Low Effort GDT Game 4 | Why has God forsaken us! - Sens vs Devils - 7PM EST on TSN

[Agent Zuuuub]

I'd be concerned if we didn't hit 3 more posts and our goalie didn't get outplayed (not that Forsberg was bad, but Markstrom was almost perfect).

Zack McEwan was our most dangerous looking forward.

Giroux, Norris, Brady, Batherson, Perron all duds. Stutzle at least tried but his result was dud. How much millions is that that didn't perform? They got choked out.

 

[DackellDuck]

naw they are perpetual losers until proven otherwise.

people call the leafs losers, marner a loser. their core has never missed the playoffs. so what does it make this core if not the biggest losers.

even giroux has lost his passion.

do you guys remember giroux in the 1st year? how dialed in he was? now its like he doesn't have fun anymore.

We played with a ton of passion under DJ. Wild emotional swings! Back and forth goals! Scrums everywhere! Yelling at the other bench!

Now we’re playing a lower event game (or working towards it). Tonight we were on the wrong end, but over the course of 82 games, this new style will no doubt get us more points.

Step of the ledge!

We’re playing like a Jacques Martin team in 1998. Rolling 4 lines. Safe play over risk. It’s going to take some time for the top line guys, who used to do whatever they wanted, to adjust. Isn’t that what everyone asked for?

 

[Senovision]

You’d think we were 0-4…

To me, the look of the team this year seems very different than the past couple. Especially the D and bottom 6. A lot calmer, lower event, confident play.

Are we a lock for a wildcard? No. But if we keep playing the way we are, I think we’ll be right in the mix.

The guy I want to see more from is Tkachuk, but I’m confident he’ll come around. New baby throws everyone for a loop…

What more from Tkachuk would you like to see?
He is battling in front of the net. He leads the team in hitting. He has come as advertised.
If you told me when we drafted him that he would be this good I would have been surprised.
A lot of people on this board put the losses on him. I have no idea why. It takes 20 other guys to play well and a goalie to stop pucks in order to win. He has 6 points in 4 games.
There were many passengers tonight and it certainly wasn't just his line.

 

[Stutzlaaaa]

Lmfao, Ullmark didn't steal it. We dominated the Panthers in the 1st.

Hey good news a game has 2nd a nd 3rd which are 20 mins each too

That's always the main problem with the Sens can play good for 20 mins and shit the bed in the other 20 . Game is 60 min good team play for 60 minutes or more.

 

[SpezDispenser]

Most of that game was quite good. We had opportunities we should have shot and over passed, but...they're a better team and we kept it respectful

 

[Stutzlaaaa]

It's still too early but just a reminder for some that says we played a good game today we just didn't win. Last 2 seasons in the first 20 games we played good even better than these 4 games for long streak but couldnt execute or win games. At the end of the day it's only the result and I understand that some fan are anxious seeing a deja vu/pattern with this team/players .

We have though schedule early probably it's really a good test to see if these guys can make it together or no. Green/coaching will not be the scapegoat this time it's all about our core players.

 

[SpezDispenser]

Sanderson is by far the best player on the team. It's not even remotely close imo.

What a treat to watch. Like the early years of Karlsson as he began to realize just how good he was.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

We “outplayed” a lot of teams in October and November 2022 btw, good teams. They’re just not clutch enough when the game is on the line.

 

[Hale The Villain]

We “outplayed” a lot of teams in October and November 2022 btw, good teams. They’re just not clutch enough when the game is on the line.

We'll continue to outplay teams and lose if we're playing our crappy backup against legit #1 goalies, no question.

Zack McEwan was our most dangerous looking forward.

Giroux, Norris, Brady, Batherson, Perron all duds. Stutzle at least tried but his result was dud. How much millions is that that didn't perform? They got choked out.

Our top forwards weren't great tonight, but neither were the Devils' top forwards.

Devils were slightly better, got better goaltending (no surprise with Ullmark out) and had more puck luck, but this was a pretty fair matchup all things considered.

Not sure why people are freaking out about this one. They played fine.

 

[Ice-Tray]

I thought the guys played a solid game tonight outside of the seemingly guaranteed 2 goals we spot other teams. Not having Ullmark in net sucks right now.

Having said that, our secondary guys and depth players are really humming. I liked the 4th line tonight, and I liked the second line. 3rd pairing was solid as well.

Jensen was really great tonight, as was Sanderson. I was really unimpressed with Chabot. He’s like Forsberg where he can make some great plays, but always seems to be good for a couple of back breaking gaffs a game. When I see Chabby with the puck alone in our zone, and then eventually turn back when a line change forward comes at him, I KNOW he’s about to cough up the puck. Why he doesn’t just skate the puck out right away is beyond me, he is a guaranteed turn over machine when pressured deep in our zone. Jensen is night and day in those situations; he almost always makes the right play.

Brady seems like he’s injured, he’s only half there, which still means he wins most board battles, but you can tell his timing is off and his hits are gentle by his standards.

We play so much better 5 on 5 as a group it isn’t funny.

We have depth in the line up this season, which is really great. We just need more consistent play from the stars, and we need our goalie back. We could also use a replacement on D, and right now I’m thinking more about the left side…..

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

We'll continue to outplay teams and lose if we're playing our crappy backup against legit #1 goalies, no question.



Our top forwards weren't great tonight, but neither were the Devils' top forwards.

Devils were slightly better, got better goaltending (no surprise with Ullmark out) and had more puck luck, but this was a pretty fair matchup all things considered.

Not sure why people are freaking out about this one. They played fine.

Not to mention the Devils had their full roster, while we missed Greig, Zub, and Ullmark.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

Not to mention the Devils had their full roster, while we missed Greig, Zub, and Ullmark.

Devils are missong Luke Hughes and Pesce.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

Devils are missong Luke Hughes and Pesce.

nvm then. I will say Zub, Greig, and Ullmark is still more significant.

 

[PlayersLtd]

The incessant complaining is unbelievable, my god there are some whiny, irrational brats around here.

We are .500 and our vezina winning starter has only played 2 of the games. RELAX!

You wanna trade with Calgary just because they are winning? Have you watched Colorado yet this year? Are you betting against them?? It's a fools errand to get too high or too low at this point in the season, so much is going to change.

You need to focus on the details... How our depth is playing, how Norris is back and he immediately has chemistry with Bath, how Sanderson looks like he could teach Cale Makar a thing or two, how our starts have been good, how Kleven is emerging as the top 4 we need, how Chabot looks better on the second pair, how Jensen has slotted in... the list goes on.

Be patient, this is a good team that has shown flashes we just haven't been consistent and people are letting goaltending cloud everything. Be optimistic for once, it is not that bad of a start AT ALL.

 

[DrEasy]

We played ok, I guess. We weren't dominant, but we weren't dominated either. That's parity for you. Some days we're going to win such games, sometimes we're going to lose. The difference some nights is going to be the goalie standing on his head, or Timmy doing something magical, or conversely a defensive breakdown, a dysfunctional special team, etc.

- Not impressed at all by the "new dads" (Brady and Giroux). As I said earlier in this thread, can't wait for the road trip so they can get away from the babies, get some proper sleep and get their game and intensity back. But I've been worried about Giroux since the second half of last year. I think Brady will be fine, unless he's still slightly hurt. Nothing worse IMO than players playing through injuries. We saw what that did to Timmy last year.

- More generally I'm not impressed by our top 6. Not enough game-breaking ability other than what we see from Timmy.

- Having said that, I'm not too worried about Perron. I think he's going to be the kind of player who's going to be invisible in some games, but when all is said and done he's going to contribute sufficiently on the scoresheet to be a net positive. Last night he was invisible, but in the first game for example he showed off his nice shot and some good vision.

- Our defense is fine and generally well organized when we don't have the puck. But when we do, I want to see more breakouts where they're skating the puck out of the zone. It's occasionally happening with Sanderson, but this used to be a Chabot Special and is not happening with him anymore (and we also lost Branny, but let's not open that can of worm here again!). Maybe it's a system thing, but it often leads to quick loss of control of the puck in the neutral or O zone, and we're just not spending enough time in the O zone.

- Still not sure who Amadio really is and what he's supposed to do. He's not physical, he doesn't have good hands, so maybe he's fast, maybe he has good IQ? I need to focus more on him, but so far I haven't been impressed.

- Conversely, and I say this reluctantly cause I don't like him in principle, but Cousins shows something every game. There's always a nice little defensive play, or a nice quick pass in the O zone, he's making good quick decisions. I haven't seen the nasty side of him yet though.

- I've liked what I've seen of Jensen so far. I haven't seen any specific limitations that would be the result of his age. He has the right instincts, and his body seems to be in sync with his instincts so far.

 

[Tuna99]

its a game of inches literally 4 or 5 posts and some big saves from Markstrom if they went the other way could have been a blowout for us.

D.J. Smith is that you?

(If only the goalies made it fair and played like Ottawa goalies we wouldn’t have this losing problem all the time)

 

[LuckyPierre]

Giroux isn’t a top line forward at 5v5. He really hampers the productivity and flow of Stutzle and Tkachuk.

Yet again in the neutral zone he was diving to stretch out and maintain possession on a pass that a right winger with first line pace would have taken on the tape.

Batherson can keep up pace and skill wise, and would open up space for Brady with his physicality.

Let Giroux be the playmaker for Norris. Contending with second pair defensemen and middle six forwards puts him in more of a position to succeed.

 

[Tuna99]

Giroux isn’t a top line forward at 5v5. He really hampers the productivity and flow of Stutzle and Tkachuk.

Yet again in the neutral zone he was diving to stretch out and maintain possession on a pass that a right winger with first line pace would have taken on the tape.

Batherson can keep up pace and skill wise, and would open up space for Brady with his physicality.

Let Giroux be the playmaker for Norris. Contending with second pair defensemen and middle six forwards puts him in more of a position to succeed.

Tkachuk - Norris - Batherson
Stutzle - Pinto - Amadio
Gregor - Gaudette/Greig - Perron
Cousins - Giroux - Macewen

 

[maclean]

We'll continue to outplay teams and lose if we're playing our crappy backup against legit #1 goalies, no question.



Our top forwards weren't great tonight, but neither were the Devils' top forwards.

Devils were slightly better, got better goaltending (no surprise with Ullmark out) and had more puck luck, but this was a pretty fair matchup all things considered.

Not sure why people are freaking out about this one. They played fine.

As to the last point, people are freaking out because we essentially lost 3-0 (minus one goal three down with a minute left and the goalie pulled). I'm not saying it's right or wrong and I'm personally glad for the more detailed analyses ppl are providing in this thread, I'm just explaining the reason. The scoreline tells people a story and people remember the days when we never lost by more than a goal (but also almost never won mind you)

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

We played ok, I guess. We weren't dominant, but we weren't dominated either. That's parity for you. Some days we're going to win such games, sometimes we're going to lose. The difference some nights is going to be the goalie standing on his head, or Timmy doing something magical, or conversely a defensive breakdown, a dysfunctional special team, etc.

- Not impressed at all by the "new dads" (Brady and Giroux). As I said earlier in this thread, can't wait for the road trip so they can get away from the babies, get some proper sleep and get their game and intensity back. But I've been worried about Giroux since the second half of last year. I think Brady will be fine, unless he's still slightly hurt. Nothing worse IMO than players playing through injuries. We saw what that did to Timmy last year.

- More generally I'm not impressed by our top 6. Not enough game-breaking ability other than what we see from Timmy.

- Having said that, I'm not too worried about Perron. I think he's going to be the kind of player who's going to be invisible in some games, but when all is said and done he's going to contribute sufficiently on the scoresheet to be a net positive. Last night he was invisible, but in the first game for example he showed off his nice shot and some good vision.

- Our defense is fine and generally well organized when we don't have the puck. But when we do, I want to see more breakouts where they're skating the puck out of the zone. It's occasionally happening with Sanderson, but this used to be a Chabot Special and is not happening with him anymore (and we also lost Branny, but let's not open that can of worm here again!). Maybe it's a system thing, but it often leads to quick loss of control of the puck in the neutral or O zone, and we're just not spending enough time in the O zone.

- Still not sure who Amadio really is and what he's supposed to do. He's not physical, he doesn't have good hands, so maybe he's fast, maybe he has good IQ? I need to focus more on him, but so far I haven't been impressed.

- Conversely, and I say this reluctantly cause I don't like him in principle, but Cousins shows something every game. There's always a nice little defensive play, or a nice quick pass in the O zone, he's making good quick decisions. I haven't seen the nasty side of him yet though.

- I've liked what I've seen of Jensen so far. I haven't seen any specific limitations that would be the result of his age. He has the right instincts, and his body seems to be in sync with his instincts so far.

Amadio is very smart and I like him.

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDoo]

Amadio is very smart and I like him.

He was quite noticeable in this game.

 

[JD1]

I didn't see any of it. Went out to see a show last night. Stat trick shows the game as pretty even.

This is a league that strives for parity. The Avalanche and the Predators are both 0-4. We're 2-2. We aren't making the playoffs in the first 10 game segment but as of right now, we aren't chasing it.

The competition in the Atlantic - the Wings and Sabres- for a spot should one of the big 4 falter are both off to slow starts.

We need Ullmark going and at least numbers wise Forsberg seems to have been ok yesterday

 

[BankStreetParade]

As Cousins said tonight, this team plays the right way until they get down a few goals and then they change their game. He said the team needs to stick with the game plan set out by the coach instead of trying to change it.

Are they really playing the "right way" if they get down 2+ goals in 3 out of 4 games they've played so far?

 

[Micklebot]

I didn't see any of it. Went out to see a show last night. Stat trick shows the game as pretty even.

This is a league that strives for parity. The Avalanche and the Predators are both 0-4. We're 2-2. We aren't making the playoffs in the first 10 game segment but as of right now, we aren't chasing it.

The competition in the Atlantic - the Wings and Sabres- for a spot should one of the big 4 falter are both off to slow starts.

We need Ullmark going and at least numbers wise Forsberg seems to have been ok yesterday

We were very good in the first, second was fairly even, but for a bad pass by Giroux leading to a short handed goal. In the second half of the third in particular we tried to open things up and were sloppy, and you could see they were a bit demoralized in their play, Devils did get some quality chances throughout the period as we chased the lead..

Forsberg was fine, the shorthanded goal he probably would have like to have had but a two on one with no back pressure is going to beat goalies sometimes.

We hit 4 posts, while they started the scoring with a double deflection that went in off JBD. People hate saying the bounces didn't go our way but in this case it's true.

 

[vandelay]

Didn't mind jbd last night. Like Jensen, he made some short, quick, smart plays.

Norris was good again. Arguably our best center last night. Some nice steals. Beauty sauce to giroux short handed.