GDT: Your New Jersey Devils (4-2-0, 8 Pts) @ Ottawa Senators (2-1-0, 4 Pts), 7 PM, MSG

[NjDevsRR]

*quickly goes to read the New testament to see where this happens*

 

[britdevil]

Cotter. Paul Cotter.

 

[Guadana]

It's 3:30 AM and I am on vacation in Italy on the Amalfi Coast right now for 2 weeks. It's finally my first time here (34 years old and have dual USA & Italian citizenship) and i just listened to the game on my Grandmother's balcony of her apartment right next to the ocean (no vacations for Devils hockey haha). It's always good to hear Matt & Chico every once in awhile to get a break from the TV broadcast. It sounded like the Devils cake alive in the 2nd and 3rd but are still not getting enough out of guys like Jack , Mercer , Hamilton etc. Hopefully they get their games going soon but atleast the team has a good record 7 games in and we are getting better goaltending , an awesome penalty kill and some more production/jam from our bottom 6. Things that we lacked last season at large stretches.

Sounds like awesome experience. I hope you are living in the moment.

 

[devilsfan950003]

He's Miles Wood, without the speed, but with a brain.

Or, if we're lucky, a poor man's Coleman. Time will only tell if he's legit or just on a shooting bender. Even if it's the latter, if it lasts until Jack figures his shit out, I'll take it.

Cotter has speed.

 

[Brooklyndevil]

Markstrom was great with help of the goal posts and kept us in the game, especially in the first period where the Devils got pinned in their zone for much of the first period. They were much better in the 2nd and 3rd. They have to fix the problem of getting pinned in their zone for long portions of the game. Other than that a good win after a bad loss to Carolina.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Cotter has speed.

Looks like he’s right there with Miles

He seems quite a bit stronger than Wood though.

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

Two things, enjoy the coast its f***ing amazing, just go pointlessly walking and you'll see amazing stuff. Driving is insane as well. Also, duel citizenship through family??? If so and you did it at all recently let me know, I might start the process soon, just overwhelming.

My mom and all 4 of my grandparents are from Italy so she signed me + my 2 brothers up for the citizenship when we were born. We went walking around last night in Salerno and it was really nice. We are staying here most nights but we will be staying in other parts of the Amalfi Coast as well. Yeah I was planning on renting a car but once my uncle picked me and my mom up from the train station my mind changed pretty fast haha. I'm going to rent a vespa for a few days though for sure. Also you should definitely get the duel citizenship if possible , hopefully it isn't too much of a pain in the ass but even if so give it a shot !

 

[bigd]

We may actually be near the top of the league in save percentage right now.

League average coming into tonight was .896%, which is probably gonna be above .900% by season’s end, if not .902% or .903% like last year. 1995-1996 was the last time it was under .900% or even under .901%.

And I think I calculated after tonight that we’re at a .935% between Markstrom and Allen. That’s gotta be near the top of the league. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s tops in the league right now.

The only thing I worry about is their age. They are both 34 and need to stay healthy for us to keep up this pace for the season. hopefully a steady rotation keeps them healthy.

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

Umm... in Italy listening to hockey... Name checks ouout.

I originally wanted to go to Prague for 3 days before Italy to see the Devils play but I couldn't get the plans worked out in time. I also wanted to stop in Switzerland before this trip to see a game as well but hopefully next year I'll make it happen and try to do a Northern Italy trip as well.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Just got to watch the full highlights. That split save by Markstrom in the 3rd was awesome.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Just got to watch the full highlights. That split save by Markstrom in the 3rd was awesome.

He pretty much goalied OTT. We really didn't deserve to be in that game.

 

[MartyOwns]

i won't be able to watch games for a couple of months still, so pardon my ignorance. what's up with all the testicle talk?

 

[bigd]

He pretty much goalied OTT. We really didn't deserve to be in that game.

The 4 or 5 off the pipe helped!

 

[Lou is God]

He pretty much goalied OTT. We really didn't deserve to be in that game.

I thought we played pretty well especially starting the second period, looked like we came out with a purpose.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

I thought we played pretty well especially starting the second period, looked like we came out with a purpose.

The third we locked it down, but I also saw a lot of last year's Devils in OTT. They looked demoralized. Like they gave up.

 

[Devils731]

Just my 2 cents, I didn’t think the Devils played particularly well but I didn’t think they were awful either.

It’s definitely weird that the Devils dump so often now. That is probably good in the long run for the Devils to get better at the dump and chase game but in the long run they have to skate it over the offensive blue line and maintain control more often.

It seems like the forecheck may need to be tweaked as well, the Devils are committing guys to it but they haven’t caused many turnovers from that commitment.

 

[Cheddabombs]

i won't be able to watch games for a couple of months still, so pardon my ignorance. what's up with all the testicle talk?

A couple of months!? We're in prime testicle-talk season, that just won't do.

 

[NJDfan86]

Just my 2 cents, I didn’t think the Devils played particularly well but I didn’t think they were awful either.

It’s definitely weird that the Devils dump so often now. That is probably good in the long run for the Devils to get better at the dump and chase game but in the long run they have to skate it over the offensive blue line and maintain control more often.

It seems like the forecheck may need to be tweaked as well, the Devils are committing guys to it but they haven’t caused many turnovers from that commitment.

Hopefully as they get more reps in Keefe's system our players will be able to generate more off the rush. Not having the one man controlled exit machine that is Luke Hughes also doesn't help.

 

[Devils731]

Hopefully as they get more reps in Keefe's system our players will be able to generate more off the rush. Not having the one man controlled exit machine that is Luke Hughes also doesn't help.

Dawson Mercer doing that long wheel in the 3rd period and getting a great end to end rush makes me think the Devils are a little too compact and predictable right now. When a guy did something off script the other team was all out of whack in defending it.

I think the Devils needed to get more predictable in a lot ways in the offseason so hopefully this is all good learning on their way to loosening up a little later.

 

[Better Call Sal]

The focus on this board is often about the ugly pixels in the full picture. Especially in this case, where I'd argue the picture is in the process of being put together.

October hockey tends to be challenging in a lot of ways. In our case in particular, the returning team members are trying to eliminate the bad habits from the previous coach while learning a completely new approach. It's not something that happens overnight, and it will lead to some disjointed moments through the first stretch of the season. The hope is that they continue to put it together while achieving the desired results. It may not be perfect play, but bank the points while you can and continue to learn from what break downs took place.

I feel as though the team is showing a much higher level of complete, and a greater sense of how they can achieve success in a 60 minute game rather than in the immediate moment.

I can't ask for much more than 5-2 in the first 7 games. People talk about inferior opponents, but we lost plenty of games last year to opponents everyone thought we should beat. The mentality that the team is playing with currently is one that they can continue to build upon in the months ahead.

 

[Bcap88]

At times they look disconnected but at times they look like a well oiled machine

I think that has to do with more of learning the system and new players and where they are going to be on the ice. This will sort itself out, you are seeing it with some of the top players like Jack, Dougie etc

Ironically timo looks super comfortable as compared to ruff system

 

[MachoDiablo]

The focus on this board is often about the ugly pixels in the full picture. Especially in this case, where I'd argue the picture is in the process of being put together.

October hockey tends to be challenging in a lot of ways. In our case in particular, the returning team members are trying to eliminate the bad habits from the previous coach while learning a completely new approach. It's not something that happens overnight, and it will lead to some disjointed moments through the first stretch of the season. The hope is that they continue to put it together while achieving the desired results. It may not be perfect play, but bank the points while you can and continue to learn from what break downs took place.

I feel as though the team is showing a much higher level of complete, and a greater sense of how they can achieve success in a 60 minute game rather than in the immediate moment.

I can't ask for much more than 5-2 in the first 7 games. People talk about inferior opponents, but we lost plenty of games last year to opponents everyone thought we should beat. The mentality that the team is playing with currently is one that they can continue to build upon in the months ahead.

Beat me to it; new coach, new players in some key spots, crowded early schedule, things aren't going to gel into a fully fine-tuned machine immediately, and that's ok; they've had depth step up to win some games so far, the goaltending has done its job by and large, and some of the bigger names are having some better production in the last week.

I can so easily recall buying a cheap lower level ticket last year to watch them beat San Jose, getting all excited because I thought they were on their way to fixing their issues and getting back into a playoff spot...and then they played like trash and lost. Similar to going to a game with some friends against Philly; another team they absolutely should've beaten, and they just seemed completely lost.

I'd love to see them perform stronger against the top teams, but the important thing right now is to stock up on points early and take no opponent for granted. Besides, the two really good teams they've faced so far are Toronto and Carolina; given the stuff above about the new coach/systems/players and the fact Carolina could've have been more well-rested before the game the other night, I can deal with those losses for now.

 

[MasterofGrond]

The team is not locked in, but I can see flashes, even a couple whole periods, of a really good team. A cup contending team.

And I’m sure we’ll see more and more of it as the season progresses and we get 2/3 of our top 3 defensemen back on the ice.

In the meantime, not every single mistake ends up in the back of the net (along with 2 more softies) and that’s so f***ing nice for a change.

 

[Better Call Sal]

I would attend games last year preparing to witness several absolute clusterf*** plays, but that we might have a chance to make it out with a win if we got lucky with our chances. My asshole would clench on virtually every shot against.

I feel like I'm watching hockey again.

 

[Aurinko]

Missed this actually quite important game.

I feel like this was big win, since the Senators like Utah had a strong vibing start. Haula has had a great start to the season as well, even though the goal is bit of a ping pong one.