GDT: New Jersey Devils @ Tampa Bay Lightning: Early Minimalist Edition

[RSeen]

Neither did Zajac, and he got to play with Hall the whole game. I don't have a problem with limiting Zacha's minutes, but he's not really in a position to succeed on that line. It's pretty trash.

Zajac plays tough minutes. Zacha is not ready for that, especially on the road where Tampa has last change.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Zajac plays tough minutes. Zacha is not ready for that, especially on the road where Tampa has last change.

I'm tired of that meme with Zajac. He stinks offensively, he shouldn't be dragging down a guy like Hall. You wanna match up Zajac with a top line, do it with someone else on his wing.

 

[NjDevsRR]

I'm tired of that meme with Zajac. He stinks offensively, he shouldn't be dragging down a guy like Hall. You wanna match up Zajac with a top line, do it with someone else on his wing.

That line looked good tonight, he didn't drag him down.

 

[StnTwnDevil]

Our D is terrible. It is clearly bottom 10 on paper. Lovejoy was the Larsson replacement and he is a bottom pair guy. We clearly need to acquire someone at some point.

Where are these crazy overreactions coming from? This group of d-men has not been a negative, If anything, they've been a positive. If you're thinking of the play where the puck bounced on lovejoy and led to a breakaway, you're not being fair to the player. That was a rare/fluky play that most d-men in the same situation would have had played out the same way.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

That line looked good tonight, he didn't drag him down.

Hall and PA looked good. Zajac had a few nice defensive plays and a very lucky goal. Other than that he created zero.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Hall and PA looked good. Zajac had a few nice defensive plays and a very lucky goal. Other than that he created zero.

From what I saw Zajac generated a lot of zone time with Hall by cycling well with him.

 

[Whaddagoal]

Honestly, he's a little bit of all of those things.

On the side walls and downlow he has a knack for finding cross ice passes and getting passes back to the point. He's very Crosby like in this regard, but not being able to protect as well as Crosby. On the transition he is good but does tend to have a knack to lose 1-on-1 battles. I always wanted him to stop trying to go THROUGH defencemen (cause he doesn't have the stick skills to pull it off) and go around them instead (cause he has the speed and power to do this easily). He'll get breakaways here and there (but is an average finisher 1-on-1 against a goalie), you'll see him on the sidewalls in the neutral zone looking for the puck to bust out so he can get odd man rushes. Luckily, he didn't try the 1-on-1 stick handles as much last season. He's VERY opportunistic, I would say the majority of his points will be just getting the puck to the right spots (he is a shot machine) or being at the doorstep at the right time for a tap in.

Devils fans be patient. You haven't seen the true T. Hall. He's playing passively. I believe he's trying to fit in so he isn't playing like the true T. Hall which is best described as a Bull in a China shop. When Hall is confident he demands the puck. He will be tapping his stick and making himself open and demanding the puck just inside the defensive blue line and then taking it full steam ahead into the offensive zone. I haven't seen that yet in these 2 games which makes sense as he's finding his way and learning about his teammates. The true T. Hall emerges after his confidence picks up which is usually him picking up points. He does go cold for periods like everyone. During that time he usually plays passively (like right now). The good thing about Hall is he never stays cold for long (usually never more then 8 games). In Edm media would start asking him what was wrong. He then starts going hard to the net and starts crashing the blue ice. Which of course leads to goals and points. Once he starts getting points his confidence grows and he starts dominating games. So it's coming. Be patient. He's just not asserting himself yet. And if you look at the situation it makes sense. New team. Learning tendencies. He's also probably trying to play team game to quell talk of him not being team player or not following systems etc. Basically he's thinking too much and trying to fit in IMO. He will soon say fk it and revert to the dominate winger he is.

He's better than Parise. Trust me. Yes he isn't as good as Kovy. He's better than Parise though. You guys will soon see it.

Thanks for answering with lots of detail. Seems to fit a little of what we've seen in a very small amount of time. An intriguing mix of speed and good timing/sneaking snots and better than average half-wall / down low chance generation. Good on PP half-wall with his passes (would have had assist if not for the goal taken away).

 

[Whaddagoal]

From what I saw Zajac generated a lot of zone time with Hall by cycling well with him.

Yes, Hall was much better today with Zajac than with Henrique previous game. Keep that line in tact for next game with PAP.

 

[John Pedro]

Screw you bruh! Don't you see how good those teams became after tanking tho? All are now perennial playoff teams and cup winners!

Okay well, the Pens are. But I love seeing when people use the Laffs and Sabres tanks as the prototype of success.

Leafs gonna be a cup contender before us, that's for sure.

 

[NJDevs26]

Enough with the tanking crap...do we really have to pin a thread on this again after Game 2? This is a GDT, nobody wants to read the tanking stuff here.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Realistically, what kind of production do you really expect from Zajac this year at ES? 25 points? 30 points? This is someone we want with Hall at ES? I'm not getting it. Hall's production will plummet with him. He does his damage at ES, Zajac doesn't.

 

[MadDevil]

From what I saw Zajac generated a lot of zone time with Hall by cycling well with him.

He did, but some people are so anti-Zajac that nothing will change their minds.

 

[Nemec]

Enough with the tanking crap...do we really have to pin a thread on this again after Game 2?

Where is the 2017 draft thread ?

 

[Emperoreddy]

We aren't doing the tanking talk.

Only warning.

 

[Triumph]

Hall was good with Zajac and Parenteau - I'd leave that line alone for at least the start of next game.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Zajac scores and his line plays well and he still gets ripped on

gotta love it.

 

[Whaddagoal]

I didn't find much wrong in Zajac's game at all. he was good infact. His line was buzzing early game and into the 2nd. Was about the only line really doing something.

The guy even got a goal tonight,

Okay he was on the coverage for that high deflection goal, but you can't really blame him for that, was a fluky deflection goal.

I was more pissed off that Hynes kept getting caught with the 4th liners vs. Tampa's number one more than once in the 3rd period late in the game. I mean the only bondafide NHLer in that line was Fiddler, and the rest are AHL or Junior material players vs TBL's best.

 

[RNCDevil]

They had some great looks to score tonight. I'm not too upset with this game. I would love to see Zacha pot one. It's coming. Chin up Devils fans.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Where is the 2017 draft thread ?

It's not happening in there either.

 

[StnTwnDevil]

That line looked good tonight, he didn't drag him down.

I agree, and it was pretty obvious since Hall's line was the worst line the previous week.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Zajac scores and his line plays well and he still gets ripped on

gotta love it.

Yeah that was a real snipe. Answer my question. Do you think he's capable of more than 30 points at ES? If not, how is that not gonna tank Hall's production? If yes, show me a shred of evidence that led you to that conclusion.

 

[hutter]

Devils fans be patient. You haven't seen the true T. Hall. He's playing passively. I believe he's trying to fit in so he isn't playing like the true T. Hall which is best described as a Bull in a China shop. When Hall is confident he demands the puck. He will be tapping his stick and making himself open and demanding the puck just inside the defensive blue line and then taking it full steam ahead into the offensive zone. I haven't seen that yet in these 2 games which makes sense as he's finding his way and learning about his teammates. The true T. Hall emerges after his confidence picks up which is usually him picking up points. He does go cold for periods like everyone. During that time he usually plays passively (like right now). The good thing about Hall is he never stays cold for long (usually never more then 8 games). In Edm media would start asking him what was wrong. He then starts going hard to the net and starts crashing the blue ice. Which of course leads to goals and points. Once he starts getting points his confidence grows and he starts dominating games. So it's coming. Be patient. He's just not asserting himself yet. And if you look at the situation it makes sense. New team. Learning tendencies. He's also probably trying to play team game to quell talk of him not being team player or not following systems etc. Basically he's thinking too much and trying to fit in IMO. He will soon say fk it and revert to the dominate winger he is.

He's better than Parise. Trust me. Yes he isn't as good as Kovy. He's better than Parise though. You guys will soon see it.

I just don't think you understand exactly how good Parise was when he was with us.

 

[MadDevil]

I'd scratch Wood and Speers and put Josefson and Boucher in next game. Leave the top 6 combos for now. Go with something like this for the bottom 6...

Boucher - Zacha - Bennett
Josefson - Fiddler - DSP

 

[MadDevil]

Yeah that was a real snipe. Answer my question. Do you think he's capable of more than 30 points at ES? If not, how is that not gonna tank Hall's production? If yes, show me a shred of evidence that led you to that conclusion.

Well, Palmieri did score 30 goals dragging Zajac's useless corpse around, so I don't think he's going to necessarily kill Hall. If you put a finisher on the right side with those two I think they'll do okay.

 

[John Pedro]

I'd scratch Wood and Speers and put Josefson and Boucher in next game. Leave the top 6 combos for now. Go with something like this for the bottom 6...

Boucher - Zacha - Bennett
Josefson - Fiddler - DSP

Where's Kalinin? I think he'd be better than Jojo and DSP