GDT: #18 Devils vs Capitals: Groundhog Day Part II, High Noon Edition

[guitarguyvic]

A lot of people just look at the standings and think we are being crazy. If this slump continues it wont take long for us to be on the outside looking in. We drop back to 4th after this loss and Boston is only 2 points behind with 4 games in hand.

Can we worry about that if it actually happens? I just don't get the whining from our fans. It's not like we can control any of this.

I trust this coaching staff and I trust our top players. Why? Because we saw similar issues last year and they were able to get through them.

Also have to realize, we lost our best overall forward, we had turnover on the coaching staff, and we have two quality FW's out due to injury. Things are not always going to look pretty.

What do I want as a fan? Make the playoffs (don't really care what seed), hopefully be close to 100% healthy for that stretch, and hope that this team can do damage like they showed they could last year.

 

[Bleedred]

im not so sure moose is the backup we think we had, or like last season. Is moose going to play the second game against the jets?

- i think i our backup is weak
- scoring if it wasnt of kovi we would be in more trouble then you see now
- there goes the fayne statistic

look if you dont give ovechkin some p*ssy for a while i think his balls got a little bigger today. Just like football, any given Sunday or game you can loose, hopefully thats it.

not the trend of winning only 2 in the last 6 is going to continue.

All i care about:

- staying healthy
- establish consistent defense and offense
- improve on faceoffs
- make the playoffs
- beat the rangers any and all times

I think Moose is still the best pure backup in the league. That third goal is on him though, and the team totally turned it off after that. He won't be playing against the Jets either.

This team did not play well for him today or against the fish sticks last week.

 

[Czech Trio]

I still think the Capitals are a bad team overall but Ribiero's passing skills + Ovechkin's shot can win a game alone if they are clicking.

We need Zajac and Henrique to spark up to get out of this slump.

Also, I know Matteau burned a year on his ELC but can we just send him back to juniors? He just isn't effective right now, he doesn't throw his body enough. I would prefer to bring Josefson up in his place. Although Josefson won't score he is another useful forward depth wise and on the PK.

Feel bad for Moose, he was playing so well. 10 goals against in his last 2 starts. Ouch.

 

[NJDevs26]

But just because he's the last to get beat doesn't mean he's the one to blame.

Basically 80% of PP goals against since last April have been with 28 on the ice. Early this season it was 24-28 for seemingly every PK goal against. Today it was 29-28 being abused. Yeah there's definitely a common denominator and it ain't pretty considering Volch's contract.

 

[NBC Hockey]

Did Bernier just say he should not have scored but he should have played it better? The guy standing to the side of him is making me uncomfortable.

The Caps were absolutely not a bad team today.

People forget that even a slumping, bad team is still an NHL team that is capable of having a good game.

 

[Uli Hiemer]

Dollars to donuts Fayne (and not Volchenkov) takes the brunt of punishment for this game and is sat out again tomorrow, maybe for Harrold. They were both a -2 and played sub-15 minutes. The staff's already done its best to ruin Fayne, for whatever reason.

well, pete should be taking advantage of this 8 d-men issue and rest some guys in a shortened season, but he hasn't. he's just benched tallinder and fayne.

 

[NJDevs26]

well, pete should be taking advantage of this 8 d-men issue and rest some guys in a shortened season, but he hasn't. he's just benched tallinder and fayne.

Yeah you would THINK they would rest the older guys, but it's only been the young guys, and Tallinder that have been sat. I don't even like merry-go-rounding the older guys. Nobody's really had a consistent role at all other than Greene.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Did Bernier just say he should not have scored but he should have played it better? The guy standing to the side of him is making me uncomfortable.



People forget that even a slumping, bad team is still an NHL team that is capable of having a good game.

You are using logic. It has no place after a loss. Haha

 

[Richer's Ghost]

we're seeing the real scoring abilities when Clarkson is a little banged up and not going, Zubrus is out and our 4th line is broken up and can't forecheck.

Elias, Zajac, Kovy, Henrique. All of them have to produce consistently or we're screwed. Callups aren't going to cut it for 'chipping in'.

I'm sure Lou sees it too. Almost the 20 game mark.

 

[Bleedred]

This team is a lot better than it looks I think. Some of our biggest problems are the PK, and the teams lack of effort against these crap teams like the Caps and Piles.

Barr needs to absolutely step up and do something to this PK. We've given up at least two PP goals in 4 of the last 5 games. That stat is alarming. I cut them a break today because they stopped playing, and didn't even try to kill either of those last two penalties. They knew they were out of the game.

 

[StvBroDan]

I think Moose is still the best pure backup in the league. That third goal is on him though, and the team totally turned it off after that. He won't be playing against the Jets either.

This team did not play well for him today or against the fish sticks last week.

He needs to stay in the net for the most part.

 

[Bleedred]

we're seeing the real scoring abilities when Clarkson is a little banged up and not going, Zubrus is out and our 4th line is broken up and can't forecheck.

Elias, Zajac, Kovy, Henrique. All of them have to produce consistently or we're screwed. Callups aren't going to cut it for 'chipping in'.

I'm sure Lou sees it too. Almost the 20 game mark.

Agreed. Another thing though is let's face it. We're a TWO line team without Carter. Loktionov, and Butler don't have steady linemates. Start with the goon, and end with all miss match pairings as the game goes on. The Matteau-Gio-Bernier line is a joke, and should be the 4th line. With one of them playing with Loktionov, and Butler.

Another thing like the big goalies observation I've noticed. This team sleepwalks through matinee's. Aside from the Pittsbugh game this team is always off for afternoon games. We were off against the Isles when Moose shut them out. We were minutes away from going to OT scoreless.

 

[Czech Trio]

we're seeing the real scoring abilities when Clarkson is a little banged up and not going, Zubrus is out and our 4th line is broken up and can't forecheck.

Elias, Zajac, Kovy, Henrique. All of them have to produce consistently or we're screwed. Callups aren't going to cut it for 'chipping in'.

I'm sure Lou sees it too. Almost the 20 game mark.

Kovalchuk and Elias have been producing but our success and consistency is on the back of HENRIQUE and ZAJAC. It will be hard to win night and night out if they are quiet, not even bad per say but not producing offensively.

 

[VaxjoDevil]

We can sit d-men all we want, but as long as our offense is allowing the other team to come through the neutral zone and break out without getting slowed down we simply don't have the D to handle speed, except for Greene. I'm slightly worried that teams will expose this more and more as the season goes, and missing Zubrus is really not great.

 

[NBC Hockey]

The problem is that this team set the bar too high. If they had just obeyed and fallen to last place at the beginning of the season like everyone expected, we would be fine right now. Then the possibility of being a bubble team would excite us instead of scare us.

Disobeying SOBs.

 

[Bleedred]

He needs to stay in the net for the most part.

I think the ''Best pure backup in the league'' is really up for debate when he can't handle the puck worth a ****. He does this multiple times every season.

 

[Uli Hiemer]

Kovalchuk and Elias have been producing but our success and consistency is on the back of HENRIQUE and ZAJAC. It will be hard to win night and night out if they are quiet, not even bad per say but not producing offensively.

henrique's SOG total is not good

zajac- no clue what's happening with him. he's not clicking with kovalchuk.

 

[DEVILS ALL THE WAY*]

we're seeing the real scoring abilities when Clarkson is a little banged up and not going, Zubrus is out and our 4th line is broken up and can't forecheck.

Elias, Zajac, Kovy, Henrique. All of them have to produce consistently or we're screwed. Callups aren't going to cut it for 'chipping in'.

I'm sure Lou sees it too. Almost the 20 game mark.

For a team that is having a real hard time scoring goals, we're in a fantastic spot when taking a look at the standings.

Zajac won't continue to suck for the remainder of the year, well I hope not, and Henrique has to use that 2nd gear of his cause atm, he looks like he's in neutral.

I can see Lou adjusting his roster accordingly after the 25 game mark. We're one player too many regarding the blueline and the fact that we have to shuffle players isn't helping our stability when talking about our D pairings.

Our lack of depth up front is also hurting us cause we don't have that secondary scoring anymore with the loss of Parise, as much as it hurts to admit it. I don't see Lou acquiring a player of Parise's stature but I do see him landing someone to bolster our top 6... and no, Poni isn't that guy.

Maybe the addition of Lokti was to see if we can turn him into a solid #3 center, making Josefson expendable if the right deal comes along. We have a surplus of bottom 6 forwards and a lack of talent to roll 4 consistant lines.

Matteau should be sent down as well, I don't think he'll improve his overall game by playing minimal minutes as a bottom #6 forward... at least not this early in his career.

 

[Bleedred]

Agree with DATW on Matteau. It's time for him to go back. I still think he'll see AHL time next year. It's not his fault he was asked to play on the first line with Zajac, and Kovy. Even though he was getting low end 3rd line/ high end 4th line minutes.

We are a two line team though without Carter. We have the guys to make this better than that, but Lokti, and Butler don't even have steady linemates.

 

[DevilChuk*]

Poni - Henrique - Kovalchuk
Elias - Zajac - Clarkson

Please.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Kovalchuk and Elias have been producing but our success and consistency is on the back of HENRIQUE and ZAJAC. It will be hard to win night and night out if they are quiet, not even bad per say but not producing offensively.

That goes without saying though. Any team would struggle with their top two centers in a rut. Pitt would be in the basement if that happened to them.

The complete lack of line stability is hurting us too. With Carter out 1-4 lines are all a jumbled jigsaw puzzle of a mess. Just look at the Rags to see how juggling all 4 lined every game kills chemistry.

Able to mask inconsistency on the top and bottom lines with EHC and CBGB being consistent. Why we need at least one of Zajac or Henrique to return to form and Carter to return. Just can't get anything going offensively with all four lines in flux.

Like what Loki is bringing though and I've always like Butler too. Wish we could get a forward with them not named Barch (or Matteau for that matter. Kid is still to green) whether via trade or maybe giving JJ another try on their wing. Definitely help to get the bottom lines consistent as chip ins there help keep you floating until the big boys wake up.

Don't think Matteau will be considered being sent down until at least Carter is back.

 

[apice3*]

a lot of babies post on this board. Its sickening.

This team could go 81-0-1 and disappoint some of you.

 

[hlaverty06]

Our Team seriously needs someone like Clarkson or Bernier or someone to step up and set a tone with a big hit or something. We lack that, a guy whose gonna run over someone. Volch used to do that but he seems like he's playing scared

 

[Uli Hiemer]

Our Team seriously needs someone like Clarkson or Bernier or someone to step up and set a tone with a big hit or something. We lack that, a guy whose gonna run over someone. Volch used to do that but he seems like he's playing scared

i hated how they let ovechkin run around for 2 games and hit whoever he pleased. annoying as ****!

 

[Bleedred]

a lot of babies post on this board. Its sickening.

This team could go 81-0-1 and disappoint some of you.

This team can't play a 60 minute game against bottom dwellers. I think it's a legitimate gripe. If we play 50 or 60 minutes we might have only lost by one goal today or did even better. The PK has been abysmal. That's 12 PPG against in 9 games. I think 4 of the last 5 we've given up at least 2 per game too.