GDT: Devils vs. Ducks - Home Opener! 7:00PM MSG

[JimEIV]

i thought boucher looked good last night, with the little amount of time he was out there
maybe im in the minority

Hard to tell with 7 minutes of ice time....He didn't look bad and made himself noticeable on a couple of occasions

 

[FooteBahl]

i thought boucher looked good last night, with the little amount of time he was out there
maybe im in the minority

I thought he looked pretty good too. I was pleasantly surprised with his speed and he missed a goal by a few inches but the puck was flopping. I wouldn't be upset if they stuck with this lineup on Thursday TBH

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Boucher had a chance in the 3rd I believe where he was streaking down the right wing and let a snap shot go that was CRAZY speed. Think he just missed the net

 

[Devils Dominion]

was in 215 (upper level around the blue line). I just wanted to throw the guy off the balcony.

I think someone in the center ice mezz doused the lower level crowd with a beer after Hall's 2nd tally.

Noticed security hauling someone out and people in the lowers below looking up.

 

[njdevil26]

If we could find a way to land Fowler with some package involving Boucher, Merrill, Josefson, and any pick and maybe another prospect, I am so down. Not sure it would be enough for Anaheim. Apparently Chris Drury and three Ranger scouts were at the game last night looking at Fowler and Vatanen.

My observations:
The crowd was great last night. The Rock hasn't been that loud in a while.... it almost felt like a playoff game.

Hall shut up all the skeptics last night. What a game by him.... this is just the beginning.

Zajac played a very good game. He's not offensively flashy, but he's so good with his stick, winning pucks, and playing a solid two way game in all situations.

I thought the best even strength line last night was Bennett-Zacha-DSP. They had a lot of possession and had some real good chances. Zacha looks fantastic. I am so excited by him.

Josefson.... Ugh. I will admit he's fine on the fourth line and as a penalty killer... however GET HIM OFF THE PP. Replace with Zacha.

Auvitu was impressive last night. Would that have been his goal if Boucher wasn't called for a bogus high stick penalty?

Fiddler is also proving to be a great pickup. He got the crowd pumped up with an early fight and played well on the PK.

Severson had a great game last night.



As for the Ducks... Fowler had a good game. They are a good possession team. It's hard to get the puck off of them. Also... Gibson can't hold on to a puck to save his life. He bleeds rebounds.



After last night, I would be happy with these lines:

Hall-Zajac-Palmieri
Cammalleri-Henrique-PAP
Bennett-Zacha-DSP
Boucher-Fiddler-Josefson/Kalinin

 

[Edmonton East]

My takeaways:

Severson- poor first period, but improved as the game went on. Still a couple sloppy passes in the 2nd (too many in skates or behind players). Nearly had a goal on that puck Dano thought went wide, as it glanced off the goalie's stick.

Zacha- strong game all around

Hall- Now, this will be really unpopular but I don't think he had a great game. Yea, I know, he scored 2 goals and was around the puck all night. He made way too many stupid decisions with the puck. Some of the passes he tried to force were bizarre. Like the lane he wanted was closed, so he paused, and just threw it at the defender anyway. And he hesitated too when shooting. Hopefully it was just nerves, but the passing decisions are concerning to me. Good game, not great.

Josefson- Soft hands on the near PP goal. He didn't score, but made the right move. It was just a nice save. Had a decent game overall. Needs to be more physical, which will never happen. And of course he ripped one right into the goalie's chest with no one on him later in the game. Was fairly useless at ES though.

PA- As I said at the end of the first, was awful. Looked positionally lost most of the game, minus a couple good reads in the 3rd.

Fiddler- Already clear why he was a Stars' fan favorite.

Auvitu- Another solid game.

 

[FooteBahl]

One thing I'm concerned about is our team toughness. I liked what Vern did, but who is going to be that guy to step up when teams start taking cheap shots at our top guys. Santini? Wood?

 

[Devils Dominion]

One thing I'm concerned about is our team toughness. I liked what Vern did, but who is going to be that guy to step up when teams start taking cheap shots at our top guys. Santini? Wood?

Team toughness/size is a questions mark, so is our defense corps.

 

[HenriquesJawLine]

Not trying to be negative or contrarian but I didn't think Hall played all that well. It's nice that he got 2 goals but I haven't really seen the possession that was sold before he got here nor have I seen any level of O zone dominance. Perhaps it's just a matter of expectations, but haven't been impressed yet at all.

And another thing, again not to be negative as I hope for Auvitu to work out for us but... I'm confused by the love from last nights game. He hardly played. He played about 12 minutes of 5v5 time and 5 minutes of PP time for 17:30. That's like early Gelinas usage. That's not good.

lol

Auvitu 73.1 CF% (19-7)
Hall 78.3% CF% (18-5)

 

[JimEIV]

lol

Auvitu 73.1 CF% (19-7)
Hall 78.3% CF% (18-5)

Auvitu played 12 minutes of 5v5 time and you are telling me 18 shots were taken in 12 minutes while he was on the ice? I am having a a hard time believing that?

The only way possible those number can be correct is they count PP shots. Which is stupid when talking about possession.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

One thing I'm concerned about is our team toughness. I liked what Vern did, but who is going to be that guy to step up when teams start taking cheap shots at our top guys. Santini? Wood?

DSP is a big boy. Zacha is pretty physically imposing now at 19, but if over the next few years he puts on 15 or 20 pounds, that's Bobby Holik type size. It would be nice to see him develop some nasty to his game. A 6-3 guy with Zacha's speed at 230+ pounds would hit like a truck.

 

[NJDevils17]

Quick Thoughts:

I thought Zacha was our best forward last night. He's unreal. Makes the best play every time and is crazy smart. I don't know where this low hockey-IQ B.S. came from but it's certainly not true. I like what Hynes is doing with him too. His logic is very good and he did ork on developing players in the AHL. I have a lot of trust in him.

Hall looked good and dynamic. I guess I'm also waiting for him to "take-over" a game by I'm pleased by his play certainly.

Auvitu is awesome. I was on the small hype train that felt he was going to be a solid player for us. His addition makes our defense a lot better and ultimately makes us more dangerous from the back-end, something we needed.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I'm wondering if people watched the same game as I did last night?

the Devils 3 best players last night were Taylor Hall, Yohann Auvitu, and Cory Schneider. to be honest, that isn't even really debateable to me. and some are questioning the first 2? huh?

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

I'm wondering if people watched the same game as I did last night?

the Devils 3 best players last night were Taylor Hall, Yohann Auvitu, and Cory Schneider.

Yep, and it's not even debatable. OV2 was doing things offensively we haven't seen since Zids.

 

[Edmonton East]

I'm wondering if people watched the same game as I did last night?

the Devils 3 best players last night were Taylor Hall, Yohann Auvitu, and Cory Schneider. to be honest, that isn't even really debateable to me. and some are questioning the first 2? huh?

Certainly disagree with 1 and 3. If you don't want to see all of Hall's poorly forced passes in the Ozone and him double-clutching when he goes to shoot....I don't know what to tell you. He had a good game, not great.

Schneider did what he was supposed to do. Team played well. He didn't have to be amazing and he lost his jock strap on what should have been a PS goal. Good game, not great.

Should probably add: I see arguments for the top 3 you listed...but I think it is absurd to say Hall and Schneider not being "debatable".

 

[Brooklyndevil]

My takeaways:

Severson- poor first period, but improved as the game went on. Still a couple sloppy passes in the 2nd (too many in skates or behind players). Nearly had a goal on that puck Dano thought went wide, as it glanced off the goalie's stick.

Zacha- strong game all around

Hall- Now, this will be really unpopular but I don't think he had a great game. Yea, I know, he scored 2 goals and was around the puck all night. He made way too many stupid decisions with the puck. Some of the passes he tried to force were bizarre. Like the lane he wanted was closed, so he paused, and just threw it at the defender anyway. And he hesitated too when shooting. Hopefully it was just nerves, but the passing decisions are concerning to me. Good game, not great.

Josefson- Soft hands on the near PP goal. He didn't score, but made the right move. It was just a nice save. Had a decent game overall. Needs to be more physical, which will never happen. And of course he ripped one right into the goalie's chest with no one on him later in the game. Was fairly useless at ES though.

PA- As I said at the end of the first, was awful. Looked positionally lost most of the game, minus a couple good reads in the 3rd.

Fiddler- Already clear why he was a Stars' fan favorite.

Auvitu- Another solid game.

I thought Severson had his best game up on the wall. He was winning puck battles and put out a couple nice hits. He can use a bit of attitude or mean streak.

 

[John Pedro]

Auvitu played 12 minutes of 5v5 time and you are telling me 18 shots were taken in 12 minutes while he was on the ice? I am having a a hard time believing that?

The only way possible those number can be correct is they count PP shots. Which is stupid when talking about possession.

That is his all situations corsi (PP, PK). 5v5 his corsi was 72% (13-5). Just an unbelievable game by the Frenchman.

 

[goonybird]

To be fair, Hall has lofty expectations to live up to after what we gave up for him. But it's nice to see that we finally have a guy who can be explosive and make things happen out of nothing like Kovalchuk used to for us even if he's not all that great with possession.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Certainly disagree with 1 and 3. If you don't want to see all of Hall's poorly forced passes in the Ozone and him double-clutching when he goes to shoot....I don't know what to tell you. He had a good game, not great.

Schneider did what he was supposed to do. Team played well. He didn't have to be amazing and he lost his jock strap on what should have been a PS goal. Good game, not great.

Should probably add: I see arguments for the top 3 you listed...but I think it is absurd to say Hall and Schneider not being "debatable".

we complain and complain about not having players with creativity, and then we get one of the most creative players in the league and now we're complaining that he is forcing things? that doesn't make sense to me.

Hall was noticeable every time he was on the ice last night. Thats what you want from your star forward.

 

[Cheddabombs]

Yep, and it's not even debatable. OV2 was doing things offensively we haven't seen since Zids.

Yea I'm kind of shocked to see some of the criticism of his (and Hall's) game last night. Auvitu drove the play offensively last night for most of his shifts. He's really our only defenseman that is not only willing to skate the puck into the offensive zone but then he actually does something with it. Whether it's a shot or zooming along the half wall trying to find that open man, he's fantastic offensively. He's had some hiccups defensively but he's not terrible by any means.

And Hall was amazing last night. More so after he scored his goal, you could tell he really needed that. After he scored he was buzzing all around the rink. He forced essentially 2 breakaways with his speed and maybe if he took a shot on that 1st one he scores and gets going a little sooner.

 

[njdevil26]

Hall looked like he was overthinking some things and was trying to hard until he scored those goals. Then he looked smooth and confident. It kind of reminded me of Kovalchuk's start how he was trying too hard til it finally went in for him. Hall will be fine.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Can't we ever be happy?

 

[NJDevs26]

Hall looked like he was overthinking some things and was trying to hard until he scored those goals. Then he looked smooth and confident. It kind of reminded me of Kovalchuk's start how he was trying too hard til it finally went in for him. Hall will be fine.

Agreed, it looked like he was trying to be Scott Gomez in the first period - pass, pass, pass.

 

[JimEIV]

That is his all situations corsi (PP, PK). 5v5 his corsi was 72% (13-5). Just an unbelievable game by the Frenchman.

He didn't play any PK

Those numbers still look screwy.

I'm even still finding it hard to believe that he was on the ice for 13 5v5 shots in 12 minutes. 13 is nearly 50% of the teams total shots, we only had 28....The team only put up 28 shots and had 7 Powerplays.

I doubt we had many more than 13 ES shots all of last night.

Something aint right there.

 

[John Pedro]

Severson had a couple of bad shifts early on, but then he settled in and was really good. Better than Greene last night.