34.4/game).

This is a low event series and is likely going to continue being a low event series. That's the way the Rangers want to play it. The counting stats are always prone to being skewed in small sample sizes during the playoffs, but this series in particularly they're not going to be very informative.

 

[bossram]

As good as these numbers pain Meier, the eye test does not tell the same story. He has been a big negative on the PP with turning the puck over and making poor plays.

At even strength, the shots he is generating might be overrated in terms of xG since public metrics do not account for puck movement. A shot that is getting the goal to move laterally is different than a outside shot with Meier coming in 1 on 2 on a rush.

He easily could have costs us game 4 with bad plays and taking a bad penalty.

I think he can be better but I think you need to keep him on the 3rd line and PP2. He has clearly had trouble adjusting to our system.

Yep. I think Meier is working hard, but he hasn't been close to good enough. Costly penalties and poor puck management in some instances. He's a guy they need to pick it up if they want to win this series.

 

[Devils731]

Good news. Severson is the most versatile defender on the team so he’s needed both as overly qualified on the 3rd pair and in case he needs to fill in anywhere if something bad happens.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Meier had a rough game 4 but a great game 3. The Meier/Hischier/Bratt line has been good the last two games as a whole. Other than Hughes who has two breakaway/penalty shot goals, the team just isn't scoring enough goals from top to bottom though and won't win unless that changes most likely. Schmid's been great but putting up three straight games like games 3/4 shouldn't be expected.

 

[NjDevsRR]

the team just isn't scoring enough goals from top to bottom though and won't win unless that changes most likely

So the Devils played the Rangers this way three times and won all three. (Last regular season matchup and games 3 and 4).

They played this way against Colorado in October as well. They have a history of winning low scoring affairs if needed. I am confident they can continue doing that against a Rangers team that has little flexibility on their roster to make changes. Devils push play when needed and I trust that.

What they did Monday was impressive. Only giving up 3 shots in the last 15 mins of a pivotal game on the road.

 

[RSeen]

Meier had a rough game 4 but a great game 3. The Meier/Hischier/Bratt line has been good the last two games as a whole. Other than Hughes who has two breakaway/penalty shot goals, the team just isn't scoring enough goals from top to bottom though and won't win unless that changes most likely. Schmid's been great but putting up three straight games like games 3/4 shouldn't be expected.

I suspect Hishier and Bratt would look good with a Tatar, Palat or Mercer as well. Personally, I think we are better off with Timo on the 3rd line for now. But you are right, we need more goals.

 

[Richer's Ghost]

Found an oldie but goody

 

[Unknown Caller]

So the Devils played the Rangers this way three times and won all three. (Last regular season matchup and games 3 and 4).

They played this way against Colorado in October as well. They have a history of winning low scoring affairs if needed. I am confident they can continue doing that against a Rangers team that has little flexibility on their roster to make changes. Devils push play when needed and I trust that.

What they did Monday was impressive. Only giving up 3 shots in the last 15 mins of a pivotal game on the road.

The team trailing in these low event games tends to look terrible and the team leading tends to look great defensively. In the first two games, the Devils could barely get through the neutral zone without icing the puck and they looked awful, while the Rangers looked like defensive stalwarts. Everyone immediately said that the Devils style wouldn't work in the playoffs.

Then the Devils win a couple tight games, and now the narrative is that we learned how to lock things down in the neutral zone and gained "playoff experience."

The reality is that, primarily as a result of the Rangers strategy, this has turned into a slog and very low event hockey. The team that is trailing late in a game is generally going to look like they can't get anything going.