GDT: Devils at Canes, 3/9 7:00PM

[My Special Purpose]

FWIW, thanks to some spectacular friends, my kid and I went to three of the four games this week, Florida (W), Buffalo (W), and New Jersey (W), but we didn't get any offers for Montreal (L). If I were you all, I'd make sure we had a couple of freebies to the rest of the home schedule.

Oh, and I just got around to reading this thread, and one thing I can say for sure is that when we get ahead and stay ahead all game, our game day threads are really freakin' boring.

 

[garnetpalmetto]

FWIW, thanks to some spectacular friends, my kid and I went to three of the four games this week, Florida (W), Buffalo (W), and New Jersey (W), but we didn't get any offers for Montreal (L). If I were you all, I'd make sure we had a couple of freebies to the rest of the home schedule.

Oh, and I just got around to reading this thread, and one thing I can say for sure is that when we get ahead and stay ahead all game, our game day threads are really freakin' boring.

If you had checked on Thursday I had two tickets to MTL to whomever wanted them! Wound up giving them to a coworker whose husband is a Habs fan.

And our GDTs do get long when we get ahead, but compare that to the length of the Debbies GDT. Who knew how much butthurt could be expressed in 39 pages?

 

[gocanes88]

Completely missed the game

...all for nothing.

 

[Wolfpuck]

Dat Top Line

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

I gotta start putting my managerial foot down when I'm at work. We pay for centre ice, then every saturday just watch the Leafs and Flames lose.

You'd think fans of exciting hockey would wanna watch the 'Canes, granted the Leafs game tonite wasn't bad, but I have a feeling my beer league team could give the Flames and Oilers a run for their money this year

 

[Firestorm]

Am I the only one disturbed by the idea of Chantel with Hellfire missiles?

I almost ruptured my spleen with how much I was laughing.

 

[DaveG]

I gotta start putting my managerial foot down when I'm at work. We pay for centre ice, then every saturday just watch the Leafs and Flames lose.

You'd think fans of exciting hockey would wanna watch the 'Canes, granted the Leafs game tonite wasn't bad, but I have a feeling my beer league team could give the Flames and Oilers a run for their money this year

How many TVs do you guys have? If the answer is more then two, DO IT. No reason for every TV to be set to the same game when there are other games and better matchups on.

 

[Lazyking]

A 11 of our last 24 are in our division. We can not go something like 3-8 in those games if we want to be comfortable for the division. Esp. with the remaining games against the tougher teams in the league.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

We haven't lost a game yet this year after leading after 2 periods.

And I'm happy about that, but still, my concern is getting woefully outplayed in the 3rd in quite a few games recently.

FLA: Out shot 15-2 in the 3rd, outscored 1-0
BUFF: Out shot 18-4 in the 3rd, outscored 3-2
MTL: Canes out shot MTL 9-6, but MTL outscored CAR 2-0
NJ: Out shot 11-3, outscored 2-1 (Canes was an EN)

So in the last 4 games, the Canes have been out shot 50-18 in the 3rd period and outscored 8-3. And it's not just the shots/scoring, they aren't moving their feet and winning battles. Endless amount of time in Carolina's zone so it's not like they go into a trap and play conservative to limit the other teams chances. I realize they are winning games when leading, but they need to break this cycle before it comes back to bite them.

Over-all, I'm happy with how this team has played given all the new faces, the injuries, a suspect defense, etc.... but there is so much parity in the league right now, that they can't afford to not play 60 min, even when up by a couple of goals.

Fix that and the PP, and this team could be deadly once healthy.

 

[DaveG]

For whatever reason this team actually is REALLY good at closing out games over the last half decade when they've had a lead after 2. Less then 10 regulation losses over the last 5 seasons COMBINED when that's the case.

 

[Oenatzu]

For whatever reason this team actually is REALLY good at closing out games over the last half decade when they've had a lead after 2. Less then 10 regulation losses over the last 5 seasons COMBINED when that's the case.

And still they are able to make it look like they'll give up a goal on every shot against in the third period.

 

[w e l o s t b o y s]

We actually lost the league lead in shots per game after the Montreal game and it seems like it's been hanging pretty low every game. Guess I shouldn't complain when we've won 5 of the last 6

 

[HisIceness]

Chris Terry first NHL game scores a goal. Doesn't happen very often and pretty cool for a guy that has been waiting 2-3 years to get a shot at the NHL level.

Also, another sellout. Makin dat money.

 

[DaveG]

SOG can be a decent indicator of where a team will be offensively, but quality is always more important then quantity. The thing I like is that we're right now #4 in league scoring. Only one team since the lockout has won the cup with an offense outside the top 10 in scoring (LA last year actually, who was abysmal offensively in the regular season but elite defensively) and the team with the best offense hasn't won in 21 years. Finishing right about #4 in scoring would be ideal.

 

[rocky7]

And I'm happy about that, but still, my concern is getting woefully outplayed in the 3rd in quite a few games recently.

FLA: Out shot 15-2 in the 3rd, outscored 1-0
BUFF: Out shot 18-4 in the 3rd, outscored 3-2
MTL: Canes out shot MTL 9-6, but MTL outscored CAR 2-0
NJ: Out shot 11-3, outscored 2-1 (Canes was an EN)

So in the last 4 games, the Canes have been out shot 50-18 in the 3rd period and outscored 8-3. And it's not just the shots/scoring, they aren't moving their feet and winning battles. Endless amount of time in Carolina's zone so it's not like they go into a trap and play conservative to limit the other teams chances. I realize they are winning games when leading, but they need to break this cycle before it comes back to bite them.

Over-all, I'm happy with how this team has played given all the new faces, the injuries, a suspect defense, etc.... but there is so much parity in the league right now, that they can't afford to not play 60 min, even when up by a couple of goals.

Fix that and the PP, and this team could be deadly once healthy.

Need that "killer instinct." When up, keep going hard and don't sit back on a lead. 5-1; go for 10-1! This seems like a phenomena common in sports in general. Last night the Devils could have stolen that game. The PP. I don't get it. When up, Muller decided to rest the top guys (ice time shows this). Someone said that Muller wanted them to run set plays. Sure you have to be able to adapt at times, however, I think they should simply just go out there and play as they do 5 on 5. In short, just play with them short. I am convinced that these players know what to do. Let them do it. Anyway, without doubt the PP as is, isn't working. Don't just keep doing the same thing. This is what has concerned me with Muller. Can he adapt in all circumstances, under pressure, instantly, as the game dictates? Use a timeout and explain what he and the other coaching staff are seeing out there. There is no reason that I can see for the PP to be this poor given what they can do at even strength. This is an obvious fact.

 

[caniac315]

Ah, so much hatred for us on the Devils boards. And embarrassment after last night. Certainly seems like old times. I love it!

 

[Anton Babchuk]

There's been a lot of square pegs being jammed into round holes on the PP. I started to write a very long post on this, but in short: Tlusty and Semin are being horribly misused (Tlusty is handling the puck way too much, Semin not enough and it all has to do with where the fit in on Muller's PP due to their handedness rather than their abilities) and Justin Faulk just flat out sucks. The over-reliance on the backdoor play that stopped working about 20 games into Muller's coaching tenure was absurd. When it does work (once every 20 attempts or so), Faulk whiffs with an accuracy that would make LaRose smile. They've switched Faulk to the opposite point recently where he is amazingly even less useful because he has to handle the puck and his exaggerated body movements and super-slow-motion puck movement make everything predictable.

The Mo/Francis PP was much better and it was awful. Sigh.

 

[Ole Gil]

Ignoring the abomination that was the first two games of the season,

the Canes are 2-3-1 when trailing after 2 periods.
the Canes are 10-0-0 when leading after 2 periods.

Playing with the lead looks ugly. It's the nature of the beast.

The goal is to win the game, the other team carrying the play is not a real issue.

 

[geehaad]

Playing with the lead looks ugly.

If we're talking about a good hockey team, I totally disagree.
If we're talking about a bad hockey team, then I totally agree.

 

[Zombie Mike Murphy]

Need that "killer instinct." When up, keep going hard and don't sit back on a lead. 5-1; go for 10-1!

Have to disagree to a point. With this super-compressed schedule it is absolutely the WRONG thing to do. I'm not saying don't try to win, but when you're up 3-4 goals, that's when smart management becomes the thing to do - save some for the next game.

Also, when tired, a player is more likely to injure themselves.

 

[Ole Gil]

I know there are still some naysayers, but this is a very good hockey team.

 

[jstaal]

canes

Most complete team since 2009, maybe better, stanley cup team , better of course, the giving more shots is a bit alarming, we used to own the 2nd and 3rd periods, but this team is a solid team, but people like to complain , just to complain, we are in first in the Southeast.. Getting solid work from top3 lines,and this year , e. staal is back checking better than ever..and Corvo and Sangs have played better, and brent makes the power play more relaxed, big part of team.. jmo

 

[Anton Babchuk]

People have been complaining about this for years. Mo had a near perfect record when leading after two periods, but they still whined endlessly about the strategy because they want to see moar goals and statpadding.

I have yet to see this strategy come back to bite the team on anything remotely close to a consistent basis, like people *always* predict it will. They're always "playing with fire". No, they're not. They are playing with the percentages, which favor them. If you're leading by a multiple goals with 20 minutes to play and you revert to a strategy in which you limit scoring chances against, you will probably win the game unless Michael Leighton is your starter. The lack of scoring chances for your team is irrelevant--you don't need a goal.

Since I'm in a mood to condescend, prevent defense is a successful strategy and the only reason people disagree is because on the rare occasion it fails it is scapegoated by those who already had their minds made up because they want to be entertained 100% of the time rather than seeing their team win. These are the same people who like Chad LaRose.

 

[Mr Whipple]

People have been complaining about this for years. Mo had a near perfect record when leading after two periods, but they still whined endlessly about the strategy because they want to see moar goals and statpadding.

I have yet to see this strategy come back to bite the team on anything remotely close to a consistent basis, like people *always* predict it will. They're always "playing with fire". No, they're not. They are playing with the percentages, which favor them. If you're leading by a multiple goals with 20 minutes to play and you revert to a strategy in which you limit scoring chances against, you will probably win the game unless Michael Leighton is your starter. The lack of scoring chances for your team is irrelevant--you don't need a goal.

Since I'm in a mood to condescend, prevent defense is a successful strategy and the only reason people disagree is because on the rare occasion it fails it is scapegoated by those who already had their minds made up because they want to be entertained 100% of the time rather than seeing their team win. These are the same people who like Chad LaRose.

Well said. Goals are nice, but defense wins championships.

People have come to appreciate things like watching a good cycle game even if there is no decent scoring chances out of it, but I'd say there is nothing more beautiful than watching a team play a perfect game of keep-away to hold onto the lead in a close, tough fought game and win. The most proud I've ever been as a coach is watching my team do exactly that.

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

How many TVs do you guys have? If the answer is more then two, DO IT. No reason for every TV to be set to the same game when there are other games and better matchups on.

We have 7, the problem is we only have two cable boxes, one of which exculsively plays music.

Now you see my conundrum