GDT: Your New Jersey Devils (33-23-6, 72 Pts) @ Dallas Stars (39-19-2, 80 Pts), 8 PM, ESPN+/Hulu

[Dylan9z9]

Had it been a 3-1 loss, I would have just said they had a good effort but the self-inflicted wounds got to them. Had we fallen in OT, I would have been thrilled because of the comeback effort.

The way this unfolded in the end is just so f***ing brutal. But they have to be able to take the positives that they had tonight against one of the best teams in the league. You can't afford to dwell on how this went down. You have to move forward.

another win for the great Casey DeSmith .... nauseating

 

[NjDevsRR]

another win for the great Casey DeSmith .... nauseating

Hes having a fine season

 

[Satans Hockey]

Damn

We actually have the 20th remaining strength of schedule.

Winnipeg and Minnesota both twice and once against Edmonton being the toughest.

We still got one against the Hawks, shitty Philly, the Islanders and two against both the shitty post-deadline Bruins and Pens.

Almost all of those should be wins if the team is really serious. We shouldn’t need Jack Hughes to win most of those games.

We lost to Philly 2 out of 3 times with a much better lineup than we currently have so who knows.

 

[Dylan9z9]

View attachment 986964Hes having a fine season

 

[Bleedred]

We lost to Philly 2 out of 3 times with a much better lineup than we currently have so who knows.

I do think we were missing Nico for two of them and went 1-1-0 in those two. And I don’t think Markstrom has played any games against them this year. It was Allen all 3 times.

But yeah, we seem to be prone to a dud against those bad teams, but they’re also the only teams we seem to beat these days. I think Tampa was the last playoff team we beat back in the second week of January. And on a 4 on 3 PP goal in OT.

 

[HersheyBob27]

Haula should not have been on ice at end of game. Period

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Is there a worse way to lose a game? You almost rather just be blow out than lose like that...

 

[SJinNewJersey]

I’ve been saying that for 1.5 months (not the Rangers so much until recently ) and somehow the Jackets still haven’t passed us.

They’re riding a PDO shooting bender and are probably the second highest shooting percentage in the league behind the Capitals last I looked.

I think the Rangers and Jackets are both near the top in toughest remaining strength of schedule. We might be around middle of the league after the Winnipeg game.

Some of our toughest remaining opponents were actually on this trip and the first game back from this trip.

However, that doesn’t mean it’ll be easy. We had a soft schedule for a very long stretch between middle of January right through to the break and I’m pretty sure we went 500 in that stretch. And Vegas were the only particularly good team we played in like an 8 or 9 game stretch at point, with Ottawa I think being the only other team even in a playoff spot at the time of the 8-9 teams we played in that stretch. We also played Philly 3 times in like 1.5 weeks and managed to only go 1-2-0 against them.

We have fallen from 7th to 20th as we play good team after good team. Of course, on Friday we have another good team. Wings, Jackets and Rags all in top 4.

 

[Clam Jensen]

5 seconds away from a desperately needed point, el oh elllll. Cursed year.

 

[Louskoolaid89]

This team is still tied for 2nd with fewest goals allowed and is 12th overall in the league with a +31 Goal differential. A slight tweaking by Friday could really get things going in the right direction. Certainly better off with Keefe overall Lindy's dumpster fire run and gun pond hockey. Now just imagine if Jack would not hold onto the puck so much and created plays so bums like Palat can score goals. You know pucks in deep and take the body Jack. Keep it simple predictable and don't ever turn a puck over again!

 

[guitarguyvic]

5 seconds away from a desperately needed point, el oh elllll. Cursed year.

Every year is “cursed”. Four out of five seasons now where this team can’t stay healthy and be good at goaltending+defene+offense simultaneously for more than a few weeks at a time.

 

[Clam Jensen]

Every year is “cursed”. Four out of five seasons now where this team can’t stay healthy and be good at goaltending+defene+offense simultaneously for more than a few weeks at a time.

Nah this one feels different. The super hot start followed by treading water followed by devastating injuries.

Edit: PLUS the off season moves to make them a more playoff ready team.

 

[NJDevs26]

Is there a worse way to lose a game? You almost rather just be blow out than lose like that...

That was a Carolina playoff loss

 

[guitarguyvic]

Nah this one feels different. The super hot start followed by treading water followed by devastating injuries.

Edit: PLUS the off season moves to make them a more playoff ready team.

Not as hot of a start last year, but it was essentially this same exact pattern. And people were calling the team cursed last year too. And they were calling the team cursed in the years before 2022 because of the goaltending and injuries. This is a familiar theme by now.

 

[Cheddabombs]

Went to bed at 3-1, saw the final score and knew in my heart that the team came back to tie it only to lose in regulation. But only a few seconds left? That's so pathetic. This team sucks

 

[Clam Jensen]

Not as hot of a start last year, but it was essentially this same exact pattern. And people were calling the team cursed last year too. And they were calling the team cursed in the years before 2022 because of the goaltending and injuries. This is a familiar theme by now.

19-14-2 at the turn of the year last year and 24-13-3 this year while playing suffocating D and not playing Lindy’s wild system.

 

[NJDevs26]

Honestly our hot starts in previous years were ten games long, this was almost the entire first half. This would have been like if 2022-23 crash-landed after the long winning streak. Or...2009-10. Last year everyone who wasn't a team spokesman knew the first twenty or so games was a house of cards with an unusually productive PP (that disappeared the moment Dougie got hurt) and Jack heroics, which stopped when he got moody then injured.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

*whispers*

as disappointing and frustrating as that loss was, I really liked the way they played after about the first 10 minutes. Dallas had 30 CF at 5 on 5 for the entire game. and 5 total HDCF (all in the 1st period).

PS brutal icing call at the end. I feel like we always get f***ed on those.

 

[guitarguyvic]

*whispers*

as disappointing and frustrating as that loss was, I really liked the way they played after about the first 10 minutes. Dallas had 30 CF at 5 on 5 for the entire game. and 5 total HDCF (all in the 1st period).

PS brutal icing call at the end. I feel like we always get f***ed on those.

I actually do like how they played too. Unfortunately, a couple of players engaged in one of the most absolutely braindead and lazy sequences of hockey I’ve ever seen with less than a minute to go in the most important moment of the season thus far…and given the state of this team that could be enough to have broken them for good this year.

 

[Mgd31]

*whispers*

as disappointing and frustrating as that loss was, I really liked the way they played after about the first 10 minutes. Dallas had 30 CF at 5 on 5 for the entire game. and 5 total HDCF (all in the 1st period).

PS brutal icing call at the end. I feel like we always get f***ed on those.

Probably the best game they played since December given the circumstances. They played well against Dallas a couple weeks ago too. Awful they came up empty both times.

 

[Billdo]

They easily could've packed it in after Hintz scored so it was nice to see them battle back. Stinks they got hosed on a questionable call, could've used that point for sure.

 

[MartyOwns]

i'm not sure if it's been discussed /s but holy shit is haula terrible. he shouldn't be out there at all, i'd much rather have an ahl call up.

 

[Mgd31]

i'm not sure if it's been discussed /s but holy shit is haula terrible. he shouldn't be out there at all, i'd much rather have an ahl call up.

Yea he is no longer an NHL player anymore. His downfall from last year and October has been incredible.

I thought he could at least be a 4th line center on a playoff team, but no chance in this current form.

 

[Call Me Al]

*whispers*

as disappointing and frustrating as that loss was, I really liked the way they played after about the first 10 minutes. Dallas had 30 CF at 5 on 5 for the entire game. and 5 total HDCF (all in the 1st period).

PS brutal icing call at the end. I feel like we always get f***ed on those.

they played really well, best they’ve looked in a while. the question is whether or not this roster, possibly now without dougie, is enough to beat out the other teams that are competing for the same playoff spot. it’s going to be tough.

and that loss could honestly just be a morale crusher, really just a devastating end to a game where they battled as hard as they could and still came out with nothing.

 

[Devs3cups]