GDT: Devils vs. Islanders - Leftovers Edition - 4:00 PM MSG

[haak84]

He's basically a fast Clarkson.

clarkson had a better shot and hands. thats not really saying much though.

 

[Richer's Ghost]

Mueller is starting to piss me off with his clears, for whatever reason he's afraid to drill it down the ice and take the icing, I'd rather he do that than giving it up to the other team at the point.

And was it just me or did it seem like the Isles defensemen too many times we're able to skate in close and shoot at will? And I'm talking 5 on 5 too, not when we were on the PK. When you're at the game you definitely see things differently than on TV.

He was standing there to the right of KK doing NOTHING. Guarding air and watching the left side getting out numbered. He pisses me off regularly.

 

[Lou is God]

He is so easy to root for, and he always brings his best every night.

And in your gut you know his biggest goals are going to come after March.

 

[MadDevil]

And in your gut you know his biggest goals are going to come after March.

Hopefully we get that far...

 

[Better Call Sal]

I thought Wood had a decent game overall, but he and several others were having brain farts left and right trying to exit the zone.

It’s a shame we couldn’t bury something on that elongated 5 on 3. Think this would have been a different game if we took control that early as opposed to what ended up occurring.

Regardless, coming out with a point was a success in a game that felt disjointed for us more often than not.

 

[MadDevil]

That whole thing started with a perfect pass by Mueller to the Isles defenseman too.

 

[haak84]

He was standing there to the right of KK doing NOTHING. Guarding air and watching the left side getting out numbered. He pisses me off regularly.

eh that was his assignment as RHD. the break down happened with vats and zajac. here:

zajac should have attacked the puck handler and vats should have guarded the left side of the post and dea move over to cover the RHD/center pass. mueller would cover the dude that crosses over that it looks like vats shadows.

 

[Lou is God]

They need to get video of Randy McKay playing and have Wood watch him non-stop, it probably wouldn't help him but it wouldn't hurt either and who knows.

 

[MadDevil]

Vatanen has not looked good this year either. I know he usually plays tough minutes, but he just doesn't look like the player he was last year after he got up to speed. Severson looks more like Vatanen this year than Vatanen does.

 

[Lou is God]

Hopefully we get that far...

I see why not, I still think Shero is taking the Devils in the right direction and I have very few complaints of the job he's done, though I still think he dropped the ball on not upgrading the blue line, but then again we don't know if there were any options out there to be had. But we're getting there.

 

[Richer's Ghost]

You slide over to attack the puck - your side or not. He just stayed put and let the attack come from the strong side while he had nobody on the weak side even posing a threat. If you get burnt on your side because you covered someone else that wasn't there - it's their fault anyways. This way you're giving them a free outnumbered attack on net. That's never ok as a D man in my book. Zajac alone against 2 guys? C'mon.

 

[Emperoreddy]

And in your gut you know his biggest goals are going to come after March.

I firmly believe in the next few years Coleman is going to be an extremely key piece in a deep playoff run.

 

[haak84]

You slide over to attack the puck - your side or not. He just stayed put and let the attack come from the strong side while he had nobody on the weak side even posing a threat. If you get burnt on your side because you covered someone else that wasn't there - it's their fault anyways. This way you're giving them a free outnumbered attack on net. That's never ok as a D man in my book. Zajac alone against 2 guys? C'mon.

kinda makes me think thats on the coaching staff.

 

[MadDevil]

I see why not, I still think Shero is taking the Devils in the right direction and I have very few complaints of the job he's done, though I still think he dropped the ball on not upgrading the blue line, but then again we don't know if there were any options out there to be had. But we're getting there.

Big picture, I agree we're on the right track. If anything we may have overachieved last year and this is, at least partially, a regression to the mean.

It certainly doesn't excuse the sloppy play, mental errors, or certain players underachieving right now. I think the thing that bothers me the most is just how much of this is self inflicted. We can complain about who the coach is putting out there, but if the guys who should be helping this team are playing like idiots, it's probably not going to matter as much who is playing.

Also, stop looking for the pretty play. All 3 of our goals tonight were because of going to the net. Sometimes it's okay to make the simple play and just throw a puck at the net. You're not so talented that you can create offense without getting your nose dirty. Defensively, I don't know what to say. Sometimes I swear they've actually gotten dumber. They play odd man rushes poorly, and their stick work is not very good. It's fundamental stuff that shouldn't be hard to grasp.

 

[Cage Helmet]

Too many rebounds
Too many perimeter shots
Not enough (any) Bratt in OT. Heaven forbid you put a young player with jump and creativity out there. Nope let's throw out the guy who lately only contributes if he's standing still and one times the shot from the cross ice pass - that should play well in 3 on 3 OT. Sure.

Hynes 3 on 3 utilization can be purely mystifying at times. He needs to use fast skaters and skill guys. I liked that he threw PZ out there. Bratt needs to be out there.

 

[Cage Helmet]

Very disappointed with Wood. Just doesn’t look like a threat much of the time he’s on the ice. Looked like a different player last season. I still think he has a tremendous ceiling.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Wood is too dumb to have a tremendous ceiling.

 

[Devil X]

If Wood can be a part of a deal to get us a Dman Id do it. I would have dont it last year too i think. I get he has speed but hes got nothing else it seems.

 

[Emperoreddy]

If Wood can be a part of a deal to get us a Dman Id do it. I would have dont it last year too i think. I get he has speed but hes got nothing else it seems.

It’s becoming apparent what he is. He either plays like he did last year where he can be an extremely effective third liner and secondary scoring threat, but he will have a short shelf life because that kind of play will lead to him blowing a tire.

Or he will play like he does now, timid, and he will be healthy but totally ineffective because he isn’t smart enough to do anything else.

Shero was 100% right to play hard ball with him this offseason.

 

[Patrik26]

If Wood can be a part of a deal to get us a Dman Id do it. I would have dont it last year too i think. I get he has speed but hes got nothing else it seems.

Strike the bolded portion. He's becoming Farnham 2.0 - skating like a maniac with little to show for it.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Been what I have been saying. Another shoot first forward would be great, but this team really needs another top 4 defender.

 

[Camille the Eel]

The crappy 5 on 3 early was the first turning point of the game. We needed to be much more hungry and aggressive there. We needed a level of desperation and focus that were in fact missing all game.

It’s lack of effort but even more lack of focus - meaning a certain kind of effort and concentration. Move the damn puck on a 5 on 3. Get on your toes. Any power play has to outwork the p k to be good.

We come out flat.

The lack of concentration and focus could also be seen on the first shift after every goal we scored, when we would let them immediately come back and retake the momentum.

It was also evident in overtime.

Also too much puck watching and standing around by our D in our end on several of their goals. (Mueller standing around watching the first two).

Then also getting burned off the rush by Leddy with our D backing in. Lack of focus once again and with only minutes left.

Not a good game by us and it was an important game too. We let them pull a point further in front of us. And historically your standing positions at Thanksgiving are difficult to reverse.

Also I don’t know what it is with us in these afternoon games at home above all. We are generally so flat in them that I get a sinking feeling before they even start. And we play so many of them in Newark. Feels like more than other teams do.

 

[KaraLupin]

Hall had 8 faceoff wins tonight, or is my boxscore messed?

 

[Devil X]

It’s becoming apparent what he is. He either plays like he did last year where he can be an extremely effective third liner and secondary scoring threat, but he will have a short shelf life because that kind of play will lead to him blowing a tire.

Or he will play like he does now, timid, and he will be healthy but totally ineffective because he isn’t smart enough to do anything else.

Shero was 100% right to play hard ball with him this offseason.

Strike the bolded portion. He's becoming Farnham 2.0 - skating like a maniac with little to show for it.

To me, there is a 50/50 chance he is either player. He has the physical tools and i believe he would have value for that.

LA needs speed, thats something they have been looking for. Adding a guy like Wood+ might be what they are looking for in a deal for Muzzin. Wood is still young and signed. We would need to add Im sure, but Id try it. If he goes to LA and finds his game oh well. The way i look at it we have some LWs coming still and the way i see it Hall and Bratt likely have the 2 top LW spots taken long term which means we need a 3rd line LW and Coleman sure is looking like he will have that and maybe more covered.

Point is, Wood is a guy we can part ways with and i dont believe it will hurt us long term, even if he goes on to have a good career.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Hall had 8 faceoff wins tonight, or is my boxscore messed?

He did indeed. He ended up in the dot over Nico a lot.

One place where young Nico is still extremely inconsistent.