GDT: Your New Jersey Devils (21-7-2) vs. Florida Panthers (14-13-4), 7:30 PM, MSG

[NJDevs26]

Good to know that that message was sent by the coaches.

It would have been nice if Lindy, or Brendan Smith had sent that message as this shit was happening. In many ways this was the most annoying loss somehow of the five because of this shit, and three of the other four losses were to our biggest rivals. Florida kept trying to fire us up for crissakes, and we wouldn't take the bait, we stayed flatline until it was far too late.

 

[Devils090]

We’re a soft team, tonight proves it

But according to some having guys who can scrap is totalllyyy useless and not a factor

 

[Emperoreddy]

It would have been nice if Lindy, or Brendan Smith had sent that message as this shit was happening. In many ways this was the most annoying loss somehow of the five because of this shit, and three of the other four losses were to our biggest rivals. Florida kept trying to fire us up for crissakes, and we wouldn't take the bait, we stayed flatline until it was far too late.

Thats what I don't get. If he felt it was a problem why didn't he address it during the game?

They just let it keep happening.

 

[Camille the Eel]

Agree to disagree. They've played good in most of the games in this bad streak, except for the Isles game, which was gross.

You call tonight playing “good?” I felt we were sluggish and off, disorganized, losing puck battles and without any jump in our skating until we got down 2 zip. Having a hard time frequently getting out of our own way. (I am prepared to write some of it off as the ice being in incredibly poor condition. But I felt we were chasing the game).

We did have some life after we scored - that is until the back breaker at the end of the period. But they always seemed the more dangerous team to me, just laying back after they got the multi goal lead.

We’ve played some good and okay games during this losing streak but this in my view anyway wasn’t one of them.

 

[Emperoreddy]

You call tonight playing “good?” I felt we were sluggish and off, disorganized, losing puck battles and without any jump in our skating until we got down 2 zip. Having a hard time frequently getting out of our own way. (I am prepared to write some of it off as the ice being in incredibly poor condition. But I felt we were chasing the game).

We did have some life after we scored - that is until the back breaker at the end of the period. But they always seemed the more dangerous team to me, just laying back after they got the multi goal lead.

We’ve played some good and okay games during this losing streak but this in my view anyway wasn’t one of them.

This felt like they left it all on the ice against Philly, lost, and now they are mentally defeated.

 

[jkrdevil]

My condolences

I’d rather sit and watch the game next to Blackwood in the penalty box than listen to that f***in f*** Goldstein.

Cage Helmet lives close enough to the bottom of the state that they’re his local team and he told me he watched the shit on mute.

I regret it. I normally don’t get Bally Sports, so I usually can’t watch the Panthers despite living here. I broke down and got the 7 day free trial for their direct to consumer service rather than try to find a sports bar to put it on at the same time as the Dolphins game.

They were crying about the refs the whole game.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Bastian missing from this lineup hurts pretty bad. He was a dude who could throw his weight around while not being a complete black hole in every other aspect of the game.

 

[NJDevs26]

This felt like they left it all on the ice against Philly, lost, and now they are mentally defeated.

Nah they actually started well the first ten minutes tonight...it's when they didn't score then, then gave it up within an eyeblink on the PP. THAT's when they snapped and flatlined.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Bastian missing from this lineup hurts pretty bad. He was a dude who could throw his weight around while not being a complete black hole in every other aspect of the game.

They play so timid now when things get rough.

This wasn't an issue last month. They skated down your throats no matter what.

 

[Devs3cups]

You call tonight playing “good?” I felt we were sluggish and off, disorganized, losing puck battles and without any jump in our skating until we got down 2 zip. Having a hard time frequently getting out of our own way. (I am prepared to write some of it off as the ice being in incredibly poor condition. But I felt we were chasing the game).

We did have some life after we scored - that is until the back breaker at the end of the period. But they always seemed the more dangerous team to me, just laying back after they got the multi goal lead.

We’ve played some good and okay games during this losing streak but this in my view anyway wasn’t one of them.

I mean, I thought we were fine to good. Definitely played good enough to at least get a point and even win. It's subjective though, some thing we were garbage, I disagree. You're not gonna dominated every game, but we played well enough and had chances and the underlying numbers support my eye test on this one.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

We’re a soft team, tonight proves it

But according to some having guys who can scrap is totalllyyy useless and not a factor

yeah they definitely lost because they dont have "guys who can scrap"

lol do you guys listen to yourselves?

 

[jkrdevil]

They play so timid now when things get rough.

This wasn't an issue last month. They skated down your throats no matter what.

I do think the guys in the lineup are banged up. The Christas break should help. We need to get there though. An 0-3 week could put see them fall to a WC position already.

 

[guitarguyvic]

There hasn't been one point during this stretch where it felt like it was inevitable they would come back and win.

Hasn't felt like that since the Nashville game. Every third period these two weeks have felt pointless.

It seems like you keep shifting the goal posts. So now we're expecting them to mount come-from-behind wins for proof that they are a good team? My friend, even good teams do not come back from a deficit in the third period most of the time, much less in the midst of a offensive slump (last two weeks).

I also noticed that now all of a sudden you're describing the teams they've lost to as "bad". Umm, with the exception of Philly every single one of the last 6 losses have been to teams either in a playoff position or on the bubble.

The team has not played poorly, unless your definition of it is "they're playing worse than when they were steamrolling teams at an unsustainable pace".

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

The season is young but the kind of slump Bratt is in definitely wont encourage Fitz to back up the money trucks, so I dont anticipate the contract to get worked out in January like some of us were hoping. I think its gonna be a dogfight and players usually dont end up lasting multiple of those.

Well, I guess then there is one silver lining. Seems like the perfect spot in the lineup to slot Palat when he returns.

 

[Emperoreddy]

I do think the guys in the lineup are banged up. The Christas break should help. We need to get there though. An 0-3 week could put see them fall to a WC position already.

It's why i am so annoyed with this 5 game streak. They backed themselves into a corner where they really need to be getting 3 out of 6 points this week, but more likely 4 out of 6 and have to do it against Carolina and Boston with a game against Florida sandwiched in there who now wants to head hunt our captain.

If they took care of business against the lesser teams they would have wiggle room to struggle these next two weeks.

 

[Satans Hockey]

So why didn't Lindy tell them to do something about it?

 

[NjDevsRR]

It would have been nice if Lindy, or Brendan Smith had sent that message as this shit was happening. In many ways this was the most annoying loss somehow of the five because of this shit, and three of the other four losses were to our biggest rivals. Florida kept trying to fire us up for crissakes, and we wouldn't take the bait, we stayed flatline until it was far too late.

So why didn't Lindy tell them to do something about it?

 

[Emperoreddy]

I would feel a lot better if they were doing the Cali trip next week. Long road trip against 3 bad teams could be a good slump buster.

We got an absolute buzzsaw instead. It's the last thing a young slumping team needs right now.

I think they have to find a way to beat Carolina or they won't have the confidence to have a chance against Boston and then this losing streak gets extremely ugly

 

[jkrdevil]

It's why i am so annoyed with this 5 game streak. They backed themselves into a corner where they really need to be getting 3 out of 6 points this week, but more likely 4 out of 6 and have to do it against Carolina and Boston with a game against Florida sandwiched in there who now wants to head hunt our captain.

If they took care of business against the lesser teams they would have wiggle room to struggle these next two weeks.

Yep. Although really getting the two points vs. Carolina is the most important thing.

It is losing division games that are annoying. They basically had a chance to finish the Rangers in terms of a race with them and didn’t. All of a sudden they are 5 points back and play Chicago tomorrow night.

This has a very Jan./Feb. 2018 vibe to it.

 

[NJDevs26]

Yep. Although really getting the two points vs. Carolina is the most important thing.

It is losing division games that are annoying. They basically had a chance to finish the Rangers in terms of a race with them and didn’t. All of a sudden they are 5 points back and play Chicago tomorrow night.

This has a very Jan./Feb. 2018 vibe to it.

The sad part is they somehow managed to annoy me hella more with this shitshow than they did by losing to ALL THREE of their biggest rivals in a week's time.

My PTSD is more distant than that...it's a little like Lemaire's final full season here, where we were 31-9-1 in the first half then flatlined in the second half and laid down in the playoffs against the Flyers. Funny thing about that season is we were 0-2 then too, then rolled for a while.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Yep. Although really getting the two points vs. Carolina is the most important thing.

It is losing division games that are annoying. They basically had a chance to finish the Rangers in terms of a race with them and didn’t. All of a sudden they are 5 points back and play Chicago tomorrow night.

This has a very Jan./Feb. 2018 vibe to it.

The lack of OTLs is also annoying. It's hard to catch up in this league because of 3 point games, but that only matters if you actually get games to OT. Few extra OTLs would have left them with more wiggle room as well.

Regulation loses are absolutely killer.

I don't like calling December games "must win", but they really need to find a way Tuesday to reset the tone.

 

[NjDevsRR]

The lack of OTLs is also annoying. It's hard to catch up in this league because of 3 point games, but that only matters if you actually get games to OT. Few extra OTLs would have left them with more wiggle room as well.

Regulation loses are absolutely killer.

I don't like calling December games "must win", but they really need to find a way Tuesday to reset the tone.

Vitek has a .915 sv % against Carolina in 3 games. Let’s hope his good play against them continues.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Vitek has a .915 sv % against Carolina in 3 games. Let’s hope his good play against them continues.

He needs a big bounce back game. His play has dipped. Hasn't been bad, but we need better right now

 

[BostonDevil]

How many Ls does it take before it's concerning. 5 apparently isn't enough. Will 6 and 7 next week make people concerned?

No no no! We don’t get it. There’s always a logical explanation as to why every loss is due to something beyond the control of a pretty talented NHL team and they somehow have the universe working against them.

Everything is always fine. The next loss will bring a fresh excuse.

Again, I’m not saying that the season is over or this is the worst team in the league or any of that other BS. They could definitely go on another tear.

This stretch of games is a problem. They got blown up by an Islanders team that they should skate into the ground. Dropped a 2 goal lead to the Rangers. Couldn’t score against Wedgewood and Philly at home. Didn’t show up tonight.

One or two of those things happening in the last week is fine. All 5? Nope.

Is it a bump in the road or a sink hole to the center of the earth? I don’t know, but I’m definitely getting ascared

 

[guitarguyvic]

Listen, I totally get that people are disappointed with what we are seeing right now because it may in fact be a sign that this team was not the juggernaut they appeared to be for 20+ games. As a fan of a team coming off of a decade of failure, the high of seeing the team looking like they've leapfrogged into a legit division leader in one offseason is tremendous. It's hard to not just ride the excitement of feeling that we were finally getting the payoff in spades for all our suffering. And now, cracks are showing and it turns out they no, this isn't a 130 point team that's gonna steamroll the rest of the league and avoid losing streaks...

...but it's a pretty big leap from that realization all the way to "this team isn't any better than previous years and not only are they not capable of winning any upcoming games against good teams, they're going to be out of the playoffs by February".

Could they completely crumble that way? Yeah they COULD. When you have a young inexperienced group trying to battle through a tough patch, playing more experienced teams who have now made strategic adjustments and often hold a distinct physicality advantage, with the prospect of management possibly giving Blackwood too much rope going forward, and the always present threat of additional injuries taking key players out of the lineup...yeah anything is plausible.

But to suggest that a five game losing streak comprising of close losses against playoff caliber teams, following 25 games where the team was setting records for wins and dominating opponents, is evidence that a collapse WILL happen? That's just a completely unreasonable, hysterical take.