GDT: Dallas Stars (16-8-5) @ New Jersey Devils (21-5-2), 7 PM, MSG, BSSW

[TBF1972]

Man, who gives a f***? The Islanders lost to the Predators and Flyers within a week, Rangers lost to Ottawa/Chicago. Hurricanes lost to Anaheim in OT, etc. Shit happens.

i wonder how some people survive a rainy day.

 

[Better Call Sal]

 

[TBF1972]

eh, they don’t look like the same team that fired off that streak, and they’re not far enough ahead this early in the season to be comfortable.

teams have adjusted and are playing them harder and they need to adapt, right now it’s premature to throw the “death spiral” word out there but i’m not feeling good about their game

no team looks as good as in their hottest streak of the season. expecting a 13 win streak to be the new normal is kind of silly.

and yes teams prepare for the devils and game plan to have a chance to win, so the devils will most likely not have a 13 game win streak in the foreseeable future. i am still happy about the positive developments this season.

And posting a picture of the standings is nothing more than a crutch at this point.

so we have to change up and trade bratt for whatever we can get. he will sign anyway with the rangers asap. so better get over it now.

do you prefer the gloom talk like this? really?

 

[Call Me Al]

no team looks as good as in their hottest streak of the season. expecting a 13 win streak to be the new normal is kind of silly.

and yes teams prepare for the devils and game plan to have a chance to win, so the devils will most likely not have a 13 game win streak in the foreseeable future. i am still happy about the positive developments this season.

you keep throwing out the 13 win streak like i said i keep expecting it when that’s not at all what i posted.

everyone is happy about the positive developments this season. my point is that when they were winning they overwhelmed teams with their speed and outlasted them with 4 high energy lines that took over from the middle of the game and didn’t let up. they haven’t been doing that and teams that play physical have neutralized a lot of our strengths. they haven’t really played well for 2 weeks now and if they don’t figure it out they will keep losing because it is the toughest stretch of the schedule coming up now.

it’s great that they are in first place, but having a 4-5 game buffer from the playoffs isn’t really all that much. that lead can disappear quickly. i know, i’m a mets fan.

 

[TBF1972]

you keep throwing out the 13 win streak like i said i keep expecting it when that’s not at all what i posted.

everyone is happy about the positive developments this season. my point is that when they were winning they overwhelmed teams with their speed and outlasted them with 4 high energy lines that took over from the middle of the game and didn’t let up. they haven’t been doing that and teams that play physical have neutralized a lot of our strengths. they haven’t really played well for 2 weeks now and if they don’t figure it out they will keep losing because it is the toughest stretch of the schedule coming up now.

it’s great that they are in first place, but having a 4-5 game buffer from the playoffs isn’t really all that much. that lead can disappear quickly. i know, i’m a mets fan.

and i say a team can't play 82 games a regular season at its best.

i also would rather see them dominating and winning. but it is absolutely no surprise they couldn't keep that up. as no team in the history of the nhl has ever kept such dominant performances over a full season. enjoy the good and survive the bad. the next game comes soon enough.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

The problem arises when the bad streaks are caused by being caught out on the things we got away with during the good streaks. Our play hasn't changed, we just can't caplitalize or overwhelm the way we've done previously when we're gassed and the opposition can match us.

It's concerning, and riding the high without taking the reality of the situation into consideration, is a recipe for disaster.

It isn’t concerning and the reality of the situation is we played well against two playoff teams. What exactly do you think is going to happen based on this last slate of games? “Recipe for disaster”…I’m not understanding? Were you expecting 130 points this year?

 

[JimEIV]

Fan base got greedy pretty quickly

As of today the Devils have 21 wins in 29 games....they had 27 wins ALL OF LAST YEAR and there wasn't nearly the collective concern for the annual persistent groundhog day losing as there has been for 3 measly losses now.

Last 4 years people were perfectly content with being a bottom 5 team and picking high...all kinds of excuses and rationals for losing and key players not performing...now, 5 losses in literally the last 27 games and the sky is falling? Mindsets are pretty fickle around these parts

I have never, and probably will never understand the collective thought process of this place.

 

[Call Me Al]

lol if we get close to drafting bedard the losses will be easier to swallow but we’re on the playoffs or bust train now

5 losses in 27 is great but 4 in 6 isn’t

also i just want to state for the record i don’t want to be lumped in with the “death spiral hit the panic button” posters im just voicing concern that they have a tough schedule coming and this slide is not great timing

 

[JimEIV]

lol if we get close to drafting bedard the losses will be easier to swallow but we’re on the playoffs or bust train now

They would have to play at or below .400 from here on out to not be in the playoff hunt in March. It would require a total collapse at this point.

.400 would still get them to 86 points and 86 points would STILL be a 23 point improvement over last season.

 

[guitarguyvic]

They would have to play at or below .400 from here on out to not be in the playoff hunt in March. It would require a total collapse at this point.

.400 would still get them to 86 points and 86 points would STILL be a 23 point improvement over last season.

I agree that posters are reacting over dramatically to the rut the team is in right now, which is not only somewhat silly but rather ironic given the attitude here over the last few years. However…if they played .400 hockey the rest of the way I think that would be a really bad sign regardless of how much it looks improved from a total points standpoint. To me, that would look like the team was the same as previous years minus a two month heater to start the season.

 

[guitarguyvic]

Saying the team has not been playing well for two weeks or whatever is itself a skewed perception of their performance. With the exception of last night’s game where they legit looked gas and didn’t really do anything, they have been playing average, which I guess some folks are perceiving as “bad” since it’s not total domination of the opponent like what we saw during the streak. Average performances coupled with finding dumb ways to lose = losing four out of six.

If they play this way for the rest of the season they probably go about .500 and would likely still be a wild card team. Not sure though that we should expect them to continue playing just average based on 8 games or whatever versus the previous 20+.

 

[JimEIV]

I agree that posters are reacting over dramatically to the rut the team is in right now, which is not only somewhat silly but rather ironic given the attitude here over the last few years. However…if they played .400 hockey the rest of the way I think that would be a really bad sign regardless of how much it looks improved from a total points standpoint. To me, that would look like the team was the same as previous years minus a two month heater to start the season.

I don't disagree but it's also extremely premature to even be talking about that.

I mean if the trend continues that they win the game they are supposed to (meaning beating the bad teams) there is no way there will be that kind of collapse.

And if we go the rest of the way feasting on bad teams and struggling against upper echelon teams...that is a huge improvement. Because that means we are no longer one of the doormats of the league.

 

[Call Me Al]

They would have to play at or below .400 from here on out to not be in the playoff hunt in March. It would require a total collapse at this point.

.400 would still get them to 86 points and 86 points would STILL be a 23 point improvement over last season.

oh i know. i don’t think that’s possible but that’s the difference between accepting losses and getting depressed by an ot loss to the rangers

and i feel comfortable saying we are not the doormat of the league anymore. we are respected now

 

[JimEIV]

oh i know. i don’t think that’s possible but that’s the difference between accepting losses and getting depressed by an ot loss to the rangers

and i feel comfortable saying we are not the doormat of the league anymore. we are respected now

I don't think we have earned "respected" yet. But it's getting better.

 

[Call Me Al]

I don't think we have earned "respected" yet. But it's getting better.

based on the way teams talk about us and plan for us, and based on my admittedly frequent listening or the nhl radio station the devils are considered a top tier team right now, we aren’t catching anyone off guard anymore.

the difference between the first islanders game and the last one is a perfect example

 

[guitarguyvic]

I don't disagree but it's also extremely premature to even be talking about that.

I mean if the trend continues that they win the game they are supposed to (meaning beating the bad teams) there is no way there will be that kind of collapse.

And if we go the rest of the way feasting on bad teams and struggling against upper echelon teams...that is a huge improvement. Because that means we are no longer one of the doormats of the league.

Agreed.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Man, I wonder how Colorado won the Cup while losing 6 of their first 10 games last year or ending the year with 6 L’s in their last 7 games heading into the playoffs.

It’s almost as if a few bad streaks are a totally natural thing to happen in hockey, even to the best teams out there.

And before anyone says it, no, I’m not comparing our group to Colorado’s nor am I saying we’re winning it all. But if the Stanley Cup winning Avalanche had bad stretches last year, we sure as hell can expect the youngest team in the league to have some too.

You're seriously comparing the Devils to last year's Avalanche?

Don't see a MacKinnon or Makar in the Devils' lineup - let alone a Rantanen or Landeskog. Not to mention the heavier players like Kadri and Nichushkin or the experience they had on defense.

 

[My3Sons]

Can't help thinking the Nico/Tatar combo has done pretty well most of the season.

What was different against the Stars?

It was an off night. Hischier couldn’t win a draw and the whole line couldn’t connect on passes and they spent way too much time playing in their own zone. Maybe the task of slowing Robertson Hintz and Pavelski got to them?

 

[guitarguyvic]

You're seriously comparing the Devils to last year's Avalanche?

Don't see a MacKinnon or Makar in the Devils' lineup - let alone a Rantanen or Landeskog. Not to mention the heavier players like Kadri and Nichushkin or the experience they had on defense.

I mean he literally says in the post he isn’t comparing the two teams themselves, just pointing out that if a Stanley cup caliber team can go on a cold streak you should expect a young team like ours to do so as well and that it’s not necessarily indicative of the team being bad.

I’m really amused by these reactions…THIS is true unwarranted negativity.

 

[Devs3cups]

You're seriously comparing the Devils to last year's Avalanche?

Don't see a MacKinnon or Makar in the Devils' lineup - let alone a Rantanen or Landeskog. Not to mention the heavier players like Kadri and Nichushkin or the experience they had on defense.

No, I’m not, I even said so in the last paragraph of my post.

The point is that even with their group, Colorado went through these rough patches. If even that group went through it, I think we can expect the youngest team in the league to go through a few of them as well. Just the natural ups and downs of a full NHL season.

I mean he literally says in the post he isn’t comparing the two teams themselves, just pointing out that if a Stanley cup caliber team can go on a cold streak you should expect a young team like ours to do so as well and that it’s not necessarily indicative of the team being bad.

I’m really amused by these reactions…THIS is true unwarranted negativity.

Right on the money!

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

I didn’t think it would be possible to get this kind of reaction without any extended losing streak or real run of poor play. I underestimated this place. A loss to Philly and the season will be all but over to some.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

You know for the last five years they'd occasionally spin our losses as character building moments, but that was horseshit.
However, I can totally say that the Rags game was a character builder in allot of ways.

I think the worry is that this team is shit when it loses confidence. Guys start running around not trusting each other and trying to do too much.

When Bastian and Palat are back, I think we'll trust each other more bc those guys are much better defensively than Holtz, Johnsson, Boqvist, Rango, and even Z. Right now we only have one line going, and Hughes has to defeat the Haula suck on that one.

This team will be a juggernaut if we can get the above guys to play up to potential or replace them with better options.

Haula has played on and been a key contributor for playoff teams every year of his career and is currently playing at a +10 clip but he's the problem?

Seems like Bratt and Hughes were a lot less of a defensive liability when he was on the ice with them.

Someone has to be the adult.

It was an off night. Hischier couldn’t win a draw and the whole line couldn’t connect on passes and they spent way too much time playing in their own zone. Maybe the task of slowing Robertson Hintz and Pavelski got to them?

Or maybe having a certain winger on the ice when you're in your own end is like being shorthanded.

 

[Devs3cups]

I didn’t think it would be possible to get this kind of reaction without any extended losing streak or real run of poor play. I underestimated this place. A loss to Philly and the season will be all but over to some.

I’m already mentally preparing for it, it’s gonna be horrible if they do lose. Team is 2nd in the league and can’t get the benefit of the doubt to win because of a 3 game losing skid.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

No, I’m not, I even said so in the last paragraph of my post.

The point is that even with their group, Colorado went through these rough patches. If even that group went through it, I think we can expect the youngest team in the league to go through a few of them as well. Just the natural ups and downs of a full NHL season.


Right on the money!

Fair points.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

I’m already mentally preparing for it, it’s gonna be horrible if they do lose. Team is 2nd in the league and can’t get the benefit of the doubt to win because of a 3 game losing skid.

Can't speak for anyone else but my concern is more due to the team's play as opposed to the wins and losses.

During this stretch, the wins against the Flyers and Chicago were as troubling as the losses. Ups and downs are a given but when teams continue taking shortcuts without correction it isn't good.