GDT: Game #64 Devils @ Capitals - 7pm ET

[Guttersniped]

You must have had many drinks

Devils thoroughly outplayed them. Also hit 3 pipes. One of the most lopsided on all the charts for the season. Keumper did a great job limiting the rebounds, that was the key all game and why it seemed competitive. Caps also were playing an extremely safe game just to have a chance. They barely had any memorable scoring chances. Schmids best save was off a simple point shot which was deflected.

This is the Caps game basically, they typically outperform xG% by protecting the net and relying on quality shots from good shooters.

They didn’t outplay us, we also played a safer game, which is what we actually do when we’re playing smarter. The game was frustrating at times but some of those goals were legit goofy.

Jack’s been a little off since his injury, which doesn’t bother me at this point.

Bratt is more worrying. He’s been poor defensively for at least 20 games here. Teams have gotten a ridiculous number of HDCF with him on ice for a while. It happened against him when Jack was out too.

Not sure if he’s cheating more or been less physically engaged but putting him on 3rd line with the team’s hardest workers might change his mindset.

Bratt’s annoying me, because I don’t mind players being snakebit, but being worse defensively while doing it is pretty inexcusable. Unlike Jack, he’s also 24 and not coming off an injury.

His defense in particular hasn’t been that much of a problem in these last two games though.

 

[Brooklyndevil]

Take the two points. However, it would be nice to win one in regulation. They have a great record but at times don’t play like it. I don’t have 100% confidence in this team, especially the goaltending. Hopefully, they get better.

 

[Better Call Sal]

@NjDevsRR

 

[NjDevsRR]

@NjDevsRR

 

[Better Call Sal]

View attachment 666496

LMAO

 

[NjDevsRR]

LMAO

The Vitek celebrating in that gif is also great lmao

 

[NjDevsRR]

Take the two points. However, it would be nice to win one in regulation. They have a great record but at times don’t play like it. I don’t have 100% confidence in this team, especially the goaltending. Hopefully, they get better.

 

[Clam Jensen]

Dawgson pacing at a hair over 61 pts for the season. I would love for him to hit 30/30.

 

[Saugus]

Dawgson pacing at a hair over 61 pts for the season. I would love for him to hit 30/30.

I want to see him go off in the playoffs too. We know he has the hustle to match the increased intensity of those games, and I want to see his production reflect that.

 

[TBF1972]

Out of town stinks, but holy crap Dallas dropped 10 goals on Buffalo.

and some consider buffalo a future power house. i am not against a timeline which sees buffalo dominate the nhl after jack and luke hughes retire.

 

[guitarguyvic]

I’d only qualify that by saying that in a lot of our chances our shooter was under pressure, or didn’t have the best angle, or was in deep, etc. I didn’t think Kurmper had to stand on his head or anything. Someone post game mentioned his good rebound control; and someone else that we could have done a better job of creating traffic and taking his eyes away. But you don’t often do that off the rush anyway.

The game was a bit closer than the shot totals alone would indicate.

This is a thing about this team's performance that makes it hard to pin down if the analytics are truly capturing their quality of play.

The Devils are extremely good at possessing the puck. They are extremely good at getting shots and chances. But when I watch, I always have an uneasy feeling. I can see that they are generating good chances through their talent and work ethic. But that's the thing - they are working to get those chances. It doesn't feel like the opposition is typically making many unforced errors or giving the Devils a ton of room to work with. The Devils get a lot of chances and score a lot in spite of this, because they are very talented and work hard.

Conversely...even though the opposition possesses the puck a lot less than the Devils, and generates fewer overall shots and chances...those few times when the opposition has the puck and gets those chances, it feels incredibly nerve wracking and dangerous. Maybe the Devils give up just two scoring chances the whole period, but often it seems like those two chances were guys completely wide open in the slot with no defender within six feet of them; or a back door pass to a wide open guy on the side of the net; or more than one glorious 2-on-1 resulting from egregious plays in the DZ/NZ.

So the Devils might have 10 scoring chances that you could grade as B+/A-, but the 2 the other team got were both A++. That's the sense I often get watching. Despite all the success in the win/loss column and all the positive stats, my observations always seem to leave me not trusting this team defensively. There have been exceptions - the third period of the most recent game against Colorado comes to mind where they basically shut the Avs down completely and gave them nothing at all. But that is not something I really see consistently.

This is one of the many reasons I can't wait for the playoffs. I'd like to see how all this translates there. As a team can they figure out how to be more like that third period against the Avs with more consistency? And if they don't do that, can they still pull out wins the way they have in the regular season? We will see.

 

[Ben Matlock]

Extend Haula!

I think he’d take a paycut if he can get a bit of term. This is his seventh NHL-team, and I remember reading he’d prefer to settle somewhere. If his wife’s BFF is moving somewhere close, I wouldn’t be surprised if he values length over aav. 3 x 1.8M, and some kind of NTC.

 

[TBF1972]

90 points with 18 games left.

Feels good after years of not even coming close to that

don't get too excited. we played a very favourable schedule.

(if you believe georgeleafer)

 

[HersheyBob27]

Extend Haula!

I think he’d take a paycut if he can get a bit of term. This is his seventh NHL-team, and I remember reading he’d prefer to settle somewhere. If his wife’s BFF is moving somewhere close, I wouldn’t be surprised if he values length over aav. 3 x 1.8M, and some kind of NTC.

No even if the ballpark IMO. Gonna want minimum 3M per

 

[glenwo2]

I'm just glad we won. Meier didn't have a great fame and the overtime penalty wasn't good but his shootout goal was clutch ! It really is sad how bad we are in the shootout. Jack is pretty awful in the shootout but is much better during a game on a breakaway. Bratt has struggled the last few shootouts and has that 1 move he loves to do. It's pretty crazy that Nico has never scored in the shootout in his 5 plus seasons in the NHL. Good thing there is no shootouts in the playoffs.

The team didn't play bad and we were deff the better of the 2 teams. Still need to win more convincingly against teams below us in the standings. Schmid actually had a pretty good game too. If you look at his stats they are pretty damn good. Gotta take into account he hasn't started a ton of games but he looks like he could be ready for a backup role full time for next season.

'Cause it's effective.

He HAD him.

He Had Kuemper dead to rights but lost the puck there.

 

[TF1970]

I thought Sandin looked pretty good for the caps last night.

 

[NjDevsRR]

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

No even if the ballpark IMO. Gonna want minimum 3M per

His current cap hit is 2.37 and he probably won’t even hit 10 goals this year.

 

[NJDevs26]

We should have used him in the shootout.

He might have a better chance in the shootout with a no look shot than some of the others do while looking lol

 

[Triumph]

This is a thing about this team's performance that makes it hard to pin down if the analytics are truly capturing their quality of play.

The Devils are extremely good at possessing the puck. They are extremely good at getting shots and chances. But when I watch, I always have an uneasy feeling. I can see that they are generating good chances through their talent and work ethic. But that's the thing - they are working to get those chances. It doesn't feel like the opposition is typically making many unforced errors or giving the Devils a ton of room to work with. The Devils get a lot of chances and score a lot in spite of this, because they are very talented and work hard.

Conversely...even though the opposition possesses the puck a lot less than the Devils, and generates fewer overall shots and chances...those few times when the opposition has the puck and gets those chances, it feels incredibly nerve wracking and dangerous. Maybe the Devils give up just two scoring chances the whole period, but often it seems like those two chances were guys completely wide open in the slot with no defender within six feet of them; or a back door pass to a wide open guy on the side of the net; or more than one glorious 2-on-1 resulting from egregious plays in the DZ/NZ.

So the Devils might have 10 scoring chances that you could grade as B+/A-, but the 2 the other team got were both A++. That's the sense I often get watching. Despite all the success in the win/loss column and all the positive stats, my observations always seem to leave me not trusting this team defensively. There have been exceptions - the third period of the most recent game against Colorado comes to mind where they basically shut the Avs down completely and gave them nothing at all. But that is not something I really see consistently.

This is one of the many reasons I can't wait for the playoffs. I'd like to see how all this translates there. As a team can they figure out how to be more like that third period against the Avs with more consistency? And if they don't do that, can they still pull out wins the way they have in the regular season? We will see.

This I think is some measure of confirmation bias - you are forgetting about the big uncovered chances the Devils generated - coupled with the fact that yeah, when a team dominates the game in that way, the chances they give up will probably be counter-attack rush chances with a greater possibility of a large breakdown.

The Caps played the entire second half of the game on their heels and generated almost nothing, only Kuemper and luck kept them in it.

 

[guitarguyvic]

This I think is some measure of confirmation bias - you are forgetting about the big uncovered chances the Devils generated - coupled with the fact that yeah, when a team dominates the game in that way, the chances they give up will probably be counter-attack rush chances with a greater possibility of a large breakdown.

The Caps played the entire second half of the game on their heels and generated almost nothing, only Kuemper and luck kept them in it.

Well I wasn't referring necessarily to this specific game. More a general observation of how the average game for them seems to go.

 

[Eggtimer]

and some consider buffalo a future power house. i am not against a timeline which sees buffalo dominate the nhl after jack and luke hughes retire.

Buffalo will be very good once their goalie prospects are ready and Adams gets them a couple depth pieces to improve their team defence . The addition of Greenway was goid . They addressed the need to get some size.
It will be us , Sens, Sabres , top of the East with Habs and Jackets in 2-3 years . The usual playoff teams will be irrelevant soon ( Pens , Caps , Isles )

 

[Guttersniped]

His current cap hit is 2.37 and he probably won’t even hit 10 goals this year.

Haula has 8 goals in 64 games, I think he’ll get 10.

I also think he’ll be open to a pretty team friendly deal. He works well on this team.

and some consider buffalo a future power house. i am not against a timeline which sees buffalo dominate the nhl after jack and luke hughes retire.

They’re going to be monsters very soon, they have a bunch of talent that hasn’t even arrived yet.

 

[Guttersniped]

 

[glenwo2]

The echl

Forget 7 minutes

10 minutes would ensure that Shootouts become extremely rare.

I'm all for that.