GDT: New Jersey Devils (21-5-1) @ New York Rangers (14-10-5), 7 PM, MSG, MSGSN, NHLN

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

how many times did you notice bratt 5v5 tonight?

he had a great start that is drying up recently, deal with it

plenty

seems like a you problem, tbh

 

[Bleedred]

I’ll stand by my opinion that the only goalie on our roster with the ability to be truly elite is Blackwood. His issue is he can’t stay healthy. Love Vanecek’s play and not writing him off after a couple games, I just think he’s limited in terms of upside. It’s okay for people to have different opinions on this stuff.

He's never shown ability to be elite. His AHL career sucked and he wasn't even a positive in GSAx (not on the evolving hockey model) even in his two good seasons, the first two he played.

He's shown the ability to be good, but it's been all downhill since. Even this year he had just enough bad games to cancel out his good games.

I don't really think Vanecek has elite upside either.

 

[Tundra]

Mercer is playing at a high level and it's just not from playing with Hughes.

 

[FinnishDevil]

I'm sure Bratt trade proposals are next.

Bratt for Branden Tanev to plug the lineup hole made by Bastian.

 

[Dylan9z9]

This team was always going to go through a rough patch. Pretty much everyone here was hoping for a bubble team and maybe hopes of a wildcard heading into the season. These guys are way ahead of schedule. I think they bounce back and get 2 points against Dallas tomorrow.

Wishful thinking .... hope you are right!

 

[Forge]

ranger lurkers are in here thinking "lol holy meltdown"

As they should be

lol Welcome Rangers lurkers!

Good game!

 

[DerekDevils30]

The funny thing is if they had won in a walk the way it looked early I would have bet on a no show tomorrow, but now that they blew tonight in craptacular fashion there won’t be any trap game tomorrow.

And it also helps the Stars played tonight in Pittsburgh. Quick bus ride back for us while they are hopping on a flight. Also tomorrow will be 3 in 4 nights for them. I‘m confident.

 

[youryeah]

the doomers are out in full strength tonight

 

[jkrdevil]

IIRC, Jack kind of sucks in the shootout. I wasn’t expecting him to bury the penalty shot.

He doesn’t use is speed. He’s much better on a normal breakaway with guys chasing him because he has to go fast and just make one move. Reminds me of Kovalchuk before Marty told him to just go in with speed and shoot. Obviously Jack doesn’t have that shot, but he needs to use speed.

 

[Dylan9z9]

Wishful thinking .... hope you are right!

 

[DerekDevils30]

Wishful thinking .... hope you are right!

Eh. Dallas has been kind of meh lately. And, as I just mentioned to someone else, 3 games in 4 days for the Stars. We can beat them but need to clean up those rushes against.

 

[NJDevs26]

I’ll stand by my opinion that the only goalie on our roster with the ability to be truly elite is Blackwood. His issue is he can’t stay healthy. Love Vanecek’s play and not writing him off after a couple games, I just think he’s limited in terms of upside. It’s okay for people to have different opinions on this stuff.

Except there’s nothing to base this on…Blackwood was a little above average his first two years, way below it the last three and during his AHL time

 

[JK3]

They should have won this game but there’s some of the crap that tanked us last year creeping into their game.

You can dominate all you want with the shiny stats but the attention to detail isn’t there on the back end.

 

[Dialamo]

As they should be

lol Welcome Rangers lurkers!

Good game!

I mean our team will still be fine this wasn't awful by us by any means. Unfortunate result.

 

[haak84]

This team knows they’re good. They know other teams are going to play chippy to knock them down a level, they know the refs will game manage. When all is even and the can roll line after line in 5 on 5 they are the better team. They’re working through adversity with veteran teams trying to compete with the top skating team in the league.


Dallas should be fun tomorrow night. I feel like this teams young legs like the packed schedules.

 

[Saugus]

The funny thing is if they had won in a walk the way it looked early I would have bet on a no show tomorrow, but now that they blew tonight in craptacular fashion there won’t be any trap game tomorrow.

Didn't we say that after the Islanders game too?

Not trying to be a dick about it, but I don't think we can presume how the team will respond to losses. Overall, this is a resilient group, better than the last few seasons. But losing streaks do happen. Just can't let it snowball from there.

 

[severian]

Too much time for him to think instead of just reacting.

Could be. Or some elite players just aren’t good at shootouts. Jagr sucked in them. And then you have guys like Jacob Josefson who couldn’t be stopped. Obviously you take the full skill set over the one niche one.

 

[Unknown Caller]

it’s dropped by like two points and we have game in hand. These things wobble and you had to expect some regression after the win streak.

Frustrating game because of the opponent. It isn’t time to panic, they need to get through this month.

Agreed, more losses were expected. The concerning part is losing the run of play and xG battle against teams like Washington, Philly and the Islanders. If the underlying play held up and we were just in a rut of bad luck, that would be a different story.

 

[MartyOwns]

plenty

seems like a you problem, tbh

it’s definitely a me problem, i need to work on fetishizing corsi

 

[Bleedred]

Division lead shrinking quickly before our eyes. Like I’ve said for the past week, this team has been in an extended run of bad play.

I don't think tonight was one of those games though. Certainly not like the last 6-7 games (Chicago game not included) before this.

Special teams killed us IMO and I'm actually happy we didn't have to utilize either of them in the 3rd period or it could have been a regulation loss.

 

[Mgd31]

Ah man we f***ing sucked.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Just part of the extended run of bad play for this team. They’re done, sadly.

 

[NJDevs26]

Didn't we say that after the Islanders game too?

Not trying to be a dick about it, but I don't think we can presume how the team will respond to losses. Overall, this is a resilient group, better than the last few seasons. But losing streaks do happen. Just can't let it snowball from there.

And they did come to play tonight after no showing the Isles game, they just made too many costly mistakes

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

This is the last game I'd be angry at from the recent stretches, they played well tonight for a win. They were games that they won they looked way worse. Stuff like that happens over the course of a regular season. Take a deep breath and let's worry about the Stars tomorrow since they're a better team than the one we played in terms of skaters.

 

[TheFacePainter]

Could be. Or some elite players just aren’t good at shootouts. Jagr sucked in them. And then you have guys like Jacob Josefson who couldn’t be stopped. Obviously you take the full skill set over the one niche one.

Viktor Kozlov, king of shootouts