GDT: New Jersey Devils @ Arizona Coyotes - 7pm, MSGSN

[glenwo2]

Anyway.....I'm now officially OVER IT.

Devils got 2 points and that's all that f'n matters.

SO.....How many goals does anyone here think the Devils will get called back against Toronto? 'Cause you know that's going to happen.

 

[Incharge1976]

I'm so split on the goaltending this year. Part of me thinks it's the only downfall of this team and I gotta step back a bit and realize this is only year 1. On the other hand, who knows if they're ever gonna be this good again with teams waking up for every game against them + teams around the bubble getting better or if something like Florida happens granted we aren't going to a Maurice type coach but the player regression still stands. I think you gotta play Vanecek through this. If he can't handle it then it's a massive red flag/issue going into the playoffs

I actually like Schmid a lot. I think he can handle things. He doesn't give up crazy rebounds. He has some work to do, but I'd prefer him over Blackwood if VV poops the bed down the stretch or in the playoffs.

 

[Bleedred]

Gils River is the name of the Coyotes old arena.

It’s actually now called Desert Diamond Arena. Just found that out.

Desert Diamond Arena - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

I think it was the Jobbing.com arena before Gila River. I don't even know if that company exists anymore. I wanna say it had one other name when it first opened, but maybe not?

Yeah, apparently it was just called Glendale arena from 2003-2006.

It's a shame they had to go from that to this, that building is only 20 years old and it doesn't look half bad. I've heard it was nice.

But like the arena in Sunrise being almost in the everglades and not Miami or even Fort Lauderdale, it's kind of out in the desert away from Phoenix. I think the NFL stadium is right next to it in the same complex, Meadowlands style.

 

[jkrdevil]

Yeah I think they are currently outpacing the 00-01 team that had 111 points

That is entirely because of the every game has a winner format. That team had 12 ties. Probably 118-120 point team in today’s format.

This is probably the best post-lost season team though.

 

[Devilsgrl35]

I loved Timo's game tonight. He was physical, he back checked, he was noticeable all night. And this was just game 1 with new line mates and a new system. He showed a few flashes with Jack. When he gets more comfortable, Timo and Jack are going to be special. This is going to be fun.

 

[Emperoreddy]

If I'm not mistaken, 12 wins out of 20 games would break the franchise record for points.

 

[Bcap88]

Pretty sure they are having at least the 2nd best regular season they have ever had

They are and they are currently on pace to have the best regular season in franchise history

 

[Incharge1976]

Anyway.....I'm now officially OVER IT.

Devils got 2 points and that's all that f'n matters.

SO.....How many goals does anyone here think the Devils will get called back against Toronto? 'Cause you know that's going to happen.

I've figured this out already. If you add up all the letters in every team member's name, divide by the days in the year and then multiple by the factor of Bettman butthurt against the Devils you'll find the answer too.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Schmid has played well enough that you can give Vtek a few extra games off to recharge

the schedule the next 2 weeks is crazy...we're gonna need both

 

[glenwo2]

Sometimes non-playoff teams who are young and well coached see a team at the top of the standings come into their building and use it as a measuring stick game. Give them credit for playing hard. They aren't tanking and play with pride. We won the game even though we weren't at our best. This isn't the last time this season we will see a bad team throw everything they have at us. It's a good test for our young team who's getting ready for playoff hockey.

Wish that bad team threw everything they had at Carolina but that's neither here nor there.

It's over and done with.

Moving on....

 

[Devilsgrl35]

If I'm not mistaken, 12 wins out of 20 games would break the franchise record for points.

Doable, which is insane. We were looking for 90 points hoping to make playoffs before the season.

 

[Bleedred]

Yeah, the upcoming schedule is brutal, but Tampa has been a complete blowup doll for the last two weeks.

I don't know what's up with them.

They'll probably get it figured out by the time we have our first of 3 games in a week against them, but Buffalo and Pittsburgh have both feasted on them in the two different times each team has played them since then. Carolina blew them open today. They weren't too much better in Buffalo yesterday.

They've been getting outshot a ton. They've been getting scored on a lot. Florida blitzed them in Tampa last week, Detroit outshot them like 45-something but Vasilevskiy had a shutout.

Timo pretty much beat Tampa last month all by himself. I was fortunate enough to be there. Hopefully I can see him do the same to Tampa and Florida on back to back nights in less than two weeks from now.

 

[NjDevsRR]

the schedule the next 2 weeks is crazy...we're gonna need both

Thank god Tampa is falling down back to Earth.

 

[jkrdevil]

the schedule the next 2 weeks is crazy...we're gonna need both

No more three days off stretches for the rest of the season. It is every other day (with some back to backs) from here on out. The games are the practices.

 

[Bleedred]

Thank god Tampa is falling down back to Earth.

I think they'll figure it out by then, but I think we could have put a beating on them like Colorado the other night if we ran into them the last two weeks. They've really been through it the last two weeks and even their one win in that stretch was Vasilevskiy doing all kinds of tricks.

It'll be interesting to see how we match up against them, as we have yet to play them this season. I'm just 100% positive that they're the only team we haven't played at least once this season.

So it's hard to say how we'll look against them.

 

[PWiz30]

Yeah I think they are currently outpacing the 00-01 team that had 111 points

This year's team is actually 13 points ahead of the 2000-01 squad through 62 games, although they had 12 ties at that point. I'm sure that team would have been pretty good in shootouts so it's really pretty close.

 

[glenwo2]

 

[Bleedred]

This year's team is actually 13 points ahead of the 2000-01 squad through 62 games, although they had 12 ties at that point. I'm sure that team would have been pretty good in shootouts so it's really pretty close.

Nieds would have been the greatest 3 on 3 player ever

Well, close to it.

He was already one of the best 4 on 4 players ever. He scored a lot of 4 on 4 OT winners. I remember when overtime switched from just 5 on 5 to 4 on 4 and he really took over out there.

I think he'd at least be the greatest 3 on 3 defenseman ever.

 

[Bcap88]

I think I’m about to pull the trigger on a Timo t shirt jersey

I stopped buying jerseys years ago when I got one after kovalchuk re-signed and we all know how that one ended

 

[MadDevil]

What is a "Gila"?

Is that also a river in Egypt?

Interestingly enough (at least to my love of useless facts), it's actually the state reptile of Utah.

 

[NJDevs26]

This year's team is actually 13 points ahead of the 2000-01 squad through 62 games, although they had 12 ties at that point. I'm sure that team would have been pretty good in shootouts so it's really pretty close.

Plus I think the ‘01 team had ITS 13-game heater very late in the season too

Yep, the thirteen game winning streak came in the last quarter of the season, they finished 19-2 going into the playoffs

 

[Eggtimer]

I think I’m about to pull the trigger on a Timo t shirt jersey

I stopped buying jerseys years ago when I got one after kovalchuk re-signed and we all know how that one ended

I want to buy a Timo pro jersey but if Severson goes , maybe Timo goes back to #28 . I might have to wait but not sure if I can fight the temptation to order one right now.

 

[Bleedred]

In theory you would try and give him some rest. As Bleed mentioned December was bad for him like this, but because of the Christmas break they were able to give him a week off and he bounced back. Moving forward thought the March schedule is brutal in its compactness. They probably need to just alternate goalies anyways. Maybe if Schmid shows something you give him 2 - 3 games in a row. That said he wasn’t great vs Vegas.

I thought he was okay against Vegas, but he looked to whiff on that glove side goal and even Dano commented how much 5-hole he had open on the odd man goal.

Both were fairly forgivable I think.

I'd rather see him than Blackwood. I think we need more of a look at him, to be honest. I think we need to see if he's ready to be this team's backup next year, which will save us potentially a couple million dollars.

He should not be sent back this year, unless he starts getting blown up. Roll 3 goalies the remainder of the year if Blackwood is ready to go. You can even play all 3 of them and healthy scratch one every night and that one just doesn't dress for the game.

It's not perfect, but Buffalo has had Anderson, Luukkonen and Comrie up for the better part of the year. They didn't start the season like that, but Comrie got injured and when he returned, they never sent Luukkonen back and have been playing all 3.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

I actually like Schmid a lot. I think he can handle things. He doesn't give up crazy rebounds. He has some work to do, but I'd prefer him over Blackwood if VV poops the bed down the stretch or in the playoffs.

Yeah me too, I've said it before that his mechanics are the best on this team by a mile. Vanecek and Blackwood will make insane miraculous stops but give up the easy one where you scratch your head and say wtf. At this point, just play goalie by ear. There's been tons of teams who've gone on runs with shittier goalies than Vanecek. I rather have the tremendous skaters up front than an amazing goalie mask everything up for us since the former is way more sustainable for a longer period of time.

 

[Incharge1976]

I thought he was okay against Vegas, but he looked to whiff on that glove side goal and even Dano commented how much 5-hole he had open on the odd man goal.

Both were fairly forgivable I think.

I'd rather see him than Blackwood. I think we need more of a look at him, to be honest.

He should not be sent back this year. Roll 3 goalies the remainder of the year if Blackwood is ready to go. You can even play all 3 of them and healthy scratch one every night and they won't even dress every night.

It's not perfect, but Buffalo has had Anderson, Luukkonen and Comrie up for the better part of the year. They didn't start the season like that, but Comrie got injured and when he returned, they never sent Luukkonen back and have been playing all 3.

Agreed. We know what Blackwood will give us. Bad starts, good starts, and injuries. Need to plan for the future.