GDT: Ducks @ GoodDevils, 7:00, MSG

[TrufleShufle]

I wonder if a fourth line of Tatar, Bastian and Zetterlund makes more sense than whatever they are doing with McLeod?

I was thinking this when thinking about who to sit for Zetterlund, but the few times we have seen Bastian at C, it doesn't seem to last long for reasons I'm not saying aren't valid because I don't see them, but don't know.

 

[AfroThunder396]

It should be McLeod out, Boqvist to 4C, Zetterlund in.

 

[My3Sons]

It should be McLeod out, Boqvist to 4C, Zetterlund in.

At that point do you sit Tatar since he seems redundant with Boquist?

 

[MasterofGrond]

Can’t watch tonight thank GOD

 

[MauDevils]

Tatar goes from top line and top PP down to the 4th line. Shocking.

 

[Capt Nico Poo]

Kinda hoping Blackwood / Tatar would do the good ole Eric Boltons. Play so well one time that the opponent trades/hires you

 

[Patrik26]

At that point do you sit Tatar since he seems redundant with Boquist?

I still don't understand Tatar over Zetterlund unless it's to play the guy making $4.5 million vs. $750,000. Can't be wasting salary sitting upstairs especially with $2.275 million cap hit penalty from Johnsson.

 

[TonySoprano]

McCloud is pretty much as useful as Chrissy on the needle.

No reason for him to be out there at all. Hughes and Bratt on the same line is weird to me as well.

Also does anybody else go nuts when Holtz and Hughes aren't together? It's like Holtz is the perfect blueprint for a W on a line with Hughes.

 

[TrufleShufle]

I don't mind having the issue of a guy we wish was playing, sitting. We all know soon enough 1 or more injuries will happen and we can move on to arguing about who did or didn't get called up to fill the gap. Either you have depth and good players not playing, or guys that shouldn't be anywhere near an NHL rink filling out the 4th line. It's a balance I'd rather be on the former of.

 

[captainscott12]

i’ll be happy if they win but i’m more interested to see how they win or lose and how the goaltending is. i just want to watch a team play for hockey and not get blown out

well theoretically they played ok in the first two games.. and its hard to argue too much.. the result is what matters right now.. we need 2 pts. and then a regroup. a dud here today could spell a scorching seat for Lindy.

 

[Bleedred]

McCloud is pretty much as useful as Chrissy on the needle.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

I guess just be respectable.

 

[Bleedred]

Might be a good time for Adam Henrique's first career NHL hat trick.

Especially since he has 0 goals and 0 points through his first 3 games. He needs to maintain that 15% shooting percentage.

At least I think he hasn't had a hat trick yet. I know he never had one here, but came close a bunch of times with 2 goal games and they would constantly bring up how he had zero hat tricks in his career.

Maybe he's had one in Anaheim, but I don't really think so.

 

[Unknown Caller]

I’m sure it’s been driven into the ground here but some of this coaching decisions make no sense.

You can finally ice four lines deep and instead you choose to double shift Hughes. Fully capable of icing three scoring lines and an energy line without doing that. I’d rather see Hughes play an effective 19-20 minutes than a watered down version getting double shifted playing 24 minutes when Bratt is only hitting 16.

The power play units are also baffling. Spreading the wealth out on the power play never works. Bratt and Hughes are your two best weapons and should be on the PP together. The rest can be tinkered with, especially if you want to have say Haula on the unit to help win board battles and face offs. But Bratt-Hughes should be non-negotiable

Hughes, Bratt, Holtz, Hischier, Hamilton is such a no brainer PP1. Give them time to develop chemistry and don't immediately shake things up when they don't convert for a game or two.

Even with that unit stacked, something like Mercer, Palat, Sharangovich, Tatar, Severson is a very solid second unit.

Instead, we'll have half-assed units that are thrown in the blender as soon as they don't score a goal on their first couple opportunities just so we can make sure that they never develop chemistry.

 

[Bleedred]

Blackwood is closely approaching a run like Cory Schneider's 2018 (Regular season only) calendar year.

I think it was 17 of 19 games during that stretch where Cory allowed 3 or more goals and didn't get a single win.

Blackwood is currently at 3 or more goals in 12 of his last 13 starts, but actually has 4 wins in that stretch, including one game where he allowed 5 goals and 2 where he allowed 3 goals. And then the one game where he didn't allow at least 3 in that stretch was a win over Columbus, where he allowed 1 goal.

 

[Puckclektr]

Bold statement. Devils win 9-3.

 

[Rhodes 81]

Tatar on the 4th line is as useless as tits on a bull.

Yeah if Tatar is getting dressed he needs to be playing with scorers. Otherwise it's just a waste of a spot. I'd rather swap him with Wood since we know Wood can perform pretty much the same regardless of who he is playing with.

Kinda hoping Blackwood / Tatar would do the good ole Eric Boltons. Play so well one time that the opponent trades/hires you

To be fair, Boulton was legitimately decent for an enforcer in Atlanta, but he fell off a total cliff when he came here.

 

[guitarguyvic]

I’ve been as critics of the players as one can be, but these are some bush league lineup decisions. The strategies employed on the ice are bad enough, now we can’t even rely on the right players being put in the best spots to succeed.

This entire situation to start the season is a clusterf***.

 

[Satans Hockey]

Might be a good time for Adam Henrique's first career NHL hat trick.

Especially since he has 0 goals and 0 points through his first 3 games. He needs to maintain that 15% shooting percentage.

At least I think he hasn't had a hat trick yet. I know he never had one here, but came close a bunch of times with 2 goal games and they would constantly bring up how he had zero hat tricks in his career.

Maybe he's had one in Anaheim, but I don't really think so.

Google search doesn't show anything about him having one.

Probably have Devils hats being thrown onto the ice if he does that with chants of fire Lindy in the background lol

 

[Patrik26]

Might be a good time for Adam Henrique's first career NHL hat trick.

Especially since he has 0 goals and 0 points through his first 3 games. He needs to maintain that 15% shooting percentage.

At least I think he hasn't had a hat trick yet. I know he never had one here, but came close a bunch of times with 2 goal games and they would constantly bring up how he had zero hat tricks in his career.

Maybe he's had one in Anaheim, but I don't really think so.

I'll settle for my personal Henrique hat trick.

Game 7 (2OT) - Florida 2012 Opening Round
Game 6 (OT) - NYR 2012 ECF
Anaheim-Devils - 12/18/17 Return to NJ (Sami Vatanen traffic cone)

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

Finally a decent lineup that makes sense, although i'd rather put holtz with palat and hughes considering that's what they did all preseason but whatever.

 

[Bleedred]

As much as I think Ruff even coming back this year was a bad idea, I'm gonna feel even worse for him if he gets booed and mocked and chanted at if Blackwood has a bad game and lets in a bunch of goals.

In that case the fans really need to direct their frustrations at the guy on the ice that has only allowed fewer than 3 goals in 1 of his last 13 starts and maybe not the old man standing behind the bench.

After the intros the other night, it didn't sound like many more people were pleased with him than Ruff, judging by the reaction to him. It still wasn't as ornery as what Ruff got in the intros.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

What did Zetterlund do exactly to warrant ordering popcorn tonight?

He helped score, obviously. You get scratched for that. You gotta play like Tatar who just gets penalties and doesn't score to stay in the lineup.

 

[mtnet]

 

[Better Call Sal]

Now that we have Haula crushing important faceoffs so far, McLeod’s usefulness continues to dwindle.