GDT: Devils @ Panthers - 7:00 PM - MSG+

[Whaddagoal]

We get out of that first period up 1-0, we go home with the W. I believe that.

With that said, it's another disappointment that one late goal disheartened the team.

I think that is the part that concerns me most, that the team kind of waved the white flag after going under by a goal (1-2).

That, and the still lack of finishing on some quality chances generated concerns me.

Tatar, Zacha, Nico, Mercer, Kuokkanen, and I think one other guy had at least 1 glorious chance and failed to convert on them.

Their goalie played well, that is a factor of course to consider here, but this seems to be a trend which isn't going on away.... Neither Tatar nor Sharangovich have broken out, and Kuokkanen only half-broke out. Zacha, while putting up the numbers in some of these extreme key moments, on the flip side, isn't burying them in the in-between of those extreme moments.

Nico is getting beat up, also, pretty much every game. He plays hard along the wall and in front and pays for it. Would be nice if Tatar freaking buried that sweet pass.

 

[glenwo2]

But at least Bratt was fighting to go to the net before he got destroyed that time. Kuok and Hischier did too. But in general we didn’t get to the net mouth once the game changed direction.

When we beat them up in Jersey a couple of our goals were rebounds or tips (or bounces alas too) and we didn’t get to play that kind of game tonight. But I do wish we had fought back harder against some of the rough stuff by Ekblad and Gudas.

Dude, I have a feeling that Son is looking for reasons to hate on Bratt because he's still on the "trade bratt for whatever" kick.

Otherwise he would've not purposely ignored what you (and I ) saw there.

Bratt is small...Big Surprise(and breaking news)!

And blaming Bratt for a goal-against? How about our goaltender make a goddamn save there, eh?


There are other things to complain about but getting "destroyed" while TRYING isn't one of them.

It's when the player *doesn't* try...that's where I get agitated, irritated, or whatever-tated with him.

 

[Whaddagoal]

Overall, no complaints overall on the Bratt-Mercer-Mango line, although statistically they are cooling down a bit, but they are still driving the play heavily and it looks goood still 5v5.

Zacha-Nico-Tatar line, main complaint is lack of finish. They are generating some chances, spending time in the ozone, but unable to bury chances (trending down again) is really concerning. Zacha looks a little more passive than what he was showing to start the season 5v5. He's a bit slow to get off his shots.

The 3rd and 4th lines are again ranging from , "somewhat OK, to meh", depending on the moments. Thought Boqvist would make more impact a few games into his belt again this season, but he seemed to blend in to the usual. I heard his praise a bit from the MSG crew last night, but i didn't quite feel it was there. McLeod is great on faceoffs, but offensively back to where he was 2 seasons ago, disappointing in that regard.

Zetterlund had a small glimpse of bulldozing, but he was somewhat hesitant, given its his first NHL game and then we were getting stomped on in the 2nd period. He sort of loosen up by mid-third period. I would like to see him play again.

 

[Camille the Eel]

We get out of that first period up 1-0, we go home with the W. I believe that.

With that said, it's another disappointment that one late goal disheartened the team.

Well it's anybody's guess and it's always disheartening to give up a goal with seconds left in a period. That goal definitely hurt a lot. But that said, I still disagree.

Because I think we were always going to need more than a one goal cushion against that team. They are one of the best teams in the league and always going to push back heavily in the second period and I therefore just doubt that one goal would have stood up or that they would have continued to let us skate skate skate and not begun to take center ice away from us.

Not finishing some of the other chances we had in the first and going up 2 or three goals was what did us in I think. At least as fatally as that last second goal. It would have taken a two or even three goal cushion to withstand what was coming.

Now if Bratt finishes that breakaway and/or Tatar his crossbar shot when he had the goalie down and out and the top half of the net completely open, absolutely defenseless . . . we might have had the cushion we needed. But without that I think the result would likely have been the same.

 

[Bleedred]

It is the worst arena location in the country. The team originally played in downtown Miami, but the original owner Wayne Huzienga was notorious for being a “Broward guy” and hated the City of Miami itself and cut a deal with Broward for a new arena in Sunrise. The Heat were smart enough to abandon joining in those plans and cut a deal with Miami for an arena on the waterfront a few blocks from the old place.

I never went to the old building, but I know it was only about 10 years old when both the Panthers and Heat left, then they imploded it before it was even 20 years old. It's really not in a convenient enough location that's conducive to maximizing the amount of fans that can come out. It's not near Miami and it's really not close enough to Fort Lauderdale either. It's not even close to the beaches. My buddy told me a while back that they would have been better off putting the building in Pompano Beach than where it is. The Panthers practice rink used to be in Pompano Beach at one point, before they had the rink closer to where the current arena is in Coral Springs.

 

[Camille the Eel]

Dude, I have a feeling that Son is looking for reasons to hate on Bratt because he's still on the "trade bratt for whatever" kick.

Otherwise he would've not purposely ignored what you (and I ) saw there.

Bratt is small...Big Surprise(and breaking news)!

And blaming Bratt for a goal-against? How about our goaltender make a goddamn save there, eh?


There are other things to complain about but getting "destroyed" while TRYING isn't one of them.

It's when the player *doesn't* try...that's where I get agitated, irritated, or whatever-tated with him.

It was distressing that we showed so little fight once they started to mug us. Ekblad on Hischier and someone else. Whoever hit Bratt. Gudas pounding some guys. That Johnson took the cheap shot at Gudas late in the game, whatever it was, good, bravo, if that's how you have to fight back, then do it that way. (Gordie Howe would sucker punch people, I've seen Zdeno Chara practically break a guys ankle with a short heavy slash, it gets their tattention and stops some of the other stuff). But one way or the other, we had so little response to their physical play that I think watch out, we are going to see a hell of a lot more of it from other teams.

 

[JK3]

Same old crap, can't finish, other team can, it's getting f***ing annoying.

 

[JimEIV]

Last night's game looked like one of the many from the previous 3 seasons...Things look ok, maybe even good for a while and at the drop of a hat the game is completely out of hand. It's so very disheartening. Just makes you question what progress has been made?

 

[Bleedred]

Overall, no complaints overall on the Bratt-Mercer-Mango line, although statistically they are cooling down a bit, but they are still driving the play heavily and it looks goood still 5v5.

Zacha-Nico-Tatar line, main complaint is lack of finish. They are generating some chances, spending time in the ozone, but unable to bury chances (trending down again) is really concerning. Zacha looks a little more passive than what he was showing to start the season 5v5. He's a bit slow to get off his shots.

The 3rd and 4th lines are again ranging from , "somewhat OK, to meh", depending on the moments. Thought Boqvist would make more impact a few games into his belt again this season, but he seemed to blend in to the usual. I heard his praise a bit from the MSG crew last night, but i didn't quite feel it was there. McLeod is great on faceoffs, but offensively back to where he was 2 seasons ago, disappointing in that regard.

Zetterlund had a small glimpse of bulldozing, but he was somewhat hesitant, given its his first NHL game and then we were getting stomped on in the 2nd period. He sort of loosen up by mid-third period. I would like to see him play again.

There were a few times last night where I got an close up view of Boqvist and thought ''It's a shame he sucks at scoring offense, cause he's making some good plays out there''. 12 points in 68 games is really pretty bad for a guy that's on the 3rd line right now. Now 1 point in 5 games is really small sample size cause it's only 5 games, but it's still amazingly right in line with his career production, since he averages about 1 point every 6 games played in the NHL.

I'm pretty sure he had a hot preseason in 2019. I can't remember for sure, but he had to have. He probably did because with no North American pro hockey experience we committed to keeping him in the NHL right out of camp, but he made his way to the AHL before terribly long, but it was still long enough. And that's on Shero/Hynes for keeping him up in the NHL as long as they did. I think something in his contract didn't allow him to start the season in the AHL that year, but I forget what happened. We've been over this before and I just don't remember.

But him and McLeod really not giving us any production to speak of at the NHL level really hurts. I'd say McLeod more than Boqvist because McLeod is a 12th overall pick. And McLeod is very close to having his second NHL goalless streak of at least 20 games.

 

[jkrdevil]

I never went to the old building, but I know it was only about 10 years old when both the Panthers and Heat left, then they imploded it before it was even 20 years old. It's really not in a convenient enough location that's conducive to maximizing the amount of fans that can come out. It's not near Miami and it's really not close enough to Fort Lauderdale either. It's not even close to the beaches. My buddy told me a while back that they would have been better off putting the building in Pompano Beach than where it is. The Panthers practice rink used to be in Pompano Beach at one point, before they had the rink closer to where the current arena is in Coral Springs.

Pomoano Beach is north of Ft. Lauderdale so putting a building there basically eliminates the regions largest city (Miami) from your market.

The old Miami Arena I believe was one of those pre-Palace of Auburn Hills Arenas that got out dated almost immediately. I believe it was built in the 80’s without any real luxury suits. The same year the Pistons opened the Palace with all of its mod-level revenue generating suites and the Miami Arena was outdated almost immediately as it opened. It also had a super low capacity.

 

[Bleedred]

There were a few people not very happy with Blackwood in this thread for the way he played in this game. I can't say it was his worst game in the NHL and the goals weren't terrible, but he wasn't good either.

And this is the kind of game that might get you sat for Bernier on Saturday when you otherwise wouldn't have. I don't think they'll be giving Blackwood automatic stars this year just because he's Blackwood and he's not a 33 year old journeyman, like they would have last year. One thing I've been bitching about for a year now (especially with Nasreddine somehow being married to the organization with it taking a really long time for the divorce proceedings to be filed) is the fact that we let go of the goalie coach Melanson, who Blackwood had 2 very good seasons under. Blackwood finished with a .902% last year, and that was after being a .945% in the first 5 of his 35 games played. I can't think he's too much better than .900% over his last 35 games played.

And after doing the math, he's got an .898% over his last 35 games played. Hiring a new goalie coach is quite possibly the worst move Fitz has made since he's been GM.

And as far as a possible concussion goes. I don't think we can blame Ruff for playing him if that is the case, more than we can blame the medical staff for even allowing him to dress and be an option. I don't think he's concussed, but didn't we find out somewhere that we did indeed play him concussed in a game almost 2 years ago?

 

[Bleedred]

Pomoano Beach is north of Ft. Lauderdale so putting a building there basically eliminates the regions largest city (Miami) from your market.

The old Miami Arena I believe was one of those pre-Palace of Auburn Hills Arenas that got out dated almost immediately. I believe it was built in the 80’s without any real luxury suits. The same year the Pistons opened the Palace with all of its mod-level revenue generating suites and the Miami Arena was outdated almost immediately as it opened. It also had a super low capacity.

I think it might have been Dania Beach or Hallandale that he said, one of them places near one of the big horse tracks down there. Not Pompano Beach, but the Panthers original practice rink was there. Which is also no good for the players and staff on the team back then, as that's about 35-40 miles north of Miami.

 

[jkrdevil]

I think it might have been Dania Beach or Hallandale that he said, one of them places near one of the big horse tracks down there. Not Pompano Beach, but the Panthers original practice rink was there. Which is also no good for the players and staff on the team back then, as that's about 35-40 miles north of Miami.

Both of those are between Ft. Lauderdale and a Miami and would be a decent location. Where the Heat play (if it was NHL capable), may actually be the best now because you have the Brightline train near by that connects Palm Beach, Ft. Lauderdale and Miami.

 

[Camille the Eel]

There were a few people not very happy with Blackwood in this thread for the way he played in this game. I can't say it was his worst game in the NHL and the goals weren't terrible, but he wasn't good either.

And this is the kind of game that might get you sat for Bernier on Saturday when you otherwise wouldn't have. I don't think they'll be giving Blackwood automatic stars this year just because he's Blackwood and he's not a 33 year old journeyman, like they would have last year. One thing I've been bitching about for a year now (especially with Nasreddine somehow being married to the organization with it taking a really long time for the divorce proceedings to be filed) is the fact that we let go of the goalie coach Melanson, who Blackwood had 2 very good seasons under. Blackwood finished with a .902% last year, and that was after being a .945% in the first 5 of his 35 games played. I can't think he's too much better than .900% over his last 35 games played.

And after doing the math, he's got an .898% over his last 35 games played. Hiring a new goalie coach is quite possibly the worst move Fitz has made since he's been GM.

And as far as a possible concussion goes. I don't think we can blame Ruff for playing him if that is the case, more than we can blame the medical staff for even allowing him to dress and be an option. I don't think he's concussed, but didn't we find out somewhere that we did indeed play him concussed in a game almost 2 years ago?

watching him, I see the following issues spilling over from last year:

1. rebound control - he'll give up juicy unnecessary rebounds if the other team shoots a lot, you can see them just peppering him because they see it. We saw this on goals in the Rangers game.

2. problems keeping compact when in his crouch and moving. He opens up when he moves from side to side, compared to for example the way Rask moves across his crease or the Isles goalies. So he will lift his pads off the ice when sliding and get beat under the pad; or open the five hole unnecessarily, or open his arms from his sides and the puck gets between the arm and the body. It's a technique issue. We saw it last night on one of the goals.

3. angles - I don't think he challenges the shooters by coming out far enough when guys are breaking in from the circles - he's a bit better with someone coming straight at him down the slot - but at least one of the goals last night he was way too deep in the net and I thought on the first one too he would have made that save if he'd been 3 feet further out. But he wasn't expecting the shot. And related to this,

4. I am not in love with Blackwood's glove work. It's really not his strong suit and I don't know if it's something you can improve on. Bernier has a great glove, that and his quickness getting the legs out when someone is going to his sides, are Bernier's strengths. But that first goal that changed the game was a glove save for Blackwood if he was going to make it other than just positionally and having the puck hit him by being further out. He had his glove on it. So he should have stopped it. Was just not quick with the glove. (gosh did Brodeur have a great glove).

I think the rebound control and staying compact when moving can be remedied by coaching, they are technique issues. Ditto the angles he takes or doesn't take. The glove is just always going to be him. If he fixes the first three he will be fine.

 

[Buck Dancer]

Last night's game looked like one of the many from the previous 3 seasons...Things look ok, maybe even good for a while and at the drop of a hat the game is completely out of hand. It's so very disheartening. Just makes you question what progress has been made?

I don’t know why it’s such a mystery for some as to why we’re having issues against teams that rough us up. Have you seen our cast of forwards? Which player on that lineup scares opposing dmen? Nico Hischier got roughed up several times by Ekblad, Gudas could’ve murdered Johnsson for his sneaky trip behind the net, Bratt got shoved to the ice causing a turnover which led to a goal 5 seconds later, Tatar is Tatar and Zacha doesn’t use his big body at all.

When opposing teams stop us from flying up and down the ice, we look outmatched, plain and simple. Our cast of forwards isn’t built to face teams that will play a more physical game and it’s been going on for years.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Still lack finish. We are always going to be outmatched physically and I don't think that's as big a deal as it's made out to be. It's a definite concern, but it's not something that would make it impossible to win.

The bigger issue is that we still struggle so much to score goals. If there is one thing I could change about the game last night, it wouldn't be more physicality from NJ, it would be scoring on the glorious opportunities generated in the first. The game is completely different if it's 3-1 going into the second like it should have been instead of 1-1.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Still lack finish. We are always going to be outmatched physically and I don't think that's as big a deal as it's made out to be. It's a definite concern, but it's not something that would make it impossible to win.

The bigger issue is that we still struggle so much to score goals. If there is one thing I could change about the game last night, it wouldn't be more physicality from NJ, it would be scoring on the glorious opportunities generated in the first. The game is completely different if it's 3-1 going into the second like it should have been instead of 1-1.

Your username explains it perfectly. Sometimes we do need some luck in terms of the puck going in. Yes, we need more finishers BUT we have quite a few snakebitten players at the moment. Hopefully the tide turns the other way soon and we get some help from

THE UNSEEN HAND

 

[Whaddagoal]

There were a few times last night where I got an close up view of Boqvist and thought ''It's a shame he sucks at scoring offense, cause he's making some good plays out there''. 12 points in 68 games is really pretty bad for a guy that's on the 3rd line right now. Now 1 point in 5 games is really small sample size cause it's only 5 games, but it's still amazingly right in line with his career production, since he averages about 1 point every 6 games played in the NHL.

I'm pretty sure he had a hot preseason in 2019. I can't remember for sure, but he had to have. He probably did because with no North American pro hockey experience we committed to keeping him in the NHL right out of camp, but he made his way to the AHL before terribly long, but it was still long enough. And that's on Shero/Hynes for keeping him up in the NHL as long as they did. I think something in his contract didn't allow him to start the season in the AHL that year, but I forget what happened. We've been over this before and I just don't remember.

But him and McLeod really not giving us any production to speak of at the NHL level really hurts. I'd say McLeod more than Boqvist because McLeod is a 12th overall pick. And McLeod is very close to having his second NHL goalless streak of at least 20 games.

Yep, I thought he and McLeod turned a corner last year, and i expected both to be better this season but its looking so far not to be the case. McLeod hasn't scored yet, and he's had some decent amount of minutes to get some offense going, even with stints on a higher line.

I'll give Boqvist some more time (provided coaching keeps him in lineup still), but I'm disappointed with how McLeod regressed back to what we had before (production-wise). Mike's FO are great, and he still has motor, but whatever offense he showed last year seemingly vaporized.

 

[Bleedred]

The lack scoring has been beyond frustrating and bad since before Shero was even hired. And then Shero said as he came in ''We have to score more goals. You can't win games scoring 2 goals. You have to score more than that and this is something that needs to change''. I wish I could find the exact quote, but the fire and ice blog imploded a long time ago. The archives went away about a year after Gulitti left the Record and then everything went away. I don't even think we have a writer/reporter with North Jersey Media anymore. I think that Abbey girl worked it for a year or two after everybody's favorite Andrew Gross (and his vlogs from his house) left to go cover the Islanders, where he still remains.

And that's why if Shero wasn't fired two years ago, it's a pretty safe guarantee that he would have been fired at the end of this season. Unless he swung some ''Win-now'' deals that got us into the playoffs either last year or this year.

 

[Bleedred]

Yep, I thought he and McLeod turned a corner last year, and i expected both to be better this season but its looking so far not to be the case. McLeod hasn't scored yet, and he's had some decent amount of minutes to get some offense going, even with stints on a higher line.

I'll give Boqvist some more time (provided coaching keeps him in lineup still), but I'm disappointed with how McLeod regressed back to what we had before (production-wise). Mike's FO are great, and he still has motor, but whatever offense he showed last year seemingly vaporized.

The funny thing is that it took McLeod 39 games in the league to score his first goal and it took Boqvist over 43 games in the NHL to get his first assist.

So now it's 100 games for McLeod. He has 9 goals and all 9 of them came over a 45 game span last year.

He doesn't have a goal at any point in more half of his total games played in the league. Like he's went 55 combined games where he has 0 goals, and then a 45 game span in the middle where he scored all 9 of his goals.

Kind of data snooping, but kind of not and pretty hilarious. All 9 of his goals came in a 45 game stretch right in between his 100 games that he's played in the league.

And his shooting percentage in the NHL for his career is below average, but not unsustainably below average. It's 8.3% and the league average is somewhere around 9% or slightly over 9%. It's not like he's 5%--6%So he had one year of shooting like Adam Henrique, then he has 3 seasons (just parts of seasons, since he didn't play any full ones, other than last year and that was a shortened season) of 0% shooting percentage.

He's not just bad at goal scoring and finishing. He’s bad at getting shots. He has 2 in his last 5 games while averaging about 16 minutes or so. 2 in the Rangers game and that’s it.

Not one of our 46 shots on goal last night were taken by him and he played 14:08.

He has 17 shots on goal this year in 15 games, while averaging 15:08 of ice time. He’s only been credited with 31 attempted shots. That’s barely more than 2 a game. 109 shots in 100 games in his career. He sucks. A face off specialist at 12th overall. Sweet.

 

[Whaddagoal]

The funny thing is that it took McLeod 39 games in the league to score his first goal and it took Boqvist over 43 games in the NHL to get his first assist.

So now it's 100 games for McLeod. He has 9 goals and all 9 of them came over a 45 game span last year.

He doesn't have a goal at any point in more half of his total games played in the league. Like he's went 55 combined games where he has 0 goals, and then a 45 game span in the middle where he scored all 9 of his goals.

Kind of data snooping, but kind of not and pretty hilarious. All 9 of his goals came in a 45 game stretch right in between his 100 games that he's played in the league.

And his shooting percentage in the NHL for his career is below average, but not unsustainably below average. It's 8.3% and the league average is somewhere around 9% or slightly over 9%. It's not like he's 5%--6%So he had one year of shooting like Adam Henrique, then he has 3 seasons (just parts of seasons, since he didn't play any full ones, other than last year and that was a shortened season) of 0% shooting percentage.

He's not just bad at goal scoring and finishing. He’s bad at getting shots. He has 2 in his last 5 games while averaging about 16 minutes or so. 2 in the Rangers game and that’s it.

Not one of our 46 shots on goal last night were taken by him and he played 14:08.

He has 17 shots on goal this year in 15 games, while averaging 15:08 of ice time. He’s only been credited with 31 attempted shots. That’s barely more than 2 a game. 109 shots in 100 games in his career. He sucks. A face off specialist at 12th overall. Sweet.

Interesting analysis. Wonder also if losing Bastian on his wing impacted that too.

That's pretty grim overall, a new Yayo, unless he can pump it up more...

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

I don’t know why it’s such a mystery for some as to why we’re having issues against teams that rough us up. Have you seen our cast of forwards? Which player on that lineup scares opposing dmen? Nico Hischier got roughed up several times by Ekblad, Gudas could’ve murdered Johnsson for his sneaky trip behind the net, Bratt got shoved to the ice causing a turnover which led to a goal 5 seconds later, Tatar is Tatar and Zacha doesn’t use his big body at all.

When opposing teams stop us from flying us and down the ice, we look outmatched, plain and simple. Our cast of forwards isn’t built to face teams that will play a more physical game and it’s been going on for years.

Remember when we beat Florida 7-3 literally 10 days ago? You have your narrative, that will not change. We aren’t scary enough, that’s why we lose games. Who is so scary on Florida? Hornqvist and Gudas are role players. Their big play drivers aren’t overly physical.

 

[Buck Dancer]

Remember when we beat Florida 7-3 literally 10 days ago? You have your narrative, that will not change. We aren’t scary enough, that’s why we lose games. Who is so scary on Florida? Hornqvist and Gudas are role players. Their big play drivers aren’t overly physical.

Yeah, I remember that game very well. I remember Spencer Knight looking like Swiss cheese, giving us a big lead that had them playing out of their comfort zone, on the road.

If you didn’t see Ekblad taking runs at Nico all game long, Vatrano at the end of the 1st stir shit up, Gudas being Gudas, Hornqvist throwing his weight around, Weegar or Montour shoving Bratt to the ice, etc… I don’t know what to tell you.

We have absolutely no pushback when those things happen, none and everyone will be taking notes and I can guarantee you that we’ll see more of that in the upcoming weeks/months. Hockey is a physical sport, intimidating the opposition is a part of the game and has been for decades. I’m not asking for a Reaves type of goon but we need to add some much needed meat, with skills of course, to our lineup.

The fact that the majority of this board is against that train of thought is confusing when you look at what good teams are able to do to us. We’ll look good against weaker teams and average teams but when we face teams that throw their weight around, we just look outclassed.

 

[Buck Dancer]

Still lack finish. We are always going to be outmatched physically and I don't think that's as big a deal as it's made out to be. It's a definite concern, but it's not something that would make it impossible to win.

The bigger issue is that we still struggle so much to score goals. If there is one thing I could change about the game last night, it wouldn't be more physicality from NJ, it would be scoring on the glorious opportunities generated in the first. The game is completely different if it's 3-1 going into the second like it should have been instead of 1-1.

I fully agree but we can’t always be up by 2 goals after 20 minutes. When that happens and we’re playing catch up, things will get much harder and the space we could’ve had with the lead just won’t be there, so we need guys that will create their own space and go hard to the net.

We don’t need 8 guys like that but I would definitely take one or two instead of having several smallish players who kind of play the same way. It’s not a knock on our current team, it’s simply having more stability up and down our lineup and the same thing can be said about our defence as well.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Yeah, I remember that game very well. I remember Spencer Knight looking like Swiss cheese, giving us a big lead that had them playing out of their comfort zone, on the road.

If you didn’t see Ekblad taking runs at Nico all game long, Vatrano at the end of the 1st stir shit up, Gudas being Gudas, Hornqvist throwing his weight around, Weegar or Montour shoving Bratt to the ice, etc… I don’t know what to tell you.

We have absolutely no pushback when those things happen, none and everyone will be taking notes and I can guarantee you that we’ll see more of that in the upcoming weeks/months. Hockey is a physical sport, intimidating the opposition is a part of the game and has been for decades. I’m not asking for a Reaves type of goon but we need to add some much needed meat, with skills of course, to our lineup.

The fact that the majority of this board is against that train of thought is confusing when you look at what good teams are able to do to us. We’ll look good against weaker teams and average teams but when we face teams that throw their weight around, we just look outclassed.

…and Blackwood looked like garbage and blew the game while Knight was excellent this time around. The difference in the game, not that we weren’t scary enough.

Do the Islanders count as a team that throws their weight around? How did that game go? Your narrative isn’t falsifiable. We’re an average team that will be up and down all year. Especially without our best forward. And you don’t win games when goaltending is that lopsided.