We had few great moments in the 2nd and 3rd, but Sens also had bunch of strong moments. Pretty even and hard fought game. I think they had like 4+ posts and Markstrom made few big high danger saves. With some more puck luck who knows how this would've ended up. At least offensively the Sens look like a good team this year, so good job Marky and the defence for keeping them off the board.
I thought Nemec looked great the whole game and I though he did good against the Canes, especially considering how much topline pressure he faced. So I don't get the Nemec hate at all. I think he's been way better than Casey these last few games, though he's not scoring like he is. I do really love Casey too, but if we have to choose between these two who to sent down, it should be Casey.
Even without the goal I think Bastian has been quite good this season. He was terrible last year, so a welcome bounce back. Dawson has also been good, even though he probably won't end up being that ppg Parise type player we hoped. Lazar has been quiet which in his role is not bad, not much mistakes, though I would like to see some more energy and memorable hits and grinding plays.
Haula's kinda look bad, but somehow scored a lot. Palat has been ass, I can't believe we are paying him 6m. Some finnish media guys are still talking about him like it's 2020, I don't think they watch much Devils games. Tatar had a decent start but has started to dip back into last season's form, I don't think this demotion will help, but whatever makes the team win games. Timo however has been great all season, and I've especially been surprised how strong his defensive game has been. Nico has been one our best players, but whose surprised, when he's healthy he's top 2way players in this league. Bratt and Jack haven't played best to their abilities just yet, but I'm not worried. It's actually nice to see we can win games without their 3+points/game performances. Last year they both had incredible starts and we all know how that ended up.
Jeez this became a long rambling post. But anyway early season it's harder to tell which teams have improved, so lets just be glad they're racking up some points while still getting used to a new coach & system while also missing two key defencemen. As long as the team stays in a playoff spot and keeps getting better as the season progresses we're all good.
