Devils team discussion (news, notes and speculation) - 2022-23 season thread part III

[NJDevs26]

He somewhat accidentally hurt Barkov by crosschecking his knee on a faceoff early in the game. The Panthers took every opportunity to pound him, slash him, and late hit him the rest of the way out. All borderline shit, nothing illegal, but we had no response until Smith tried to fight Ekblad.

It was really pretty terrible on our part. It was kinda a prelude of playoff hockey. It basically showed that we can be intimidated and cowed.


I don't think we needed to goon it up or fight, but we needed to respond by having our forwards be chippier, initiate physical play and be hard on the fore check, and probably have our defensemen respond by getting chippy with their best players.

The optics were bad. You never want to look like victims, ya know?

Well slashing his stick in half on goal #3 was absolutely illegal though not in the realm of physical harm and obviously uncalled.

 

[NjDevsRR]

I’m proud to have been on the Bastian train since day one. Never got off

Well slashing his stick in half on goal #3 was absolutely illegal though not in the realm of physical harm and obviously uncalled.

And then Dougie hit that loose stick on the clearance which led to the goal lmao. If I remember correctly.

 

[njdevils1982]

I’m proud to have been on the Bastian train since day one. Never got off


And then Dougie hit that loose stick on the clearance which led to the goal lmao. If I remember correctly.

i guess sometimes it's good to not get off

 

[NjDevsRR]

i guess sometimes it's good to not get off

 

[My3Sons]

View attachment 624117

So you want to be my latex salesman?

 

[njdevils1982]

So you want to be my latex salesman?

i dont think so.

 

[glenwo2]

i guess sometimes it's good to not get off

speak for yourself, buddy.

 

[glenwo2]

Me when @njdevils1982 suggests something so absurd :

 

[BostonDevil]

Based on? Yegor has continuously dragged down that Hughes line every chance he has been given this year. He only lasted one period on that line last time.

Based on the fact that Yegor might score and Haula can’t score

 

[NJDevs26]

We've come a long way from the 'Yegor is a product of Hughes' to 'Yegor can't play with Hughes at all'.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Based on the fact that Yegor might score and Haula can’t score

That line doesn’t work with Sharangovich. Idk how many more times he has to get pulled off that line early in a game for you to see it.

 

[BostonDevil]

That line doesn’t work with Sharangovich. Idk how many more times he has to get pulled off that line early in a game for you to see it.

2 more times

 

[NjDevsRR]

2 more times

Noted

 

[BostonDevil]

We've come a long way from the 'Yegor is a product of Hughes' to 'Yegor can't play with Hughes at all'.

Everyone who plays with Jack for the rest of his life will benefit from him. Some guys are just better at it than others. I’m tired of Haula.

How about throwing Wood out there with Hughes? That might be fun and interesting. They’ve tried everything else.

In the end I want to see that H2O line when Palat comes back.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Haula does a good job at getting the puck to Jack in all three zones. Thats why he is there, no one else is doing it as good as him on that wing. Wood is a big NO, dude cannot slow the play down to save his life which is why he stinks at the PP. Palat will be back eventually and Haula will slot right down.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Playoff line down to 6 points now. Need to start winning games again and soon

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

Anyone going to the game tomorrow in Raleigh ? Hope to see some Devils fans down , came down here to visit family and to hopefully see us win on the road to snap this skid !

 

[NjDevsRR]

Playoff line down to 6 points now. Need to start winning games again and soon

With 3 games in hand. We can be nervous but lets not forget context.

 

[forceten]

Anyone going to the game tomorrow in Raleigh ? Hope to see some Devils fans down , came down here to visit family and to hopefully see us win on the road to snap this skid !

I live here and am going - LGD!!!

 

[TBF1972]

1990-91
5 teams didn’t make the playoffs
1991-92
6 teams didn’t make the playoffs
1992-93
8 teams didn’t make the playoffs
1993-94
10 teams didn’t make the playoffs
1998-99
11 teams didn’t make the playoffs
1999-00
12 teams didn’t make the playoffs
2000-01
14 teams didn’t make the playoffs
2017-18
15 teams didn’t make the playoffs
2021-22
16 teams didn’t make the playoffs

Having a ton of teams not make the playoffs is new and the other leagues have just expanded their playoffs. The NHL isn’t innovative but usually ends up following trends.

looks like the quality of play is going down and as a function of it more and more teams are missing the playoffs

 

[billingtons ghost]

Well slashing his stick in half on goal #3 was absolutely illegal though not in the realm of physical harm and obviously uncalled.

I missed that it was slashed in half. It looked to me like it was knocked out of his hands and up in the air... So I thought no penalty but you could be right

 

[TBF1972]

The problem with the format now is threefold: great teams barely get rewarded for a great season, the shootout and OT are too determinative, and tanking is encouraged. I agree this new format would have problems, the biggest of which is pushing off the start of the real playoffs by several days. It may not be worth that to do this, but I don't like the fact that a team can run off a huge season and barely get anything for it except home ice advantage. Having to face a team that's played a three game playoff while you've been resting could be a nice reward. It also means that playoff position means something - you want to finish above 7th.

Tanking encouragement wouldn't decrease much, but while I love the trade deadline from a fan interest standpoint I don't think it's great for the game overall.

less lottery teams would make tanking even more attractive, as the lottery chances would increase. unless play-in loser will also be part of the lottery. this could again be an issue, when a top 10 regular season team lucks into the first overall pick (assuming top 8 teams get a first round bye).

 

[Blackjack]

So, any ideas what the f*** has happened to this team?

Like, how does a team go from being elite in almost every metric for a third of a f***ing season and directly to being unable to score or get any kind of goaltending at all?

How does an entire roster go into a three week slump?

 

[Devs3cups]

So, any ideas what the f*** has happened to this team?

Like, how does a team go from being elite in almost every metric for a third of a f***ing season and directly to being unable to score or get any kind of goaltending at all?

How does an entire roster go into a three week slump?

They’re still top of the league in most of those metrics. They’re shooting 6% in the last 6 games and have a sub-.850% sv%.

 

[guitarguyvic]

So, any ideas what the f*** has happened to this team?

Like, how does a team go from being elite in almost every metric for a third of a f***ing season and directly to being unable to score or get any kind of goaltending at all?

How does an entire roster go into a three week slump?

I think it’s a mental/confidence issue. Two key moments during this stretch - the Nashville game collapse and the rangers game collapse. I think both of those really shook them, if they hold down the fort for those 8 seconds, or jack scores on the penalty shot, things might look different right now. I still don’t think this is like last year’s team, whats pissing me off is how easily they’ve been rattled. This is the NHL you aren’t going to just steamroll teams for an entire season and being good isn’t just about what you can do physically it’s also about what’s going on between your ears. These guys need to man the f*** up and grt passed this adversity.

I don’t know how throwing Blackwood out there in the middle of this is supposed to help.

These guys made me a believer, and I still am. I hope they don’t make me look like a f***ing idiot for it.