GDT: Devils @ Predators - 8:00 PM - MSGSN

[Triumph]

Did they stop counting after the 1st period?

Opposing scorers generally do not count giveaways by the away team, so this is a high total.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Appreciate you like the Devils - and Arizona and Chicago certainly drag the division down - but the Central Division has by far been the toughest for the Devils.

While they haven't played the Jets or Wild yet, Dallas, Nashville (twice) and St. Louis have all beaten New Jersey and the Devils 1-0 win over Colorado was in the first month of the season with the Avalanche missing key players.

Throw in the two losses to the Flyers and it's clear the Devils have a "big man" hockey problem.

the Devils have beaten plenty of "big man" teams this year. This is, again, baseless.

 

[Bankers Box]

After losses like these I think people need to take a moment to gain perspective on this team's season.

They have greatly exceeded expectations that any reasonable hockey fan should have had for them.

Jack has not only improved his game but now looks like he will be a top 5 player in the whole league soon enough, if he isn't already there. I personally think he is playing like one but I need longer resume to make me comfortable saying it out loud.

Bratt has shown he is also a star player and he is only getting less attention around the league b.c of the player listed above.

Nico has also stepped up and is contributing on both sides of the ice as well as being a damn good captain from all accounts.

Mercer is having a pretty decent sophomore year and has shown what he is capable of becoming.

Those guys plus Luke and Nemec are the future of this team and will determine how far the teams goes.

Next year the Devils can move on from Wood, Severson, Haula and maybe Graves. Not that I think these guys aren't any good I just think that none of them deserve the raises they will get in Free Agency, especially Wood and Severson.

We have prospects to jump in and take these roles as well as whoever they get at the deadline or free agency over the summer.

 

[CreggSchinkel]

That defensive effort was...something. The amount of breakaways they gave away in the first alone was absurd. Now we have the second half of a back to back against Dallas to look forward to.

 

[Saugus]

I only watched the first and half the second, but what in the f*** was with the odd man rushes???

Nashville was cherry picking and springing guys with stretch passes all night, and we didn't adjust. Also the defense had some horrific turnovers from failed clears, and got caught flat-footed when the puck came back the other way. That plus Blackwood's poor rebound control led to most of the goals against.

 

[NjDevsRR]

anyone know the plus minus for the 3rd line?

Told you they weren’t going to be an automatic minus like you suggested….

 

[Billdo]

Had a very strong game last night and he’s been good since coming back.

I just feel like we should be getting more.

 

[Devs3cups]

Nashville was cherry picking and springing guys with stretch passes all night, and we didn't adjust. Also the defense had some horrific turnovers from failed clears, and got caught flat-footed when the puck came back the other way. That plus Blackwood's poor rebound control led to most of the goals against.

Very good game to do video on. Not the worst way to lose for a young team. A real learning experience on the defensive side of the puck while scoring 4 on one of the best goalies in the league.

 

[youryeah]

delete

 

[My3Sons]

Forwards on top of them at full speed all night but somehow it's the defense (and goalie) that are solely responsible for the loss?

This is a wake up call.

Predators (and most of the Central Division) play grown man hockey; which is what they are going to see if they make the playoffs.

Might as well see it in late January and learn from it.

by grown man you mean clutching and grabbing and hitting in the back? The sort of courage grown men show when they can't actually compete with someone? that sort of grown man hockey?

You aren't wrong that bad teams get away with too much cheating because of the game management imposed by the NHL but stop with the grown man stuff. Nashville had no answer for little Jack Hughes and if the defense and forwards had just played with some structure NJ wins this game. Nashville sucks. They didn't run NJ out of the building. Nashville gave up 39 shots and their big hit was a cheap shot against Wood. This is one of those games NJ lost rather than Nashville won. Yes NJ has to figure out a better way to play against teams that rely on clutching grabbing interference and cross checking in the back but to suggest they lost because they were soft in the face of physical play is just wrong in this one as I see it.

 

[Brooklyndevil]

After losses like these I think people need to take a moment to gain perspective on this team's season.

They have greatly exceeded expectations that any reasonable hockey fan should have had for them.

Jack has not only improved his game but now looks like he will be a top 5 player in the whole league soon enough, if he isn't already there. I personally think he is playing like one but I need longer resume to make me comfortable saying it out loud.

Bratt has shown he is also a star player and he is only getting less attention around the league b.c of the player listed above.

Nico has also stepped up and is contributing on both sides of the ice as well as being a damn good captain from all accounts.

Mercer is having a pretty decent sophomore year and has shown what he is capable of becoming.

Those guys plus Luke and Nemec are the future of this team and will determine how far the teams goes.

Next year the Devils can move on from Wood, Severson, Haula and maybe Graves. Not that I think these guys aren't any good I just think that none of them deserve the raises they will get in Free Agency, especially Wood and Severson.

We have prospects to jump in and take these roles as well as whoever they get at the deadline or free agency over the summer.

I hope Graves is gone. He has some talent but he may be dumber than Wood hockey wise.

 

[Bleedred]

2nd game in ALL of January where we didn’t pick up at least a point. That’s a HIGHLY successful month, even if we lose in regulation tonight. 18 out of a potential 24 points. We’re in a very good spot, with one of the longest breaks.

I'm pretty sure we've won EVERY single game Vitek has played this month.

And we've picked up 4 points in the 4 games this loser bum has played this month.

I actually thought he was worse in the Seattle game, despite the praise he received in that game. Two short side goals that somehow are hitting most of these other big dumb oaf goalies in the shoulder and then probably the softest goal even he's allowed this year in OT, other than the obvious error against Carolina.

I only thought one of the goals were stoppable and that was unfortunately the game winner.

If we allow 40 shots in a game he's basically an auto 4-5 goals against. There are exceptions like the LA game, but I don't think he faced quite 40 shots that game. That still remains his best game of the season BY FAR. It's actually sad how it's somewhat down to the 10th shot. I think shot 40 was goal 5 and the game winner last night, shot 40 was the game winner in Seattle.

Between him and Wood that's two deadweights making over $7 million this year. I can't complain about Blackwood's too much, as he was given this deal after the season that really didn't look any more impressive than Vanecek's season this year, other than the fact that it was a bit longer/he played more games than Vanecek has this year to this point.

 

[Bleedred]

After losses like these I think people need to take a moment to gain perspective on this team's season.

They have greatly exceeded expectations that any reasonable hockey fan should have had for them.

Jack has not only improved his game but now looks like he will be a top 5 player in the whole league soon enough, if he isn't already there. I personally think he is playing like one but I need longer resume to make me comfortable saying it out loud.

Bratt has shown he is also a star player and he is only getting less attention around the league b.c of the player listed above.

Nico has also stepped up and is contributing on both sides of the ice as well as being a damn good captain from all accounts.

Mercer is having a pretty decent sophomore year and has shown what he is capable of becoming.

Those guys plus Luke and Nemec are the future of this team and will determine how far the teams goes.

Next year the Devils can move on from Wood, Severson, Haula and maybe Graves. Not that I think these guys aren't any good I just think that none of them deserve the raises they will get in Free Agency, especially Wood and Severson.

We have prospects to jump in and take these roles as well as whoever they get at the deadline or free agency over the summer.

Add in the decrepit #29. He can be replaced or possibly even upgraded by a goalie making under a million a year.

Severson will just make too much money. More than we should be paying him.

Wood can be replaced for league minimum, at least for what he's brought for what's now the better part of this season. Good luck on anybody that signs him to even the same money he's making right now or on any kind of a multi year contract. He'll be Kevin Rooney'd (waived) by December if he looks anywhere near as bad as he has the last couple of months And if it's a two year deal and not just a one year deal? Good luck on ever making it back to the NHL in a full time role. I don't think he has many more years left in the league.