GDT: #3 Part II Devils at Oilers

[R8Devs]

Lokti was amazing last night.

He was backchecking and had nice takeaways and had offensive creativity which most of this team lacks, I don't think his mistake on a play should really take that away. Bump up his minutes and give him PP time.


But this team really needs to learn how to fin faceoffs.

 

[njdevil26]

Henrique, Zajac, and Zubrus need to WAKE THE **** UP

 

[Sik02gt]

Henrique, Zajac, and Zubrus need to WAKE THE **** UP

henrique and zajac especially or its going to be a long season if the only production were getting is from the new faces that have just come to the team this season. I think both of them are just not as good as they were when they had superstar talent on their line with them.

 

[ghoti]

I love Chico and think he's a great guy but honestly I can't take anymore of his ramblings contrarian style of commentating. Give me Dano already.

I'd rather they move Matt and Sherry to TV. Have Steve and Dano (or someone new) do radio and have Chico wander around the arena and talk to fans/players' parents/food vendors/security guards/old Devils in attendence, etc.

I can't take any more of Chico and Steve does nothing to help.

Who is their producer/spotter?? Why can't they ever identify any player who does anything on the ice? On the FIRST GOAL OF THE SEASON Steve failed to identify anyone as the goal scorer and Chico said it was Ryder. That's the norm for these guys.

 

[Pat Zajac]

We need to take our finger off the eject button. It's game three.

 

[njdevil26]

henrique and zajac especially or its going to be a long season if the only production were getting is from the new faces that have just come to the team this season. I think both of them are just not as good as they were when they had superstar talent on their line with them.

Zubrus just look slow and bored. Henrique needs to play wing and have a talented center feed the puck to him.

Henrique-Loktionov-Brunner could be a good line.

 

[njdevil26]

I'd rather they move Matt and Sherry to TV. Have Steve and Dano (or someone new) do radio and have Chico wander around the arena and talk to fans/players' parents/food vendors/security guards/old Devils in attendence, etc.

I can't take any more of Chico and Steve does nothing to help.

Who is their producer/spotter?? Why can't they ever identify any player who does anything on the ice? On the FIRST GOAL OF THE SEASON Steve failed to identify anyone as the goal scorer and Chico said it was Ryder. That's the norm for these guys.

Not a fan of Matt either.

Chris Cuthbert and Ray Ferraro for me. Or Gord Miller.

 

[Devs4L]

With Zajac, I'm beginning to lose hope that he'll ever be a 60+ point player again. Still think he can be a 20 goal 40-45 point guy though. As far as Henrique, the opportunities are there. He's hit a post or two, been robbed a few times, had a penalty shot. I'm not dissatisfied with how he's playing offensively. Just has to start burying his chances. Hopefully that will happen.

 

[njdevil26]

With Zajac, I'm beginning to lose hope that he'll ever be a 60+ point player again. Still think he can be a 20 goal 40-45 point guy though. As far as Henrique, the opportunities are there. He's hit a post or two, been robbed a few times, had a penalty shot. I'm not dissatisfied with how he's playing offensively. Just has to start burying his chances. Hopefully that will happen.

He seems to have ZERO confidence (Henrique). I remember last night Brunner had an amazing rush up the ice, a deke, and a falling pass to Henrique who was gliding and let the puck get lost in his feet.

 

[Devs4L]

He seems to have ZERO confidence (Henrique). I remember last night Brunner had an amazing rush up the ice, a deke, and a falling pass to Henrique who was gliding and let the puck get lost in his feet.

Yeah, noticing the same stuff. The missed opportunities seem to be effecting his confidence at times. He just has to work through it. It's more worrying to me when the chances aren't there. That's not the case with Henrique. He's had plenty of chances.

 

[Buckingham Claude*]

We need to take our finger off the eject button. It's game three.

We can keep saying it is only game 1-2-3-4-5-6-7....

It's a great response but the losing or inconsistency can become trendy.

We lost ground and the team is not secure.

Lamoriello needs to do something about his defense quickly.

 

[ThePSEGPowerPoster]

Henrique, Zajac, and Zubrus need to WAKE THE **** UP

Offensively yes. I do agree. Though Henrique more than the other two by miles.

Remember, Zajac almost had a goal against the Pens (MAF literally spun around and swiped it out from the goal), nearly had a goal against the Islanders, and I thought he played solidly last night too. Zajac will never be the flashy, creative playmaker but that doesn't necessarily mean he's invisible on that end. He's kept and cycled the puck very well. I've come to expect nothing more from Travis.

I caught a lot of flak for comparing him to John Madden this off-season but that's what you're going to get. He's a little more of an offensive player than Madden but a little less of a defensive player (Madden won a Selke, and finished second 3 times, and was also better in the PK). If that's what we have from Zajac that's fine. More than fine. I think we have to temper our expectations offensively with Zajac. How many years have we heard "he has the best shot on the team!" At what point does it not matter anymore?

Zubrus is similar to Zajac. I don't expect much offensive contribution. I expect a guy who can keep the puck in and get the puck out. Zubrus, Clowe, and Zajac have to be split up - no questions asked.

Zubrus - Loktionov - Brunner
Clowe - Elias - Jagr
Henrique - Zajac - Ryder

On to Adam.

Adam has never impressed me offensively. He reminds me a lot of Travis too, which is fine, we just have to get him off the damn PP.

 

[ghoti]

Not a fan of Matt either.

Chris Cuthbert and Ray Ferraro for me. Or Gord Miller.

Don't those guys have jobs already?

 

[ghoti]

Lokti was amazing last night.

He was backchecking and had nice takeaways and had offensive creativity which most of this team lacks, I don't think his mistake on a play should really take that away. Bump up his minutes and give him PP time.

Or how about maybe putting him out there for the shootout?

 

[ThePSEGPowerPoster]

Or how about maybe putting him out there for the shootout?

I've advocated for that too. Based on his creativity and positive reports out of camp that he was beating Cory/Marty in shootouts.

However he is a pass-first player. He's a guy who (as we saw last night) could have the entire slot open for a shot and his preference is to pass to a guy in front of the net, covered by 2 defenders. So I wonder how effective he'd be in situations where his only option is to shoot. Worth a shot.

I wonder if the lack of shots is just how he's built as a player or a directive from Pete. He has a fine shot.

 

[Semak]

http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=2013020035-328-ingame-h
I saw Ryder take the puck away at the line with a great move, step past another D man and go in 2 on 1 with Zajac ready to rip a one-timer on a pass and Schultz play the pass and leave the shot from the outside for the goalie and Ryder threaded the needle short side over the glove with an absolute snipe. How is that an abortion of D? You mean the fumbled attempt to pass it up to begin with into traffic? We see that 30 times a game from our D.

As for the "soft goals"

http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=2013020035-656-h&startTime=33
goal 2 - Brunner and Henrique screening with Henrique way too deep and late to cover the D with the shot that absolutely was a perfect location - 1 foot off the ice just inside the post. No way this is soft.

http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=2013020035-662-h
goal 3 - Faceoff loss? Linesman picks Salvador covering his winger to net? Aside from that yeah - Marty should have been more on the post. I'll give you this one - spongy for sure.

http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=2013020035-668-h
goal 4 - Poke check missed by inches or he covered up 3 other people's mistakes. Marty tried to get the shooter before he could shoot. I can't call this soft given what point in the game it was and the momentum swing underway. Brunner and Lokti both missed helping out down low.

Preach on brother!

We can keep saying it is only game 1-2-3-4-5-6-7....

It's a great response but the losing or inconsistency can become trendy.

We lost ground and the team is not secure.

Lamoriello needs to do something about his defense quickly.

Ain't that the truth, Ruth!

 

[SeidoN]

the dump and chase is getting old for me. other teams score when they power into the zone with speed and find a way over the line. our boys cant find a way across the line and just dump it and go for a change or try to forecheck and inevitably give up a breakaway or odd-man rush or something

 

[MartyOwns]

we have to be pretty satisfied with our offensive play thus far...which does nothing but shine the spotlight on our defense. gotta be better, need better players in the lineup

 

[Offseason Champs]

http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=2013020035-328-ingame-h
I saw Ryder take the puck away at the line with a great move, step past another D man and go in 2 on 1 with Zajac ready to rip a one-timer on a pass and Schultz play the pass and leave the shot from the outside for the goalie and Ryder threaded the needle short side over the glove with an absolute snipe. How is that an abortion of D? You mean the fumbled attempt to pass it up to begin with into traffic? We see that 30 times a game from our D.

This. That's pretty much textbook on how to play that. You're supposed to give the goalie the shot and take away the pass. Ryder just absolutely sniped that one, much like the goals against Marty.

My two dubloons: Bad third period, but hopefully something for them to learn from and build off of. They may have begun to get complacent, and you cannot do that against a young, desperate, fast team and not get burnt. Let's see how they respond to it tonight. Henrique needs to wake up. He's every kind of disappointing right now.

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Waiting for TG's tweet: "No lineup changes for tonight"

 

[theking72]

Quick someone make a new GDT we need to move on

 

[CerebralGenesis]

Waiting for TG's tweet: "No lineup changes for tonight"

I will fly out and slap pete.

 

[MartyOwns]

this cant be happening simply because of pete's stubbornness..can it? i mean, this is a professional sports team. if he goes with the same lineup on D, what other reasoning could there be?

 

[DEVILS ALL THE WAY*]

I will fly out and slap pete.

I would love it if someone asked DeBoer the following question... "Is there a reason why Fayne isn't in your starting lineup when he's been a key figure in your defense for the past 24 months?"

I'm not even certain I'll watch the game tonight if Pete decides to go with the same sack of **** 3rd pairing we saw in our first 3 games. I just can't watch stupid hockey, it get's me nervous, so I rather just stay away from having to scream at my TV everytime #28 is on the ice.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Honestly I think almost all of the problems with this team can be attributed to one simple fact: The guys are really really slow. If you look at all the goals scored against them I'd bet you'd find a majority were scored due to this fact. Yes, some were boneheaded plays, no doubt (though I'd bet many of those plays are due to the guys being slow as well and trying to make up for it). However, many times guys are just simply getting beat. They are watching guys skate right by them and there is nothing they can do to stop it. You can be in perfect position but if your opponent is 2 or 3 times faster than you hes just going to go by you. I'm not really sure how to remedy this either because there are so many slow guys on the team that you can't just shuffle the lines or trade a couple to fix it. I guess they basically have to be perfect as far as turnovers go and the D basically has to just wait in the defensive zone so they don't get passed by the onrushing opponent.