GDT: Animal House, Bruins @ Devils, 7:30 TNT

[Camille the Eel]

Bratt is a legit top 6 player but the fact that he is a small perimeter player who disappears for long stretches…if a team is relying on that kinda guy as their second best offensive weapon….that’s not good enough to be a true top team.

I wish he had managed to finish that short breakaway a few minutes after we got the game tied. That wras a huge turning point in the game. Jack sprung him all alone, he had Ullmark down and just put a beautiful backhand over the crossbar. What if. If he scores there and we get the lead . . .

On the other hand that wasn't long before Vanacek made an impossible stop on a wide open back door play across his net.

We came very close to winning that game. Could easily have done so. There have been so many near misses in this losing spell.

 

[Killing Joke]

Im still confused as to how people the talk about “doomers” and how negative the fanbase is.

Are they insane? The team has lost 8 of their last 9 and have gone from being 10 points above 2nd place to most likely dropping to 6th place in the next two weeks. And what the f*** is wrong with this gm? Do something you dimwit.

 

[guitarguyvic]

Im still confused as to how people the talk about “doomers” and how negative the fanbase is.

Are they insane? The team has lost 8 of their last 9 and have gone from being 10 points above 2nd place to most likely dropping to 6th place in the next two weeks. And what the f*** is wrong with this gm? Do something you dimwit.

Because if you’re watching these games and you’ve been following hockey for a long time you can recognize that the team is not playing anywhere near as bad as that record indicates. They’re playing well enough to win, but the margins are thin and they are not coming out in the correct side of it.

Expecting a team that’s not playing bad hockey to keep losing at this rate is definitely doomer-ism. It’s no different than thinking the team was going to keep winning at a 140 point pace.

 

[OmNomNom]

Because if you’re watching these games and you’ve been following hockey for a long time you can recognize that the team is not playing anywhere near as bad as that record indicates. They’re playing well enough to win, but the margins are thin and they are not coming out in the correct side of it.

Expecting a team that’s not playing bad hockey to keep losing at this rate is definitely doomer-ism. It’s no different than thinking the team was going to keep winning at a 140 point pace.

idk about the above. i remember the last time we had a hot start w "fast attacking supportive" john hynes

teams figured us out.

in a way, it's kind of the same -- did you see any smooth drop passes for neutral zone entries today? i sure as hell didn't, and haven't in a while. when our neutral zone transitions aren't working, we pivot to a dump and chase, but it's not leading to much. idk what brunette and ruff are supposed to do, but we need to change up strategy now. the advanced stats are fine but if we don't get good quality scoring, idk how we're gonna progress as a team.

i'll give you this - our S% since 12/9 (isles game) is a measly 6%, so it should come back up eventually, but i'm dyin

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

I am officially retiring the RangerDoggo posts. It clearly went too far and the hockey gods are not happy.

Yep bad karma

 

[NjdevilfanJim]

Im still confused as to how people the talk about “doomers” and how negative the fanbase is.

Are they insane? The team has lost 8 of their last 9 and have gone from being 10 points above 2nd place to most likely dropping to 6th place in the next two weeks. And what the f*** is wrong with this gm? Do something you dimwit.

I hear you easy to get frustrated but almost all these teams are on a good streak which will come to an end too...Forget about the hot start it's done and unfortunately our cushion over most other teams is dwindling but the worm will turn and then hopefully we get healthy....As for Fitz you can't overreact to just do something especially with no cap flexibility which is why I hope he continues to be cap conscious down the road and why I hope Bratt is resigned but at the amount he is worth to this team....Think about it once Palat is back along with Marino and Gravy that right there is a huge difference to our roster..It sucks losing but that is how this young team will learn how to win in this league in the long run and you see it in how they lost some of these games even though they outplayed the other team....

 

[glenwo2]

I thought the mods in here would be more even keel and not lack perspective. I guess not.

Perhaps you should become Mod again.

 

[glenwo2]

That is a huge package. That's 3 first round picks.

Watch out trading that first round pick we have.

And not giving up Casey either as others have said.

That's what she said.

can have both Bratt and Meier . Bratt has gone old but is still a dominant player when he is on. But the differnece between a top tier guy and “good” is consistency . So far , Bratt hasn’t shown to be consistent enough to warrant being elite and earn elite money.

Yeah. Bratt has definitely gone old 'cause he's playing like an old fart.

 

[glenwo2]

I suspect that if Fitz has been playing hard ball with Bratt it’s justified.

Even if Bratt really is a ppg player that’s not “elite” category in the league anymore. The big guns are topping 100 points.

At this rate, Bratt would be lucky to get 7 mill per.

 

[MadDevil]

Im still confused as to how people the talk about “doomers” and how negative the fanbase is.

Are they insane? The team has lost 8 of their last 9 and have gone from being 10 points above 2nd place to most likely dropping to 6th place in the next two weeks. And what the f*** is wrong with this gm? Do something you dimwit.

Such as? Fire Ruff? Make a trade? Who are we trading for 35 games into the season?

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

I guess the brightside is that all though we keep losing at least every game is close for the most part or it's a game where we have more shots/possession. I know out possessing and outshooting thr opposition doesn't always mean you will win but atleast we aren't getting killed out there every game. Once we start scoring we will be OK. Goaltending has not been that big of an issue. It's been our lack of goals , struggling power play and injuries. In that order that's the key reason we are losing games. We need Palat back to get Haula out of the top 6 ASAP. Bastian coming back will hopefully fix our 4th line. Right not just too many passengers on offense. Haula. Boqvist , Sharangovich , Mercer , etc are not contributing enough. We went from top 5 offense to bottom as of late because we aren't getting enough goals from our depth guys when we need it. Even our defense aside from Dougie has been really struggling to add a goal here or there.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

They're shooting at <10% for the year. It depends what side on the argument you fall onto, you either think that's not sustainable (which I think) or they don't have enough finishers. Either way, there's a solution to both. Palat's return will balance everything once again. They were on borrowed time with a guy like Haula in their top 6 and winning games. I'll take their record but in hindsight, it is definitely annoying how their December has transpired.

 

[ninetyeight]

They are playing good, but man losing sucks. This sport is making me so depressed. I'm way too invested in this team, a tough loss will ruin my day and affect into everything else I'm doing. But I just can't stop watching, it's like a bad drug. I feel like the universe hates this team, so unlucky just can't catch a break. 10 years of suck and when it finally looks like they have a good team and play good, things still manage to go wrong. How on earth do you lose 8 out of 9 playing like this. It feels like a curse.

 

[FooteBahl]

Im still confused as to how people the talk about “doomers” and how negative the fanbase is.

Are they insane? The team has lost 8 of their last 9 and have gone from being 10 points above 2nd place to most likely dropping to 6th place in the next two weeks. And what the f*** is wrong with this gm? Do something you dimwit.

We shouldn’t have gotten so high during the winning streak and now shouldn’t be so low during this period of losing. Before the season we were projected as a bubble team and that’s where we are potentially headed. We’re not the best team in the league and we’re certainly not a lottery team—Calm down errbody!

 

[billingtons ghost]

Man people wanting to give Wood the big bucks look silly.

I don't think 'big bucks' and Wood were ever a thing. We should pay him like one of the best fourth liners in the league. Show me 17 goal fourth liners.

Least, seriously. Least of our problems.

We shouldn’t have gotten so high during the winning streak and now shouldn’t be so low during this period of losing. Before the season we were projected as a bubble team and that’s where we are potentially headed. We’re not the best team in the league and we’re certainly not a lottery team—Calm down errbody!

^this. Obviously.

They are a young team with some needs, and a number of things to figure out. And I'm pretty sure they'll learn how to win.

The only thing unfixable in my eyes is how to keep Nico from getting pounded.

He got bigger and stronger this year and now we need to hope he figures out how to minimize to those hits but play his game.

And the team doesn't need to 'respond' so much as 'initiate' physical play. We need someone or better a few guys to be lightning rods.

The Bruins are too smart for this shit, but I want one of our guys making pastrnak /Bergeron's life miserable from the getgo so that McAvoy and marchand are already in the box for half the game. Every game.

 

[glenwo2]

We shouldn’t have gotten so high during the winning streak and now shouldn’t be so low during this period of losing. Before the season we were projected as a bubble team and that’s where we are potentially headed. We’re not the best team in the league and we’re certainly not a lottery team—Calm down errbody!

See, my problem is this :

If we did not have the 13-gamer, I would've been totally accepting as to whatever results Win/Lose happen 'cause the expectations were for continued development of the young players and if we were lucky, we would be in the playoff conversation (bubble).

But the expectations were raised so anything short of a playoff appearance will be ruled a disaster and choke job.

 

[MadDevil]

I'd rather the team go through a tough stretch in December when there is still half a season to play than in March. They're still a young team that is going to go through ups and downs over a long season. In previous years they were basically out of it already by this time, so this is already an improvement overall. I don't think we'll keep losing and I don't think the team that have caught or moved past us are going to keep winning at the paces they are either. We've still got 47 more games to go. Losing sucks but I don't think this team goes from dominating teams for over a quarter of the season to one that's going to bomb out completely just like that.

 

[Call Me Al]

i think that if we had a 13 game heater, this stretch would be even more unacceptable. this isn’t a young player development year which is why the “fire ruff” chants came out after 2 games.

they took a huge step forward with that streak showing something they haven’t shown in years, never with this group. but they are not just regressing to the mean, they are finding ways to lose night in and night out even when they play well. 8 of 9 isn’t bad luck as someone said.

they beat up on weak teams and they lose to good teams. i’m not so confident that they can hold onto their playoff spot now and if they miss after that start i’d be beyond disappointed to the point of apathetic about them

 

[guitarguyvic]

They are playing good, but man losing sucks. This sport is making me so depressed. I'm way too invested in this team, a tough loss will ruin my day and affect into everything else I'm doing. But I just can't stop watching, it's like a bad drug. I feel like the universe hates this team, so unlucky just can't catch a break. 10 years of suck and when it finally looks like they have a good team and play good, things still manage to go wrong. How on earth do you lose 8 out of 9 playing like this. It feels like a curse.

I was at the Nashville game when they gave up the tying goal with 8 seconds. It was such a gut punch because it was the first time in like 25 games that something shitty happened. I had a bad feeling it could be the start of a downturn.

Hockey really is f***ed up like that. 8 seconds away from another win that night. Instead it turned into the start of a lot of losses. They’re not playing that bad, but it all seems to be in their heads now.

 

[Saint Beaurivage]

Nico Hischier:

I hope he isn't being targeted by more and more players and teams in the NHL. This could become catchy and the Devils do not need this. His theatrical moans and groans after taking a hit might be igniting this noticeable pattern of cheap shots. It throws our team off.

 

[Triumph]

idk about the above. i remember the last time we had a hot start w "fast attacking supportive" john hynes

teams figured us out.

in a way, it's kind of the same -- did you see any smooth drop passes for neutral zone entries today? i sure as hell didn't, and haven't in a while. when our neutral zone transitions aren't working, we pivot to a dump and chase, but it's not leading to much. idk what brunette and ruff are supposed to do, but we need to change up strategy now. the advanced stats are fine but if we don't get good quality scoring, idk how we're gonna progress as a team.

i'll give you this - our S% since 12/9 (isles game) is a measly 6%, so it should come back up eventually, but i'm dyin

Again, the Devils put up 3.47 xG last night at even strength against the best team in the league. They had two breakaways. There were other great chances. They just couldn't finish. The idea that the league has somehow figured New Jersey out is ridiculous - yes, things aren't working as smoothly as they were in November, but they're still playing very well.

 

[MadDevil]

Nico Hischier:

I hope he isn't being targeted by more and more players and teams in the NHL. This could become catchy and the Devils do not need this. His theatrical moans and groans after taking a hit might be igniting this noticeable pattern of cheap shots. It throws our team off.

Maybe somebody on the team should do something about him being targeted if it throws them off so much.

 

[JrFischer54]

I was at the Nashville game when they gave up the tying goal with 8 seconds. It was such a gut punch because it was the first time in like 25 games that something shitty happened. I had a bad feeling it could be the start of a downturn.

Hockey really is f***ed up like that. 8 seconds away from another win that night. Instead it turned into the start of a lot of losses. They’re not playing that bad, but it all seems to be in their heads now.

that nashville game where they didn't try to score on the powerplay will be pointed to when the downturn started. one could also point to jack totally blowing the penalty shot against the rangers to put them away as another.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Hockey is such a goofy sport, why do I love it so much?

Some of the takes in here are wild, as anyone could have predicted. I get expectations we’re raised significantly from the win streak and this fall back month has been excruciating, but those with full perspective can appreciate that we’re in the mix right now. We haven’t been here for a long time, and this crew aside from a handful haven’t been in this position at all.

People can shit on the analytics all day long as not producing the victories, but once they start burying pucks again, the floodgates should open. Another game with two posts, multiple shots going wide. They will need to get out of this funk, and if they keep playing the way they are, I think it’ll happen.

Atmosphere was fun last night, such a bummer of a way to lose, was hoping for OT at the very least. I couldn’t care less about Zacha getting an empty netter and I also am baffled that the fans booed Hall when he touched the puck. Talk about goofy.

 

[JrFischer54]

shame that they booed hall thats a trash move guy give the greatest regular season performance in team history