GDT: Devils vs. Sabres - 3:00PM MSG

[My3Sons]

Zajac is going to help cover a lot of warts in our defensive game when he finally returns too.

And he will free up Zacha to look for offense. He’ll make Zacha a better player by giving him less responsibility.

 

[Emperoreddy]

And he will free up Zacha to look for offense. He’ll make Zacha a better player by giving him less responsibility.

And make Nico even better as he gets even better matchups.

 

[My3Sons]

I still say we're not going anywhere without another top defenseman.

Define “anywhere” because “tons better than last season” looks like a great place from where I’m watching.


I’m just teasing. At present with such a young team you are almost certainly correct. That said I don’t think anyone is predicting anything other than improvement over last season and maybe just maybe a run at the last playoff spot. Just being relevant in early March will be a good season.

 

[JK3]

Looks like they picked up Noesen wandering through a small town in the Pacific North West.

 

[Its a Trap]

Looks like they picked up Noesen wandering through a small town in the Pacific North West.

He wasn't wandering. He was talking tall.

 

[zman77]

Excellent Game New Jersey Fans!!
Who were the 3 Stars?

 

[Blender]

Excellent Game New Jersey Fans!!
Who were the 3 Stars?

According to NHL.com:

1st - Bratt
2nd - Johansson
3rd - Kane

 

[zman77]

Jesper Bratt:
Short Handed Goal vs Buffalo Sabres

 

[My3Sons]

According to NHL.com:

1st - Bratt
2nd - Johansson
3rd - Kane

According to the hockeysfuture Devils fanbase it was:

1 - Castron
2 - Bratt
3 - Whoever is scouting in Europe for NJ.

According to Hynes it was probably Lovejoy in all three spots.

 

[Billdo]

Zajac is going to help cover a lot of warts in our defensive game when he finally returns too.

I'm genuinely interested in seeing what happens when he comes back lineup wise. Zacha has been OK so far, Hischier has been very good IMO, and Henrique looks decent enough. I'd assume maybe Zajac goes back to 1C if Zacha doesn't start producing points by then. Granted it's a long ways away so who the heck really knows.

 

[kdb527]

Looks like they picked up Noesen wandering through a small town in the Pacific North West.

Looks like he may have taken the puck off the bridge of his nose!

 

[TheUnseenHand]

According to the hockeysfuture Devils fanbase it was:

1 - Castron
2 - Bratt
3 - Whoever is scouting in Europe for NJ.

According to Hynes it was probably Lovejoy in all three spots.

Even Hynes can't miss how bad he was, can he? He played like 3 shifts and 2 were glorious Buffalo chances on blown coverages by him. Everything he does is awful.

 

[My3Sons]

Looks like he may have taken the puck off the bridge of his nose!

Looks like he may have taken one off the hairbrush

 

[glenwo2]

I still say we're not going anywhere without another top defenseman.

Is Shattenkirk considered a Top Defenseman 'cause I see he hasn't really done much for the Rags. lol

 

[The 29th Pick]

You misspelled Bratttrick.

three "t"s OK ! one for each goal !

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

This is becoming my new favorite gif

 

[Bleedred]

I will say this much, Hynes seems to be well aware that Lovejoy isn't any good, at least he appears to be right now. Maybe that will change next week.

There were 7 defensemen today, so he likely would have played more if there were only 6 defensemen in like on a normal night, but he only played a little better than 12 minutes today and was a healthy scratch in game 1.

 

[Bleedred]

I'm trying to stay cautiously optimistic here. I figured that if Cory was Cory, we'd very likely improve by quite a few points this year, just based on that alone.

I think there's a chance for us to be the most improved team this year. I think it will be between us and Colorado, for most improved this year. I don't think Colorado will be good, but they could finish with 20-25 more points than last year and still have the the 1st-5th worst record in the league.

 

[JimEIV]

I will say this much, Hynes seems to be well aware that Lovejoy isn't any good, at least he appears to be right now. Maybe that will change next week.

There were 7 defensemen today, so he likely would have played more if there were only 6 defensemen in like on a normal night, but he only played a little better than 12 minutes today and was a healthy scratch in game 1.

But Moore got all the extra minutes... I'm not sure that is any better? Everything is wonderful when you're 2-0-0 and put up 6 goals but if they are going to lean on Moore we'll be in trouble

 

[Zippy316]

But Moore got all the extra minutes... I'm not sure that is any better? Everything is wonderful when you're 2-0-0 and put up 6 goals but if they are going to lean on Moore we'll be in trouble

In all honesty, I think this system suits Moore. Forwards are more of a threat, Devils are attacking the play earlier and not allowing sustained offensive zone pressure.

Once there is open ice, Moore is a very good player. Devils are opening up the ice really well so far this year and he's looked good.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

But Moore got all the extra minutes... I'm not sure that is any better? Everything is wonderful when you're 2-0-0 and put up 6 goals but if they are going to lean on Moore we'll be in trouble

As much as I dislike Moore, I don't know that you can really lean on any D man on this team at the moment. You can make that comment about any D man on the team.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

But Moore got all the extra minutes... I'm not sure that is any better? Everything is wonderful when you're 2-0-0 and put up 6 goals but if they are going to lean on Moore we'll be in trouble

We have no choice but to lean on Moore some right now. Mueller hasn’t show enough to be a better option and Butcher is being sheltered. I’d split up Moore-Butcher and Mueller-Santini though. And LJ should never ever play, he’s utterly useless.

 

[Bleedred]

But Moore got all the extra minutes... I'm not sure that is any better? Everything is wonderful when you're 2-0-0 and put up 6 goals but if they are going to lean on Moore we'll be in trouble

I don't disagree. I think Moore shouldn't be playing 20 minutes on most nights.

I see Moore as a bit of a lesser evil among the two, just for the fact that he can put up a few points, and is quite a bit better of a skater. He's also only

 

[Zippy316]

Devils TOI for defenders tonight:

Moore: 20:26
Greene: 16:48
Butcher: 15:46
Lovejoy: 12:16
Santini: 17:02
Mueller: 17:58
Severson: 17:39

Moore's was boosted a lot from being the only defender to play both PP and PK. He likely won't be there when the team is healthy and go 4F-1D.

By some quick estimations, Lovejoy played less than 9 minutes even strength. Moore played about 16:30, Mueller played 15:30, Santini played around 15:30, Greene played only (!) 12 minutes with 4:47 of PK time, and Severson played 13:00.

Obviously those numbers are a bit off given the Devils had a 6-1 lead going into the third, but still interesting.

 

[Blender]

Yea you know for sure that Greene and Severson played a lot less than they would have if the game was close.