Post-Game Talk: Devils vs. Isles. Still winless but Brunner rules. Now hit the road Jack!
- Thread starter Richer's Ghost
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He's gonna be a fan favorite for sure. I had the luxury of living with a Sharks fan and watching a lot of their games, so I knew what he was all about. He is going to be awesome for us. As long as he stays healthy for us of course..
Capt Nico Poo
Holik to HHOF
From the NHL.com highlights the crowd seemed exuberant and really, really loud. That was great, imo.
I wholly disagree with your opinion on Zajac. Quite honestly, he was IMO our best forward on the ice tonight. Yea, Brunner potted two but Zajac was distributing the puck really well all night. If anything, we need him to shoot more because he does have a nice shot.
Henrique - Zajac - Ryder was our best line out there by far in terms of scoring chances created. Henrique could have had a hattrick tonight.. he's always been a little snakebitten but you have to pot one of those chances.
Volchenkov/Harrold actually had pretty decent games too IMO. The real bummer on defense tonight was Zidlicky. He got burnt multiple times.. two of Grabner's breakways were off of poor plays by Zidlicky.
Clowe looks really good.. much better than I thought he would be.. my brother (a Ranger fan) even said the same thing watching the game.
Jagr.. not so much. I'll give him another game or two to get the legs going but its really not so much in terms of speed that he's disappointing. He too often tries to make plays with the puck by himself and loses possession. He did less of this tonight but last night, he had a play where he should have dumped it deep, tried to get cute and led to a Penguins breakaway (that to his credit, he backchecked hard on).
Marty was.. rough. He saved a few shots that should have been goals but pretty much all three of the ones he let in were softies. You HAVE to save the last two. Regardless, he gave us a shot to win and we didn't take it. Six rounds in the shootout is ridiculous.
Brunner/Ryder looking good.. we signed them to score goals and that's what they're doing. Funny thing is that it's now been 3 games in a row dating back to last year that a Devil (discounting new guys) scored a goal..
Looking at both of our games so far and there's one big, alarming trend. Literally all six of our goals have come off odd man rushes. Other team gains possession of the puck, crosses the blue line and three seconds later, puck's in the net. All six goals.
That's kind of a good things in terms of our defensive positioning in the defensive zone is pretty good right now.. and we barely let the other team set up down low and generate scoring chances.. but it's more of a bad thing that we can't cut down on those quality scoring chances. You can't give that many odd man rushes a game (but honestly, Schneider/Brodeur need to bail us out of more of them..). If we do correct our neutral zone play a little more and respect other team's speed + make sure our forwards forechecking are doing it right and not all committing (happened on one goal), we'll be in the money. Easier said than done but it's nice to have one big issue that you know exists rather than multiple smaller ones that you have to figure out.
one last thing re: Larsson.. seemed like people thought he had a poor game because of his statline but I don't really blame him on either of the goals. First goal he stepped up the blueline and an unlucky bounce straight to Grabner caught him in a weird spot. Second goal a giveaway by Volchenkov led to a Larsson vs. Grabner sprint and yea, he's not winning that one. Still, though.. he forced Grabner wide and made him take a shot Brodeur should have saved. Zidlicky was seriously the worst defensemen out there tonight..
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Capt Nico Poo
Holik to HHOF
dont get why HENRIQUE doesnt get a chance in the SO. BAD job, DeBoeur...
anyway, Brunner rules...and i think, this team needs to grow together, than the Ws will come!!!
He failed a penalty shot against the Pens, if i remember correctly.
dont get why HENRIQUE doesnt get a chance in the SO. BAD job, DeBoeur...
anyway, Brunner rules...and i think, this team needs to grow together, than the Ws will come!!!
Maybe because Henrique hasn't been good in the SO.... He is has scored once in 5 attempts. (small sample size, but he simply didn't look good in the SO so far)
I am much more surprised that Zidlicky didn't go. He has the 4th best percentage on our team (not that 28.6% is good, so don't expect any points from the SO, especially if the first 3 guys don't get it done).
Man, you guys are hilarious... 
This isn't NFL football
Relax, there's 80 games left. Better lose now and win later and get hot in April than get hot now and collapse like last year.
Again, only 2 games. Relax a bit.
Give them a few games to gel
Our new guys are gonna be great, we need to give them some time. Also, you can't say that about Marty, Schneider was just as bad. Both guys will be studs when they got.
This isn't NFL football
Relax, there's 80 games left. Better lose now and win later and get hot in April than get hot now and collapse like last year.
Again, only 2 games. Relax a bit.
Give them a few games to gel
Our new guys are gonna be great, we need to give them some time. Also, you can't say that about Marty, Schneider was just as bad. Both guys will be studs when they got.
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nugg
NJ Hammerhead Bats!
Agreed. It's all about quality not quantity. I was off by one on Grabner, I said breakaway x5, but he only had 4!
nugg
NJ Hammerhead Bats!
I've heard it said that early long road trips can help teams come together that have a lot of new faces. I hope this is true.
I totally agree with you. The issue is DeBoer clearly saw it the complete opposite for some ridiculous reason. I put it at 90% that Larsson is scratched for Fayne next game. Terrible for the kid's confidence, just let him play already.
nugg
NJ Hammerhead Bats!
Brooklyndevil
Registered User
The way I see it we're going to need more offense by our defense and speed. It's become a fast mans game. And it can't be just the new guys scoring. If Zajac and Henrique don't have good offense seasons we're sunk. However, except for the breakaways they gave up they showed much better speed last night. Long season to go.
Devil X
Call me Nostradamus
1 thing we have to remember about Jagr is that he didnt play at all in the pre-season. Also didnt start practicing till late so its going to take some time for him to get on the same page as everyone else.
I believe he will be fine after about game 5 or 6.
I believe he will be fine after about game 5 or 6.
NJDevs26
Once upon a time...
- Mar 21, 2007
- 67,504
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dont get why HENRIQUE doesnt get a chance in the SO. BAD job, DeBoeur...
anyway, Brunner rules...and i think, this team needs to grow together, than the Ws will come!!!
I'm shocked this is even a topic...like someone (Bleed?) said Henrique is 1-5 in the shootout lifetime anyway, and was awful on the penalty shot two nights ago. They don't have good shootout options anymore, get used to it. We've been spoiled with Kovy/Parise dominating the shootout and before that Brian Gionta and Viktor Kozlov. We don't have any shootout specialists; Jagr didn't even go till like five or six cause he stinks at it, but the crowd really got into it when he was there - I was hoping we could somehow will him to a goal.
They could have tried Zidlicky, if nothing else to give him a shot at redemption after his horrendous first two games. He's actually one of the 'better' shooters we have (among guys with 8+ shots):
Clowe 16/42 (38.1%)
Elias 22/58 (37.9%)
Zajac 6/19 (31.6%)
Zidlicky 6/21 (28.6%)
Brunner 2/8 (25%)
Jagr 6/25 (24%)
Ryder 6/36 (16.7%)
Olesz 3/18 (16.7%)
The actual order last night was Brunner-Clowe-Elias-Zajac-Ryder-Jagr...agreed with the first four, I probably would have had Zidlicky 5 instead of Ryder just going by the numbers.
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Priority#1 for Lou Lamoriello-Scott Stevens-Pete Deboer:
Clean up the defense. Either by whip or by trade.
Zidlicky and Larsson made more mistakes than our good teams from 10 years ago made all year long.
As much as I like youth, I would really consider what expectations management has for Larsson. This kid could be a bonehead like Colin White. It happens. He could be a little stunod. Stunod players cost you in the standings, especially on D. Perhaps he can be dangled for a stay at home tougher less flashy defenseman that is less mistake prone.
And as for Harrold and Volchenkov.... I expect this type of pairing on Nashville or Columbus, not the New Jersey Devils. Everyone forgets about how important generating the puck from defense is. We only think about protecting the net. These guys can't get the puck on the forward tape when they are in motion. It is disgusting that we are still watching two minor leaguers run around like this.
Zidlicki is soft and vulnerable too.
The only solid guys we have on D are Greene and honestly Salvador. I know Salvy had a bad season last year but never counted him out. He is mean and rough and digs hard.
Clean up the defense. Either by whip or by trade.
Zidlicky and Larsson made more mistakes than our good teams from 10 years ago made all year long.
As much as I like youth, I would really consider what expectations management has for Larsson. This kid could be a bonehead like Colin White. It happens. He could be a little stunod. Stunod players cost you in the standings, especially on D. Perhaps he can be dangled for a stay at home tougher less flashy defenseman that is less mistake prone.
And as for Harrold and Volchenkov.... I expect this type of pairing on Nashville or Columbus, not the New Jersey Devils. Everyone forgets about how important generating the puck from defense is. We only think about protecting the net. These guys can't get the puck on the forward tape when they are in motion. It is disgusting that we are still watching two minor leaguers run around like this.
Zidlicki is soft and vulnerable too.
The only solid guys we have on D are Greene and honestly Salvador. I know Salvy had a bad season last year but never counted him out. He is mean and rough and digs hard.
Zajac and henrique both played very solid games last nigh. And zidlixky was awful.
glenwo2
LINDY RUFF NEEDS VIAGRA!!
What happened with Larsson? I didn't watch last night. I read TG say Harrold took over Larssons minutes and Cordell just tweeted that if AL doesn't get it together they should consider putting him in Albany?
Larsson got caught flatfooted on both of Grabners goals. Both goals not really his fault, but Grabner skating twice around him like that isn't acceptable either. And Harrold simply played a good game.
But i hate that it is only guys like Larsson and Fayne that seem to get punished for their mistakes and vets like Volch never seem to get that treatment from DeBoer no matter how bad they **** up.
TheDevilMadeMe
Registered User
I don't know what you're talking about with Harrold - he was arguably the best Devil last night and was moving the puck very well. Zidlicky was the only other guy moving the puck well, and Harrold was playing much better defensively than Zids.
Rookie positioning + lack of footspeed = bad. If he worked on his game at all in the offseason, it certainly didn't show. He and Volchenkov were definitely our worst two defensemen out there, and Volchenkov's contract practically forces us to play him.
Harrold did have a good game but the problem is consistency. Harrold is a career minor leaguer for a reason. Lets see, maybe he is a changed man but I doubt it.
As for Zidlicki, he did not have a good game. Chico said he had a good game so we know he didn't. Do you remember the blatant cough up break away that resulted in a glorious scoring chance? Zidlicki also does not hit which means opponents can skate with their head down at times and create plays without fear. Zidlicki is vulnerable.
I truly believe LL needs to work on a 3 player deal with another team and package something good to get something good.
We are 0-2 again for good reason.
As for Zidlicki, he did not have a good game. Chico said he had a good game so we know he didn't. Do you remember the blatant cough up break away that resulted in a glorious scoring chance? Zidlicki also does not hit which means opponents can skate with their head down at times and create plays without fear. Zidlicki is vulnerable.
I truly believe LL needs to work on a 3 player deal with another team and package something good to get something good.
We are 0-2 again for good reason.
NJDevs26
Once upon a time...
- Mar 21, 2007
- 67,504
- 31,888
Larsson and Zidlicky were basically Cheech and Chong last night, only with Zidlicky you know he'll at least play his way out of it to being eh defensively and a contributor offensively. Larsson was beyond pathetic and basically got benched from the beginning of the third on. His scholarship is basically over imo, it's time to start producing.
This is not how the script is supposed to go.
Good christ, Henrique's like 1-12 in the first two games in faceoffs
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