GDT: Game #2: Coyotes @ Devils - 7:00 P.M - MSGSN

[NJDevs26]

And tbh I get why Nico's in a goalscoring slump when he passes up chances like a wide-open turnaround in the slot late in the third period to dish it off to the side without even noticing he had open ice in front of him. It seems like because there are so many other good offensive players here Nico's caught up in being a facilitator and forgetting he can shoot and take it to the net too.

 

[New Jersey]

i’d like to just casually remind everyone how we all felt after the first two games last season

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Huh. Splitting up the current best line in hockey is certainly one of the hottest takes I've ever seen on this board.

Kudos.

It’s a hot take to say we have the option to split up a line 2 games into the year? Two players that have had massive success without each other before? Huh.

It isn't just two games for Timo though, he was pretty underwhelming on the whole last year which was written off due to trade adjustment, a minor injury and Shesterkin in the first round, eventually the excuses have to stop.

There was nothing concerning about his stint last year. ~60% expected goal share in the regular season and was very impactful in the playoffs despite impossibly getting blanked against the Rangers.

 

[AfroThunder396]

Huh. Splitting up the current best line in hockey is certainly one of the hottest takes I've ever seen on this board.

Kudos.

Having one good line and three bad ones will certainly bring us the Stanley Cup, good work.

 

[Better Call Sal]

I’m not going to get too concerned about anything this early on. We have things to correct and improve upon, but getting 3 out of the first 4 points is a great start.

The great thing about our depth is that we can do plenty of tinkering when necessary and get players in better position to produce.

 

[britdevil]

I think you keep it as is for 10 games then evaluate.

Work on game preparation and look to set the tone from the off.

 

[NJDevs26]

I mean 11 goals and 18 points in 32 games is kinda meh for a guy who had 31 goals and 52 points in 57 games before the trade last year, and consistently has put up 30+ and 60 or so points in his career. It reminds me of Kovalchuk when people are so starved for a 'type' of player he gets every rationalization in the book for why he doesn't look as dynamic here.

 

[Mgd31]

Timo needs to score 35+ goals this year

 

[britdevil]

I know it's early, but our PK looks like it could be a problem.

I don't think it's fair to Bahl that they threw him in the deep end with the experience he had coming into this season... I'm not sure he's up to 20 minutes a night with a big chunk of PK responsibilities. I don't think he looked good on the PK last night.

The team is leaning too heavily on Marino and Siegenthaler on the PK right now. And with the team taking a ton of penalties leaning heavily on two guys is a tough situation. Marino has averaged 4:33 of PK time over two games - that's kind ridiculous.

Normally you'd say it'll even out...but there is no one else to take those minutes.

Is Miller a penalty killer?

I agree that you cannot lean on Marino so heavily. That's not a recipe for success.

 

[Triumph]

I mean 11 goals and 18 points in 32 games is kinda meh for a guy who had 31 goals and 52 points in 57 games before the trade last year, and consistently has put up 30+ and 60 or so points in his career. It reminds me of Kovalchuk when people are so starved for a 'type' of player he gets every rationalization in the book for why he doesn't look as dynamic here.

He was the only guy SJ had. He was short a few assists, that happens. I don't know how we don't all understand this by now, points are semi-random events.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

I mean 11 goals and 18 points in 32 games is kinda meh for a guy who had 31 goals and 52 points in 57 games before the trade last year, and consistently has put up 30+ and 60 or so points in his career. It reminds me of Kovalchuk when people are so starved for a 'type' of player he gets every rationalization in the book for why he doesn't look as dynamic here.

He had 9 goals in 21 games in the regular season while learning the system. He then got stoned by Igor and somehow had zero despite creating more chances than any player (I believe in the league) in round 1.

The problems he’s having through 2 games were not present last year. The whole line is just way off for whatever reason.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

Holtz may be doing the little things better but he isn't doing what he actually NEEDS to do - get scoring chances and take them. You can get any fourth liner to do little things and not score. Holtz isn't good enough at the little things to justify playing him for that if he can't find a scoring touch here.

i don’t agree with that. He had two nice looks in the slot in game 1 and then last night was a clusterf*** but he still made some nice plays. This is why it’s better to have him in the top-6. If he makes a nice play to Bratt or Jack, it’s more likely to go somewhere than if he makes a nice play to Haula or Palat.

But honestly i think that third line has mostly looked fine. Obviously the whole team is a bit of a mess right now but i think if you give them a couple weeks they’ll build some chemistry.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

He had 9 goals in 21 games in the regular season while learning the system. He then got stoned by Igor and somehow had zero despite creating more chances than any player (I believe in the league) in round 1.

The problems he’s having through 2 games were not present last year. The whole line is just way off for whatever reason.

i think the problem is using Nico as the hard matchup shutdown center. Sure you WANT him to play D like Bergeron and still put up offense every game, but i don’t think he’s there yet. Palat-Haula-Mercer should be the matchup line and then Meier-Hischier-Holtz should be deployed in the same way you’d deploy any other first line around the league.

But really i think Jack and Bratt need to be split. They’re entry machines and can make any line work on their own. That’s what the other two lines are missing, at least with the way they’re currently trying to play.

 

[Unknown Caller]

i’d like to just casually remind everyone how we all felt after the first two games last season

It’s only 2 games, but we controlled play in the first two games last season. We’re getting the points this year but getting outplayed, which is much more concerning.

They’ll turn it around, but they’ve had their heads up their asses so far.

 

[JimEIV]

The entire 2nd line looks like poo-poo.

Meier, Mercer, and Nico are the three worst CF% forwards on the team right now by a lot. If that line is not scoring a single point and getting caved in the possession battle we're screwed

Is Miller a penalty killer?

I agree that you cannot lean on Marino so heavily. That's not a recipe for success.

Miller has never really been a regular PKer..

He has 293 PK minutes in his 466 game career

For comparison Siegenthaler has 624 PK minutes in his 257 game career.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Nico with zero points, winning 36% of faceoffs, 44% of shot attempts. You don’t control play when your other “top line” does this. I’m thinking this won’t continue.

 

[britdevil]

The entire 2nd line looks like poo-poo.

Meier, Mercer, and Nico are the three worst CF% forwards on the team right now by a lot. If that line is not scoring a single point and getting caved in the possession battle we're screwed



Miller has never really been a regular PKer..

He has 293 PK minutes in his 466 game career

For comparison Siegenthaler has 624 PK minutes in his 257 game career.

****

 

[JimEIV]

Nico with zero points, winning 36% of faceoffs, 44% of shot attempts. You don’t control play when your other “top line” does this. I’m thinking this won’t continue.

Thing is we just played marginal, at best, teams. Sure things are still being sorted out all around the league and two games in October that you picked up 3 out of 4 points mean little over 82 games...

But my view is if you're going to a serious team, a contending team these are the kind of games that you should be able to sleep walk through and still look good. They haven't looked good.

 

[Devs3cups]

I'd say going for the between the legs move at the blueline when you're the last man back leading to a penalty was pretty gross, and he had a terrible pass picked off...

But guys his speed and recovery ability is other worldly. Here's going to be amazing for years to come in all zones on the ice.

100%. He’s a rookie, he oozes skill and potential and he’s showing some really good things, but he’s going to do some mistakes and clean them up, and it’s ok.

I remember one play in particular, I think @JimEIV and @My3Sons brought it up and maybe they can refresh my memory, I forget exactly how the play unfolded, but the puck got sort of cleared by Arizona and Luke back checked like an absolute madman to go back to the puck and get to the ARZ player who beat our other D-man that got flat footed at the ARZ blue line. I remember being very impressed. His skating is already top 3 on the team.

 

[Devs3cups]

And tbh I get why Nico's in a goalscoring slump when he passes up chances like a wide-open turnaround in the slot late in the third period to dish it off to the side without even noticing he had open ice in front of him. It seems like because there are so many other good offensive players here Nico's caught up in being a facilitator and forgetting he can shoot and take it to the net too.

Yeah, he’s getting his points back to last year, but sometimes he could be a little more selfish. He has the talent for it.

 

[JimEIV]

100%. He’s a rookie, he oozes skill and potential and he’s showing some really good things, but he’s going to do some mistakes and clean them up, and it’s ok.

I remember one play in particular, I think @JimEIV and @My3Sons brought it up and maybe they can refresh my memory, I forget exactly how the play unfolded, but the puck got sort of cleared by Arizona and Luke back checked like an absolute madman to go back to the puck and get to the ARZ who beat our other D-man that got flat footed at the ARZ blue line. I remember being very impressed. His skating is already top 3 on the team.

I remember the play... I'm not a 100% sure but I think Luke was coming in for a change and the play got behind the change and Luke zoomed from the boards and caught the guy at the other side of the ice...but I could be mistaken... I sort of just have the memory of him skating across the ice to catch up to the play.

Edit: I'm getting a little antsy that he hasn't had a point yet

 

[Triumph]

i think the problem is using Nico as the hard matchup shutdown center. Sure you WANT him to play D like Bergeron and still put up offense every game, but i don’t think he’s there yet. Palat-Haula-Mercer should be the matchup line and then Meier-Hischier-Holtz should be deployed in the same way you’d deploy any other first line around the league.

But really i think Jack and Bratt need to be split. They’re entry machines and can make any line work on their own. That’s what the other two lines are missing, at least with the way they’re currently trying to play.

I don't think the other lines should have trouble with entries even with Jack and Bratt together - the Devils had lots and lots of this last year. I don't think losing Tatar is what changes that, either, even though Tatar was likely good on entries.

Definitely don't think Nico's line should have trouble handling top lines on their own.

Also Nico has 71 shots in this 26 game period we're calling a slump. He is shooting a perfectly reasonable amount.

 

[JimEIV]

Having one good line and three bad ones will certainly bring us the Stanley Cup, good work.

It's not 3 bad lines. we shouldn't try to distribute the suck. It's one bad line. The Nico line. It's the ONLY line under 50% CF as a group. It's the only top 3 line without a point.

It's only two games but they are largely the source of the suck.

 

[Devs3cups]

This team didn't play all that great for some stretches last year (especially in December) and figured it out. We still have a young team and we've just played a back to back to start the year. There's some good right now and some not so good, but I'm confident it'll get sorted, team has too much talent not to.

Still 3 out of 4 points when not at the top of their game is good. They also showed resiliency last night. Down 2-0 and came back in the game and even got a point. Season starts can be a bit sloppy, you just want to clean stuff up.

Lindy seemed to indicate some PK work would get done based on the presser, that's good. I'd like a little more pressure on the PK.

It's not 3 bad lines. we shouldn't try to distribute the suck. It's one bad line. The Nico line. It's the ONLY line under 50% CF as a group. It's the only top 3 line without a point.

It's only two games but they are largely the source of the suck.

They haven't had good games to start, I'm confident they'll pick it up. They had a few nice chances in the 2 games, but they have another gear, on both ends of the ice.

 

[Unknown Caller]

They haven't had good games to start, I'm confident they'll pick it up. They had a few nice chances in the 2 games, but they have another gear, on both ends of the ice.

The second line has been absolutely atrocious, their underlying numbers are legit abysmal.

That combination in general seems really redundant, I would swap Mercer with Toffoli at a minimum.