GDT: Games 82 Devils Vs. Capitals 7:00 PM - That's a Wrap

[glenwo2]

For me, it could not feel better that the Devils coaching staff used Blackwood in the final game and he was yanked after 4 GA and Schmid had to come in and save the Devils game. I am happy only because it made my point. But I want the Devils to win, so I should be sad that Blackwood was a failure again.

Devils fans told me I was wrong to consider Schmid as the backup goalie because he was too young and had played a lot of games to date. Blackwood was a better choice. OK, good point.

I asked what they would the Devils do if Blackwood lost the last two games? No one responded to the question.

So here is another question: what do the Devils do with Blackwood being yanked in the final season game with the score tied at 4-4? Had he stayed in the game the Devils would probably lost a meaningless game but got some bad news regarding the playoff goalie backup. Not the Devils.

They will probably plan on using him again, maybe start the first game against the Rangers. You say oh NO, I agree would be stupid but the Devils have shown stupid regarding Blackwood for years.

Get rid of the cancer in the Devil's goaltending ASAP. Bye Blackwood.

Go Devils, it is the Rangers

Agree with everything except for him(Blackwood) starting the first game against the Rags.

I suck at predictions but even I can easily (and accurately) predict that the Devils will start VV in goal in Game 1.

And they better bring Schmid with them and not send him down.

If they keep Blackwood for the Playoffs even after his "performance" tonight, then that tells me this decision is purely a FINANCIAL one and has zero to do with Merit.

 

[Satans Hockey]

Assuming Blackwood didn't give him the mother of all hangovers by then

He tried to give me a stroke but I powered through it, worth it lol

 

[Satans Hockey]

Gotta say lots of Devils fans at the game tonight but the Caps fans really showed up too, they were super into a game that ultimately doesn't matter for them. Lots of LETS GO DEVILS chants in the building followed by the Caps fans booing and getting a go caps go chant going. Good fun, lots of nice people.

Traffic on 95 sucks but we all know that but good lord I forgot how stupid DC has a lot of their street system designed. Absolutely awful.

DC Zoo is really nice but good lord the parking situation sucks, the parking lot was reservation only but sold out online. I found a free spot on the street. The pandas were awesome lol

Florida can also go f*** themselves. I didn't see an out of town scoreboard at the arena like we have and I didn't even bother checking until we tied the game.

That's definitely my last regular season road game for awhile. I'm only showing up for road games if there's something potentially big that can happen lol

 

[charlieseven]

you can say what you want about blackwood, but thanks to him, i have found my purpose in life.
as soon as he's back on the ice in our jersey, i'm going to get on a plane, fly across the pond, drag him off the ice as unpleasantly as possible, grab schmid under the arm and put him between the posts instead.

thank you mackenzie, but you can go now.

 

[Aurinko]

Haula just fits this team better than Zacha did

Haula can play top 6 wing or center in a pinch and is a great bottom 6 wing or center not to mention he’s harder on pucks and tougher to play against

Haula has shined in teams that play really fast and uptempo. I think it's because he is just a straightforward player. There is no crazy moves or dekes, he is just fast and decisive with his plays.

 

[Clam Jensen]

What a dream way to end a dream season. This team has some special stuff going on!

 

[Billdo]

For me, it could not feel better that the Devils coaching staff used Blackwood in the final game and he was yanked after 4 GA and Schmid had to come in and save the Devils game. I am happy only because it made my point. But I want the Devils to win, so I should be sad that Blackwood was a failure again.

Devils fans told me I was wrong to consider Schmid as the backup goalie because he was too young and had played a lot of games to date. Blackwood was a better choice. OK, good point.

I asked what they would the Devils do if Blackwood lost the last two games? No one responded to the question.

So here is another question: what do the Devils do with Blackwood being yanked in the final season game with the score tied at 4-4? Had he stayed in the game the Devils would probably lost a meaningless game but got some bad news regarding the playoff goalie backup. Not the Devils.

They will probably plan on using him again, maybe start the first game against the Rangers. You say oh NO, I agree would be stupid but the Devils have shown stupid regarding Blackwood for years.

Get rid of the cancer in the Devil's goaltending ASAP. Bye Blackwood.

Go Devils, it is the Rangers

There's zero percent chance he starts Game 1 of the playoffs. I'd go so far as to say that even if god forbid Vanecek got hurt between now and then they'd still go with Schmid.

 

[Brooklyndevil]

Great comeback and congratulations to Luke Hughes. However, they better tighten it up against the Rangers or they’ll be one and done. Defense and goaltending wins in the playoffs and I’m a bit concerned until I see them tighten it up. Great season and bring it on.

 

[Japam]

So glad I survived the flight from hell to see not only did they win but the replay of Luke's incredible first goal. Incredible stuff.

 

[Cheddabombs]

It's a beautiful day out and the Devils are back in the playoffs, let's have a great one!

 

[Satans Hockey]

Saw this outside the arena last night...

 

[NjdevilfanJim]

I really thought he was done scoring goals and his shooting percentage would be low the rest of his career or at least mostly.

Maybe it won’t be after all? It’s still low compared to his career norms and the league average this year, but it’s not absurdly low either. I figured he’d finish with 9 goals after he only had 2 in the first 45 games or whatever it was.

He has replaced Zacha and did it at about the same low price we had Zacha for the last 3 years he was here.

I don’t wanna hear about Zacha this year. I’m not saying he’s better than Zacha, but he certainly wasn’t any worse than Devils Zacha.

And he still finished with more goals this year than Devils Zacha averaged per year.

From day one he has been a better all around player than Zacha..Brings more to the ice than him....

 

[Clam Jensen]

From day one he has been a better all around player than Zacha..Brings more to the ice than him....

“Erik” shares more letters with “stir” than “Pavel” does, and frankly that’s all the proof I need.

 

[NjDevsRR]

As originator of the Straw meme, I always saw the value in Haula. The amount of people who got on his ass was crazy when anyone with a set of eyes could see it was a crazy unlucky streak.

 

[Devils731]

As originator of the Straw meme, I always saw the value in Haula. The amount of people who got on his ass was crazy when anyone with a set of eyes could see it was a crazy unlucky streak.

I know I had at least one pretty in depth discussion where I figured the most likely outcome for the season was Haula to finish the season below his normal shooting percentage (but way better than where it was at) and only a little behind his normal goal scoring as his horrible luck likely wouldn’t continue all season.

This looks to be true and is a win for both the eye test and the “players are generally who they were the past few seasons” idea.

 

[NjdevilfanJim]

Haula did get a lot of Dano sympathy rightfully so as he was snake bit quite often this season...He just kept stirring his way through it...

 

[Its Always Sundstrom]

Schmido, huh?

How about just "Akira" or even "'kira" for short?

Schmido sounds too dorky.

But then again, this is the same group that calls Bratt....BRATTER so yeah....

This one started drinking early. Alright, everyone get on the bus. Rehab road trip baby!

 

[guitarguyvic]

Great comeback and congratulations to Luke Hughes. However, they better tighten it up against the Rangers or they’ll be one and done. Defense and goaltending wins in the playoffs and I’m a bit concerned until I see them tighten it up. Great season and bring it on.

The defense and puck management was atrocious for the first couple of periods. I get that statistically from a GA standpoint it looks good, but watching every period of every game it looks wildly inconsistent to me. When they start with the unforced turnovers on the breakouts and in the neutral zone, the breakdowns are absolutely brutal. They need to be way more consistent with this if they don’t want to get their ass handed to them in the playoffs.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

its kind of wild how we all hated Haula the first half of the year, when he was being asked to play in a position he wasn't suited for. As soon as he slotted in on the 3rd line, everyone loves him. And he put up 0.5 ppg. Pretty nuts.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Did anyone share to hear Chico's "AWW!" right before Luke's game winner?

 

[Devils731]

its kind of wild how we all hated Haula the first half of the year, when he was being asked to play in a position he wasn't suited for. As soon as he slotted in on the 3rd line, everyone loves him. And he put up 0.5 ppg. Pretty nuts.

I don’t think this “we all” is as inclusive as
“we” would suggest.

Plenty of people liked Haula even when he was snakebit.

 

[palek1019]

Did anyone share to hear Chico's "AWW!" right before Luke's game winner?

I think Dano did the same lol. Love it.

 

[Its Always Sundstrom]

Starting Blackwood was like that time the Washington Sentinels started Martel over Shane Falco in the last game of the season. Nobody liked Martel and the next thing you knew they were losing 17-0. But then Falco showed up at halftime, they put him in the game and he ended up throwing a game winning touchdown to the deaf receiver as time expired.

This needs more love, you unworthy bunch of hooligans

 

[RSeen]

When you have a potential star there it’s worth the risk. Hockey people are so risk averse. This shouldn’t be a hard decision. He should play without question.

While he is a potential star, he may not be one yet and still hasn't played enough at the NHL level. If we had less depth I'd play him but we have at least 6 good Dmen who are playing well.

 

[JimEIV]

I just noticed that Severson had his first plus +/- season of his 9 year career.

Poor son of a gun.