Post-Game Talk: Devils win 3-2 in regulation over Sabres (I'm not kidding)

[Nicomo Cosca]

How about those John Hynes Preds lol

 

[Guttersniped]

No poll? Two of the stars are obvious, Subban and Kuokkanen. After that pick from Kulikov, Sharagovich, Zajac, Bastian...

Speaking of Bastian, what happened to Bratt-Hughes-Johnsson line? And get Johnsson off it. And Ruff needs to stop the Wood-Zacha-Palms monstrosity too. There’s no easy answers with Nico out, I understand the line shuffling. (Sorry the screen shot is so tiny lol)

 

[R8Devs]

No poll? Two of the stars are obvious, Subban and Kuokkanen. After that pick from Kulikov, Sharagovich, Zajac, Bastian...

Speaking of Bastian, what happened to Bratt-Hughes-Johnsson line? And get Johnsson off it. And Ruff needs to stop the Wood-Zacha-Palms monstrosity too. There’s no easy answers with Nico out, I understand the line shuffling. (Sorry the screen shot is so tiny lol)
View attachment 408589

I know with Nico out it would be hard to move Zacha back to wing but I think they should run:
Zacha-Hughes-Bratt
Kuokkanen-Zajac-Sharangovich
Wood-Maltsev-Palmieri
Johnsson/Gusev-McLeod-Bastian

 

[Satans Hockey]

One log I wanted to add to the Palmieri hate-fire:

Can't believe it took me this long to see that this is his official pic for this year. Purposefully looking like a hobo is a trend I want to see go away from the NHL. It got old after a year or two with Burns. I'm not saying we go back to Lou-era rules of clean shaven and short hair only but come on, at least put an effort to look professional.

 

[Guttersniped]

How about those John Hynes Preds lol

While I returned to on my “MassMutual East is the toughest division” claim, I did flirt with Discover Central as the toughest one. Nashville is currently on a brutal stretch where they’re mostly alternating games between Carolina, Florida and Tampa. That’s a f***ing nightmare but they did manage to beat Tampa on Monday. They did beat Dallas and Columbus the last time they played them so they are getting points from the weaker teams. And Josi, Ellis, Saros, Duchene and Kunin are all out. I get it, boo hiss Hynes, and he’s not doing a particularly good job there either but it is tough situation.

 

[Nicomo Cosca]

While I returned to on my “MassMutual East is the toughest division” claim, I did flirt with Discover Central as the toughest one. Nashville is currently on a brutal stretch where they’re mostly alternating games between Carolina, Florida and Tampa. That’s a f***ing nightmare but they did manage to beat Tampa on Monday. They did beat Dallas and Columbus the last time they played them so they are getting points from the weaker teams. And Josi, Ellis, Saros, Duchene and Kunin are all out. I get it, boo hiss Hynes, and he’s not doing a particularly good job there either but it is tough situation.

I was mainly just talking about their PK being worse than the Devils.

 

[Guttersniped]

Someone posted this gem on the main board.

 

[Blackjack]

Someone posted this gem on the main board.

The main board conversation on this is the most hfboards conversation ever. Everyone is convinced Bastian self-owned because he reminded Skinner how much money he makes.

 

[BurntToast]

I know some people want to get Hughes rolling, but I am not sure breaking ip the Zajac line is the right thing to do at the moment.

Hughes is his own worst enemy right now. I can understand if he is frustrated but skating into a defenseman or getting his pocket picked while he attempts to juke 3 guys isn’t the way to go. His limitations on the boards are noticeable. He made a nice move to get into the slot and had a shooting lane, instead he passed it.

Maybe play Hughes on the wing again..

 

[Nicomo Cosca]

I know some people want to get Hughes rolling, but I am not sure breaking ip the Zajac line is the right thing to do at the moment.

Hughes is his own worst enemy right now. I can understand if he is frustrated but skating into a defenseman or getting his pocket picked while he attempts to juke 3 guys isn’t the way to go. His limitations on the boards are noticeable. He made a nice move to get into the slot and had a shooting lane, instead he passed it.

Maybe play Hughes on the wing again..

Please no more experimenting with him on the wing. And sorry but I care way more about the progression and development of the future of this team (ie Jack Hughes) than breaking up a hot line in the middle of lost season.

 

[hidek91]

As one of the biggest PK critics here, I want to recognize how well he’s playing now. Definitely did not expect that. I know some feel that he’s been better all year, not sure if I agree but I’m totally on board to protect him in the ex draft if he keeps this up. He wouldn’t be the first defenseman to have a renaissance in his 30s.

I agree that he's playing well, also saw some improvement from Vatanen.

Still, I think that with 9M cap hit, there's no way Seattle takes him without a sweetener.

 

[MadDevil]

I do feel for Buffalo fans. As painful as the last 7-8 years for us have been, at least we've known success before. They basically have losing to Dallas in the Cup Final and the time they went to back-to-back ECF coming out of the 2005 lockout to fall back on, and not much to look forward to outside of Dahlin and Eichel (and who knows how long he'll put up with losing before wanting out).

 

[Nico Hischier]

Hey guys. Missed the game. Saw the highlights. Any update on Zacha’s injury? Was he able to return to the game?

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

Yesterday's game confirms Bratt and Hughes need a PF on their line to open up some space. Bastian is temporary and not the long term solution. If San Jose is looking to rebuild I would be kicking the tires on Evander Kane. I believe he would be the perfect fit. NJ can take on the last 4 years of the contract an make the step to a playoff team.

 

[Clam Jensen]

Hey guys. Missed the game. Saw the highlights. Any update on Zacha’s injury? Was he able to return to the game?

Yes, he returned. Really weird what happened.

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

Yesterday's game confirms Bratt and Hughes need a PF on their line to open up some space. Bastian is temporary and not the long term solution. If San Jose is looking to rebuild I would be kicking the tires on Evander Kane. I believe he would be the perfect fit. NJ can take on the last 4 years of the contract an make the step to a playoff team.

Unless Fitz has changed his mind since last off season I doubt he would be interested in acquiring a contract like Kanes that could turn bad in 3 years or so. I really do not have interest in acquiring contracts that were signed pre-COVID for older players. Term should be down again this off season.

 

[AfroThunder396]

I would be interested in seeing Maltsev with Hughes and Bratt.

 

[AfroThunder396]

If we win I fully expect the Sabres to fire Ralph Krueger before noon tomorrow

Called it:

 

[guitarguyvic]

Can I point out that Nico takes a deflected shot off his face and is gone for a month and a half. Hall takes a full-on slapshot and is gone for half a period.

What is with our luck?

Some guys are just injury prone. Every time Nico falls he goes back to the bench grimacing. His long term durability is more of a concern of mine than his actual development / production.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

How bad must Buffalo be to lose to us at the rock while we are wearing green? That's really bad.

 

[MadDevil]

That's the second time Krueger has been fired by a team with Taylor Hall on it.

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

That's the second time Krueger has been fired by a team with Taylor Hall on it.

Hall can definitely "mentor the kids" with respect to how to react to a coach getting fired.

 

[Guttersniped]

Please no more experimenting with him on the wing. And sorry but I care way more about the progression and development of the future of this team (ie Jack Hughes) than breaking up a hot line in the middle of lost season.

Yuck, I get hives at the thought of Jack on the wing (and how many centers do we have?) and that’s not going to get him more assists which seems to be everyone’s worry. Bratt needs to hit the net and someone else needs to be on the line with them. I wouldn’t overcomplicate it.

 

[MadDevil]

Not that I think it's his fault, but over the last two seasons Hall's teams have won 33 of the 102 games he's played in.

 

[67 others]

The main board conversation on this is the most hfboards conversation ever. Everyone is convinced Bastian self-owned because he reminded Skinner how much money he makes.

They are not wrong.

Keep in mind he gets paid 9 million dollars a year whether he is good or sucks until 2027 and he is a former 40 goal scorer and Bastien is a guy who has 10 or so points over 2 seasons and is on a trajectory to never make above league minimum, if he even sticks in the NHL.