GDT: Game # 67: Devils host Lightning @7pm ET

[Cheddabombs]

If there's a silver lining to this game it's that the team can treat it as a mini playoff series. It wasn't a great game last night, oh well you're only down 1-0. Now they need to adjust, figure out how to break down Tampa and come back ready tomorrow.

 

[Devs3cups]

I think you missed some subtle plays that made a big difference.

On the first goal, dougie failed to take the pass away, and Hegel after driving the past up ice made the pass across.

You missed Hegel's play on the the second goal which was a direct result of the first. He and Kucherov delayed so Graves was out of the play and the pass was wide open and VV had to guard against it. Or it was a replay of the first goal.

Don't give the puck up at the blueline and allow Killorn to walk the slot with all kinds of time. Just garbage by Dougie and Bratt.

We gave up golden chances at the end of each period. He stopped the first breakaway with 10s to go in the first. Yeah it was a backhand... by a guy with maybe the best backhand in the league... Not to mention the backdoor tap in was there if Kucherov wanted to pass and VV had to play that too.

He was better than Vas who left trash rebounds out on front (we scored on one, Boqvist missed the other) and had three posts back him up... And a disallowed goal. Not to mention we didn't even crack 25 shots.

It's not like they won a couple of Cups recently or anything. They played well. We didn't finish chances.

I didn’t miss anything, I just believe goalies can make saves after mistakes that will happen and are part of the game, whether we like it or not, in the NHL.

I didn’t mind the first goal on Vitek. Other than that, I didn’t like a single one. Maybe I could be more lenient with the 3rd one, but I don’t see why I should be giving Vitek the benefit of the doubt after his last 12 or so games.

 

[AfroThunder396]

Sorry but the if the goalie fails to make a save on a clean, unscreened shot from +20 feet out he's going to get criticized.

Goalies are actually allowed to make saves on tough shots. I know, it's crazy, I didn't know that either but apparently it's true. As a matter of fact, that's the reason why we're paying him three point four million US dollars a year.

 

[MauDevils]

Too much analysis being dumped into this. Gillies...I mean Vitek was bad and has been for a while now.

I'll post his last 7 again -

.867
1.000
.840
.862
.737
.864
.765

So .862 over his last 7, 15 xGA and 24 actual goals against. He's killing us right now.

 

[guitarguyvic]

Sorry but the if the goalie fails to make a save on a clean, unscreened shot from +20 feet out he's going to get criticized.

Goalies are actually allowed to make saves on tough shots. I know, it's crazy, I didn't know that either but apparently it's true. As a matter of fact, that's the reason why we're paying him three point four million US dollars a year.

I have no problem with pointing out that the goalie didn’t play great. What bothers me is that we simultaneously excuse the odd man rushes that led to those goals. I keep seeing people saying it’s part of the game and every team does it, but not every team allows them at this frequency. Between Carolina and Tampa the devils gave up like 6-7 odd man rushes by my count. In contrast the devils only had a couple in those two games.

1-2 given up a game is what I’d expect from a good team. Not 3-4 or sometimes even more than that. And most often they come within the first period or two. A good opponent is going to torch our goalies on that because our goalies are no better than average. It’s ugly, and it will be the thing that prevents this team from going far in the playoffs. I don’t know why we insist on sugar coating it.

 

[TF1970]

So everyone is aware......

- Boston has lost two straight to DET & CHI, including scoring early third last night to go up 3-2, to lose 6-3
- Carolina had lost two straight before last night
- Dallas lost to Vancouver last night
- Pittsburgh lost to Montreal last night
- Toronto lost the other night to Buffalo after being up two in latter stages of second period

Just the reminder that other teams in the league lose games too......

 

[guitarguyvic]

So everyone is aware......

- Boston has lost two straight to DET & CHI, including scoring early third last night to go up 3-2, to lose 6-3
- Carolina had lost two straight before last night
- Dallas lost to Vancouver last night
- Pittsburgh lost to Montreal last night
- Toronto lost the other night to Buffalo after being up two in latter stages of second period

Just the reminder that other teams in the league lose games too......

At this juncture it’s not about the wins/losses. It’s all about the little details in how they play win or lose. There are definitely things to be concerned about for the playoffs if they’re not corrected within the next 15 games.

 

[Devs3cups]

So everyone is aware......

- Boston has lost two straight to DET & CHI, including scoring early third last night to go up 3-2, to lose 6-3
- Carolina had lost two straight before last night
- Dallas lost to Vancouver last night
- Pittsburgh lost to Montreal last night
- Toronto lost the other night to Buffalo after being up two in latter stages of second period

Just the reminder that other teams in the league lose games too......

Yup. Good teams lose games. We could go on a 3-4 L streak and it wouldn’t change a peep about how I see this team.

 

[Better Call Sal]

I'm not sure why people believe that only one thing can be accurate as to what took place. You can't just point to one thing and say that's the reason.

-The shorthanded goal was inexcusably defended by Dougie.
-I missed the second goal and, while it looked like an odd man rush (I haven't watched anything but one replay), it was a point blank shot. These goals do happen, but it's one I'd likely prefer Vitek to stop.
-Goal 3 was a poor decision by Dougie to drop pass it, but again, Killorn beats Vitek short side clean and he reacted in a way where he was thinking he'd go far side. Might have been where he was beat on the 2nd goal? But he cheated to a degree and paid for it.
-Goal 4 you could hang on everyone most likely for mailing in the final seconds of that period.

I really think the team came out with a really good energy in the first and the called back goal/shorthanded goal against combo sucked the life out of them. Everyone mentioning us treating this like a preliminary playoff series is bang on. This was Game 1. This was against a veteran team who knows how to win in every possible way. You got taught a lesson. They're practicing today, so clearly Ruff knows that work needs to be done and they can't rest even with the brutal schedule in place.

I have faith tomorrow will be a better game.

 

[MauDevils]

Just the reminder that other teams in the league lose games too......

 

[Blender]

Too much analysis being dumped into this. Gillies...I mean Vitek was bad and has been for a while now.

I'll post his last 7 again -

.867
1.000
.840
.862
.737
.864
.765

So .862 over his last 7, 15 xGA and 24 actual goals against. He's killing us right now.

Schmid needs to be starting until proven otherwise. He's had a fantastic season outside like 1 game.

 

[Triumph]

Jacks defensive metrics are actually good though, even though I guess eye-test wise he doesn’t *look* like Pandolfo out there. Conversely, Kovy had brutal defensive metrics but he looked good doing it.

Kovalchuk was just a terrible F1. I've never seen a guy consistently take worse angles to defensemen as a forechecker - Kovalchuk was tall and played with a long stick, he should've been forcing turnovers all the time, but he didn't. The Devils got him to stop standing still in the D zone, and obviously all the short-handed goals helped his reputation, but yeah, Kovalchuk was just awful without the puck, all over the ice.

Hughes is so good at recoveries and forcing turnovers. He's poor at defending space.

 

[MadDevil]

I didn’t miss anything, I just believe goalies can make saves after mistakes that will happen and are part of the game, whether we like it or not, in the NHL.

I didn’t mind the first goal on Vitek. Other than that, I didn’t like a single one. Maybe I could be more lenient with the 3rd one, but I don’t see why I should be giving Vitek the benefit of the doubt after his last 12 or so games.

Goals 2 and 3 were pretty weak. Not horribly so, but you'd hope for a save there. The Kucherov goal I'll cut him some slack because it was Kucherov and the defense looked like they got caught thinking ahead to the intermission.

Vitek is definitely struggling lately so hopefully Schmid can keep up his level of play and either take over or hold the fort until Vitek figures it out. I think the workload of being a starter might just be catching up to him.

 

[Devils731]

I don’t think the Devils need to beat themselves up over this loss. There was nothing fundamentally wrong with how they played nor the choices they made.

On another night they play this same game and win 4-1. Hopefully they do so on Thursday.

 

[Triumph]

I don’t think the Devils need to beat themselves up over this loss. There was nothing fundamentally wrong with how they played nor the choices they made.

On another night they play this same game and win 4-1. Hopefully they do so on Thursday.

Yeah, pretty much. Some obvious mistakes but their offensive underperformance is overblown - they hit 4 posts and scored a goal that absolutely should've counted. Could've had more offense in the 3rd period.

 

[Devils731]

Yeah, pretty much. Some obvious mistakes but their offensive underperformance is overblown - they hit 4 posts and scored a goal that absolutely should've counted. Could've had more offense in the 3rd period.

I do think the Devils packed it in during the 3rd period and Tampa playing disciplined encouraged the Devils to do so.

The Devils have stressed how tiring this stretch is and I wonder if that was in the back of everyone’s minds.

 

[JimEIV]

I don’t think the Devils need to beat themselves up over this loss. There was nothing fundamentally wrong with how they played nor the choices they made.

On another night they play this same game and win 4-1. Hopefully they do so on Thursday.

Nevermind I misunderstood. Apologies.

 

[Devils731]

I'm not trying to bust balls? What game are you referring to? I ask because they haven't won a game where the score was 4-1 any time recently...in fact the last time the Devils won 4-1 was October 20th against the Islanders as far as I can tell?

You’ve missed the point completely; which some others didn’t so I don’t think it was unclear.

I’m saying the resulting score for last night could easily have been reversed based on the play on the ice. The Devils scored 2, had a bunch of great chances, and hit 3 posts. They easily could have scored 4.

Tampa had some good chances as well but a decent goaltending performance could have easily kept them to 1 goal.

So last game, with the teams playing exactly the same, could end up as a 4-1 Devils win instead of a 4-1 loss.

 

[JimEIV]

You’ve missed the point completely; which some others didn’t so I don’t think it was unclear.

I’m saying the resulting score for last night could easily have been reversed based on the play on the ice. The Devils scored 2, had a bunch of great chances, and hit 3 posts. They easily could have scored 4.

Tampa had some good chances as well but a decent goaltending performance could have easily kept them to 1 goal.

So last game, with the teams playing exactly the same, could end up as a 4-1 Devils win instead of a 4-1 loss.

Sorry I reacted too quickly and didn't read through. Your initial post wasn't unclear I was just too hasty.

 

[captainscott12]

So everyone is aware......

- Boston has lost two straight to DET & CHI, including scoring early third last night to go up 3-2, to lose 6-3
- Carolina had lost two straight before last night
- Dallas lost to Vancouver last night
- Pittsburgh lost to Montreal last night
- Toronto lost the other night to Buffalo after being up two in latter stages of second period

Just the reminder that other teams in the league lose games too......

yeah it was a stinker last night.. i don't worry about a 1 off game.. if they play 3 or 4 in a row like that then you worry. tampa played a tight checking heavy game last night... which is obviously the best way to defeat NJ.. teams know this... if they can bottle us up we are beatable... no big deal. come out and get the next one.. lets not look at tampa like some shitty team either this is an experienced talented team that is going to start ramping it up.. this three game set is actually a great learning opportunity for our young team to get into the type of games we will have to win

 

[Eggtimer]

Yea it sucks we lost but I think they learned an important lesson for the playoffs. They seen first hand how a good experienced team like Tampa plays regardless the situation and how letting up can ruin you in a hurry.
The good thing is , we look like we can beat anyone in the league.
Unlike last time we made the playoffs . It was just a matter of how many ga,es we could extend the first round to before we lost.
This year , we have the roster to do some damage

 

[Brooklyndevil]

Vitek is hot than he’s cold. Can’t positively trust him. He definitely has problems playing two games in a row.

 

[JK3]

They need to manage the puck better and cut down on the 2 on 1's, they give up waaaaaay to many. They gave up three of them in the first five minutes against the Canes, difference is they got some stops. Bring in some pee wees and sit Douglas down and have them explain to him how to defend a 2 on 1.

In this amazing season there's not tons to nitpick (we'll always find something lol) but I'd say the odd man rushes against are the biggest problem with their game. Our in zone defense is better than recent years, not a fan of the swarm but it looks like most of them have figued it out. I'm not worried about the offense at all, a little worried about the goaltending but guys getting caught up ice and turning pucks over around the blue line is annoying. Clean that shit up.

 

[NjdevilfanJim]

Not a great game for sure....Highlight to me was Timo hitting Czernak good to see someone hit a guy that was hitting Hughes....Devils need to do more of that or hit the other teams skill guys...They need to protect Hughes more or Hughes needs to practice with Marchand over the summer Nico too start giving back some shots.....Imo they let them get run at too much...

 

[Sdevils42]

I'm not sure why people believe that only one thing can be accurate as to what took place. You can't just point to one thing and say that's the reason.

-The shorthanded goal was inexcusably defended by Dougie.
-I missed the second goal and, while it looked like an odd man rush (I haven't watched anything but one replay), it was a point blank shot. These goals do happen, but it's one I'd likely prefer Vitek to stop.
-Goal 3 was a poor decision by Dougie to drop pass it, but again, Killorn beats Vitek short side clean and he reacted in a way where he was thinking he'd go far side. Might have been where he was beat on the 2nd goal? But he cheated to a degree and paid for it.
-Goal 4 you could hang on everyone most likely for mailing in the final seconds of that period.

I really think the team came out with a really good energy in the first and the called back goal/shorthanded goal against combo sucked the life out of them. Everyone mentioning us treating this like a preliminary playoff series is bang on. This was Game 1. This was against a veteran team who knows how to win in every possible way. You got taught a lesson. They're practicing today, so clearly Ruff knows that work needs to be done and they can't rest even with the brutal schedule in place.

I have faith tomorrow will be a better game.

These goals at the end of the period is a disturbing trend. Last night and I think maybe against PHX. I've noticed them let down a bit within 10 secs of closing a period. Hope they address it because it's certainly noticeable.