GDT: New Jersey Devils @ New York Islanders - 7:30pm

[Offseason Champs]

Happy with the win, worried about Schmid's very bad performance. But I'll just assume it's part of the up and down of the season and hope to see him but a good performance out next time. Sorokin was very good and very lucky on a few of those saves. Definitely feel this one should have had a lot more breathing room but i'll take the two points and move on. Jack Hughes is unreal. He's everything we could have hoped for when we won that lotto pick.

 

[devilsblood]

Jack has an on-ice SH% of 5% and an on-ice SV% of .8421% . That's a 0.892 PDO. And he leads the league in points. Outrageous.

Are those %’s 5v5?

On ice save% also doesn’t really effect point production.

But yeah he’s looking fantastic.

 

[SJinNewJersey]

The coaching staff needs to tell Nico that he needs to worry about his health and not worry about trying to make every little play. I think Jack and Bratt both would have tapped the puck along the boards as to not take the hit in the same spot. Nico needs to lose some battles to win the war. I really hope he doesn't have an injury that takes him out of the lineup for too long.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Bahl and Marino finally got split last night mid game right? It has to happen permanently going forward. For whatever reason, there is just no chemistry there right now and it’s affecting everything else.

The D is probably going to be a work in progress all year. Bahl and Hughes will take their lumps as they learn on the job and then hopefully once they settle in, Nemec will get his shot.

As much as we are a win-now team with the talent we have, it’s still probably a year or two out from being at full power.

 

[Whaddagoal]

What bionic upgrade is next for Nico............................?

I'd like the borg to not crouch down in a play like that and play big and have his shoulder ready for a reverse type of hit..

 

[Better Call Sal]

We are so spoiled with this kid.

 

[MachoDiablo]

Yeah, the only reason the Devils didn't walk away with about eight goals was that Sorokin made some absolutely insane stops. Otherwise, this would've been a complete blowout win, and they'd have potted at least a few 5-on-5 goals. Hoping the PP being a machine right now bodes well for the future and opposing teams giving them more space at even strength.

Akira looking shoddy wasn't great, but I might chalk that up to him not having gotten to play for a little bit given that Vitek started the last game and then there was a long-ish break. It's not like his first game this year was bad, so hopefully it was just "one of those nights".

 

[JimEIV]

I'm ecstatic about the newly found Power Play weapon we just found at the bottom of the toy chest.

Mostly because this seems to be a PP league now and PP's are usually the difference between wins and loses but also I know if Jack is going to put up ridiculous gaudy numbers, a good chunk has to come from the PP.

I'm starting to get giddy with possibility of seeing well over 100 points from a Devil jersey this season.

 

[jkrdevil]

Was it just me or was the Islanders fourth goal potentially winnable from a challenge?

Lee’s right stick is jammed underneath Schmid’s pad almost exactly where Horvat shot the puck. You could definitely make an argument that the reason the puck went under the pad is because Schmid couldn’t keep his pad on the ice due to Lee’s stick. At first, I thought it was Palat’s stick, but it looks like it was Lee’s.

I think Ruff may have not wanted to risk it and take the Devils chances in 3-on-3, but still feel like that goal should not have counted.

It would have been a dumb challenge. No guarantee they win it. Plus with a minute to go you have the point in the bag. You lose and they get a PP you significantly risk losing the point you have and hurt your chances at getting the full two even if the game still goes to OT.

Wasn’t worth the risk (and at the end of the day didn’t cost them anything unless they end up in a race with the Islanders). This point of the season is about making sure you can rack up every point you can.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Yeah I was skeptical of the "two pp set up" but maybe it does make some sense, with some units matching up better against certain kills? Or maybe over the course of a season it can better navigate short term cold/hot streaks?

In any case if the Devils have a top 5 pp that's one of the two missing pieces from last year to take this team to the next level (the other being goaltending which remains very much an open question).

 

[SJinNewJersey]

I’ve never done a GDT in my life, but since last year I’ve been really tempted to do a DD/Ranger Doggo themed GDT. I’m not sure if it would be a good idea for the Rangers of all games. I also forgot about some of my ideas that I had potentially planned for it.

I’m afraid of it bringing bad vibes and never being able to do it again if we lose that game. I’ll be stuck thinking we’ll lose every time I do it.

 

[Triumph]

I don't think the power play is all that good. They've made some nice plays, but only the Jack Hughes PP goal is something where I'd say, oh okay, they've got a good setup and process.

 

[Triumph]

I'm ecstatic about the newly found Power Play weapon we just found at the bottom of the toy chest.

Mostly because this seems to be a PP league now and PP's are usually the difference between wins and loses but also I know if Jack is going to put up ridiculous gaudy numbers, a good chunk has to come from the PP.

I'm starting to get giddy with possibility of seeing well over 100 points from a Devil jersey this season.

It's never been less of a power play league.

In 2003 (just picked a random year), 29% of goals were scored on the power play. In 2023, ~21% of goals were. In 1983, ~23% were.

 

[AfroThunder396]

I'm ecstatic about the newly found Power Play weapon we just found at the bottom of the toy chest.

Mostly because this seems to be a PP league now and PP's are usually the difference between wins and loses but also I know if Jack is going to put up ridiculous gaudy numbers, a good chunk has to come from the PP.

I'm starting to get giddy with possibility of seeing well over 100 points from a Devil jersey this season.

I think the probability of two +100 point players may be higher than the probability of zero +100 point players. As long as we stay healthy.

 

[JimEIV]

It's never been less of a power play league.

In 2003 (just picked a random year), 29% of goals were scored on the power play. In 2023, ~21% of goals were. In 1983, ~23% were.

This is from last year...

https://thehockeynews.com/news/nhl-stat-pack-power-play-scoring-throws-back-to-the-80s

"For the last two seasons, each team was getting 2.89 power plays per game. This year, the number has risen to 3.26, the highest rate since 2013-14.

Power-play efficiency also continues to trend upward. But that has been happening pretty steadily for 25 years, from a low of 15.08 percent in 1997-98.

Still, after hovering around the 20 percent mark for the last five seasons, this year's power-play success rate has jumped to 22.42 percent. It's the fifth-highest conversion rate since this data was first recorded in 1963-64. The other four years were all between 1978 and 1983 — think stand-up goalies and Gretzky setting up teammates from his office behind the net. And they're not much higher: the all-time record is 22.94 percent in 1982-83.

 

[Triumph]

This is from last year...

https://thehockeynews.com/news/nhl-stat-pack-power-play-scoring-throws-back-to-the-80s

"For the last two seasons, each team was getting 2.89 power plays per game. This year, the number has risen to 3.26, the highest rate since 2013-14.

Power-play efficiency also continues to trend upward. But that has been happening pretty steadily for 25 years, from a low of 15.08 percent in 1997-98.

Still, after hovering around the 20 percent mark for the last five seasons, this year's power-play success rate has jumped to 22.42 percent. It's the fifth-highest conversion rate since this data was first recorded in 1963-64. The other four years were all between 1978 and 1983 — think stand-up goalies and Gretzky setting up teammates from his office behind the net. And they're not much higher: the all-time record is 22.94 percent in 1982-83.

It's from January. Power plays finished up at 3.07 per game. And yes, power plays are getting more efficient, but that doesn't make up for the fact that A: there are far fewer of them and B: with the tomato cans gone from 4th lines, even strength scoring is way, way up relative to any time in the last 25 years.

To do a true era adjustment between now and e.g. 2003, you have to take out 3v3 goals, 4v4 OT goals, and empty net goals (I already took out my estimation of shootout goals) but I still think the PP is less important than it ever was. Which is fine, because it's still plenty important, but it is absolutely not a power play league, not at all.

 

[Camille the Eel]

The Islanders feed on NHL Network talked about how the Devils bench was irate and screaming in the seconds even before the gl was scored. Something they said seemed to imply the coaches were some of the ones going off about it.

So I think you’re right, they probably wanted to challenge it, but it was too risky to do it heading into OT if we would have lost the challenge.

They thought there could have been a hand pass even before the goalie final interference.

 

[Triumph]

They thought there could have been a hand pass even before the goalie final interference.

Yeah, watching live I can see why they'd think that, but Barzal managed to touch it after he gloved it.

 

[NjDevsRR]

I see a handful of RangerDoggo 2.0 contenders in here.

Go ahead, do it

 

[Whaddagoal]

What happened to LokiDog

 

[njdevils1982]

I’ve never done a GDT in my life, but since last year I’ve been really tempted to do a DD/Ranger Doggo themed GDT. I’m not sure if it would be a good idea for the Rangers of all games. I also forgot about some of my ideas that I had potentially planned for it.

I’m afraid of it bringing bad vibes and never being able to do it again if we lose that game. I’ll be stuck thinking we’ll lose every time I do it.

go for it.... i'll lend you my photoshops 'full mutt over manhattan' and 'pup at penn station'

 

[RememberTheName]

I think we played a solid game overall, but the one major complaint I have through our first four games it that our d-zone defensive structure is horrendous. It looks like no one has any idea where they are supposed to be and it leads to way too many breakdowns.

Schmid last night looked like a game straight out of his first year. Timid, slow movements, seems to lack confidence because he doesn't want to overcommit any which way. Looked like it was mental last night for him. I think he will be able to break out of it, he's just gotta trust himself more when moving laterally that he's not overcommitting.

 

[Devs3cups]

I think that one of the underrated positive aspects to start the year is Luke’s defensive game so far.

Don’t get me wrong, he’s not perfect, but he’s looking better than I thought he would. He’s gonna make some mistakes, but he’s looking pretty steady back there imo while bring some good offense and transition.

 

[Devils731]

I think we played a solid game overall, but the one major complaint I have through our first four games it that our d-zone defensive structure is horrendous. It looks like no one has any idea where they are supposed to be and it leads to way too many breakdowns.

Schmid last night looked like a game straight out of his first year. Timid, slow movements, seems to lack confidence because he doesn't want to overcommit any which way. Looked like it was mental last night for him. I think he will be able to break out of it, he's just gotta trust himself more when moving laterally that he's not overcommitting.

The number of times the Devils had 5 players within 5 feet of the boards on one side of the ice yet only 1 player harassing the puck carrier is a problem. Hopefully more video and playing together will have it happen less often.

If you’re going to swarm the opponents then you need to constantly be applying pressure from multiple angles. It can’t just be guys standing around in a zone applying no pressure, filling no passing lane, and marking nobody. Way too often 2-4 guys on the Devils defense find themselves doing none of the above.

If you’re going to commit to a swarm then all 5 guys have to be on-board and constantly apply that pressure, even if it means you have horrific breakdowns sometimes. The Devils only partially swarm too often and that eliminates your pressure benefit and still leads to about as many horrific breakdowns so you may as well go all-in on applying pressure.

I don’t think the swarm is the right idea for the Devils but if they’re going to do it, they need to do it as well as possible, at least.

 

[glenwo2]

I think that one of the underrated positive aspects to start the year is Luke’s defensive game so far.

Don’t get me wrong, he’s not perfect, but he’s looking better than I thought he would. He’s gonna make some mistakes, but he’s looking pretty steady back there imo while bring some good offense and transition.

I'm just glad he was able to redeem himself after being the cause of one of the Isles goals.