GDT: Your New Jersey Devils (50-21-8, 108 Points, 2nd in Metro) @ Boston Bruins (61-12-5, 127 Points, 1st in Atlantic), 8 PM, ABC/ESPN+

[JimEIV]

Meier changed that to a large extent.

Hughes likes to shoot too.

Mercer is typically not an over passer but I def thought he should have shot it late there instead of trying the cross ice that was intercepted. Easy to say in hindsight, but Boston was taking away those passes all night, and he had a clear look at the net, with multiple Devils down low.


People have been saying this about Boston for forever, but you are right.

I do think they are the model of what we hope to be. IE good for a decades.

And yes, I'm not worked up about last nights game at all.

Mercer doesn't shoot nearly enough.

Mercer is one of 5 guys for this team to have played in every game and he only has 158 shots in 80 games for 7th on the team in total shots.

For comparison Wood has played 6 fewer games and has two more shots than Dawson. But he seems to pick his spots pretty good. I don't think Mercer will ever be a volume shooter but I like to see him up those those totals.

 

[Cheddabombs]

Didn't watch the whole game but like other said, it looks like Blackwood gave them a chance to win or at least get a point. If another goalie lets in that 2nd goal I think it's more likely to be chalked up as unlucky since he was just trying to get back into position after a big bounce on the end boards, but I know he doesn't get the benefit of the doubt much anymore.

The team had chances to tie it up. Not scoring on that 4 minute powerplay is killer. We're not going to win many games just scoring one goal.

But I think yesterday was almost best case scenario, just minus the win. Got Vitek some rest and Blackwood played well enough.

 

[Devils Pride 26]

A loss but one I liked how they played. They were outshot yet weathered the storm. Powerplay is a concern but there were decent looks.

Bratt going to the net hard was super important to see against a physically imposing team. They didn’t get bullied.

Meier hit at the end is exactly what this team needs.

Bahl did some nice things- if you look at what preceded the Marchand cheap shot, Marchand dumped the puck into Bahls’s corner and looked to run him. Bahl A) got to the puck first, and B) threw his hips into Marchand, bouncing him back and boxing him out. Kept possession and began breakout. Pleasantly surprised in what we’ve found in Bahl. Graves replacement

 

[HersheyBob27]

You literally proved my point, Bob. His version of playing well still consists of a back breaking goal which has no business of going in at this level. I never said he was the reason why they lost, I literally said he gave up another awful goal which has been consistent with him even when he is playing “well”.

Very well done as always, Bob.

Not sure why you hate him so much. Try and keep an open mind

 

[longislanddevil]

It looks to me as if Ruff feels better about Bahl’s game than Siegs right now. Bahl has been one of the most pleasant surprises of the season. His vast improvement has been remarkable. He went from being viewed as a fringe bottom pair defenseman to a legit top four option. I absolutely see him as a fixture on this blueline for many years to come.

 

[bigd]

such a typical blackwood game. gets beat on a screened shot (questionable to the extent of redirect)
then falls asleep, and completely overcommits turning into a horrible goal putting us in a 2 goal hole.
then his excellent butterfly technique keeps us in the game against a top team
seen this too many times. ruff put him in to the spot light, and we got the same ole mckenzie. leaving us scratching our heads

He had Pasta's number, he could have had a hat trick!

 

[Sdevils42]

If there’s one takeaway from the game it’s that NJD can absolutely skate w Bos, which I’m pretty sure many here already knew.
BOS came out flying and NJ didn’t look ready tbh. Won’t blame Blackwood for the first, second was a bad one but chalk it up to weathering the early blitz.

Pleased w the effort the rest of the way and the physicality, Bahl on Bergy was great. Loved Meier at the end, still time on the clock and it really sent a message. Marchand was running around at the end, obv w the hit on McLeod (suspension worthy imo) and he popped Mercer from behind at the end.

If there’s one more takeaway, it’s more important than normal to get the lead vs BOS. They lock it down better than any team in the league. Play a hybrid trap/forecheck mid way through the third. Very difficult to break through that. Overall pleased w the game.

 

[NJ07102]

Schmid looked pedestrian the last time he was first sent back down to Utica.

Then he turned it around.

What's your point?

Yeah, well, if he wants to be an NHL playoff goalie he probably shouldn't give weak goals like he did in Utica lately. If Blackwood gave up goals like Schmid did against Prow, Balcers, Rosen lately, he'd get killed on this board.

 

[Bleedred]

At some point in the 2nd period it started to feel like this game might end with a 2-1 score.

And way more after we didn't score on the double minor penalty.

 

[Devs3cups]

Blackwood gave up two stinker goals and then the bruins basically shut us down for the rest of the game. He was absolutely a factor in why we lost. We obviously can’t know for a fact how it would have played out if Vitek was in, but we know he’s the vastly better player. There was zero reason to start the backup against a team that is on the cusp of having the greatest regular season in history. Sitting Haula against his former team was equally mind bending stupid. Basically Ruff signaled that he didn’t really give a shit about trying to win this game, which is bush league uncompetitive garbage.

Exactly. Most can acknowledge he rebounded last night, he did after the goals. But that doesn’t just give him a free pass for allowing 2 clunkers once again and making us go down 2-0. Both things can be true at the same time.

 

[glenwo2]

He shouldn't have started last night and even if he got a shutout I'm not gonna go back on saying he shouldn't have started, but I don't really care anymore.

He said it was a rotation start and during the interview from the bench in the 1st period Emily Kaplan asked him about it and he said something that would indicate they've had this as a scheduled start for him for a while now.

It seems he's played the last 3 Saturday's in a row.

If that is true, then he would've played every Saturday this season (which he hadn't).

More BS talk by Lindy.

He's just making sh-t up as he goes along.

This was more about putting Blackwood out there because he's under contract.

that's all.

Can't wait until this clown is gone.

He's blocking Schmid and others right now.

 

[glenwo2]

Yeah, well, if he wants to be an NHL playoff goalie he probably shouldn't give weak goals like he did in Utica lately. If Blackwood gave up goals like Schmid did against Prow, Balcers, Rosen lately, he'd get killed on this board.

If he did give up goals like that, we wouldn't see him do that because he wouldn't be HERE.

Let's not sit here and pretend that Schmid wasn't very good when he was up with the team, NJ07102.

He was.

Being sent down not once but twice for Blackwood really wears on a young player's confidence.

It's like no matter what that player does, someone LESSER than him got the nod.

That would hit anyone's confidence hard.

 

[Emperoreddy]

End of the night we were simply outplayed. We hung around but we weren't good enough.

Should have been a good learning experience for them, especially on the off chance we see Boston again in the playoffs

 

[glenwo2]

End of the night we were simply outplayed. We hung around but we weren't good enough.

Should have been a good learning experience for them, especially on the off chance we see Boston again in the playoffs

Ignoring Blackwood here, you're right.

This was a very good learning experience.

And ALSO what to expect from the Rags albeit on a far lesser scale when we face them.

This may teach the Devils to start playing with more of an edge than they have been.

 

[NJ07102]

If he did give up goals like that, we wouldn't see him do that because he wouldn't be HERE.

Let's not sit here and pretend that Schmid wasn't very good when he was up with the team, NJ07102.

He was.

Being sent down not once but twice for Blackwood really wears on a young player's confidence.

It's like no matter what that player does, someone LESSER than him got the nod.

That would hit anyone's confidence hard.

It should't wear on his confidence. If it is, he may not be ready. Let's not sit here and pretend young goalies don't get sent down all the time even though they do play well, because it's a numbers game. What he needs to do is play well so they just HAVE to bring him up again.

 

[Bleedred]

If that is true, then he would've played every Saturday this season (which he hadn't).

More BS talk by Lindy.

He's just making sh-t up as he goes along.

This was more about putting Blackwood out there because he's under contract.

that's all.

Can't wait until this clown is gone.

He's blocking Schmid and others right now.

He never said anything about Saturday, that was simply just something I was pointing out that they had given him the Saturday games and seem to wanna play him just once a week, but typically not more than that. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he plays the season finale either, as a lot of teams rest their starting goalie in the season finale to get him ready for the playoffs. Even we did it with Marty a few times back in the day when he was playing a million games a year.

I think we are mostly in agreement. I'm ready for the Blackwood era to be over. We really can't afford to give him his qualifying offer next year or anything close to it, like we did with Miles Wood this year.

He's not gonna be WORTH his qualifying offer, which would be a raise from his current contract, which he's underperformed the entirety of. Or even anything close to his qualifying offer. He's not worth it and we're a cap team now and really can't be paying a goalie like him $3+ million a year. Can we get a better goalie than him for that $3 million? Honestly it's a gamble and you never know what you're gonna get for that price. I'd rather go with Schmid and bring in a vet third string guy (there will be plenty available in UFA) in case Schmid isn't good enough.

Blackwood will probably get a $1.5 million for one year contract from somebody. That's the most I'd be willing to pay him and let him and Schmid battle it out and if he sucks, then he gets waived quickly and Schmid comes up for good. And then there's literally only a couple hundred grand of his cap hit that can't be buried in the minors. I'd rather not even do that, but it's not the end of the world if we do.

I don't care about him no more and hopefully this is the end of him here. I'm over him at this point and he's really not even worth me talking about anymore, unless he makes his way into the on-ice lineup during the playoffs and if it gets to that point then we're in TROUBLE. It means Vitek blew up.

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

If that is true, then he would've played every Saturday this season (which he hadn't).

More BS talk by Lindy.

He's just making sh-t up as he goes along.

This was more about putting Blackwood out there because he's under contract.

that's all.

Can't wait until this clown is gone.

He's blocking Schmid and others right now.

We can run Schmid as a backup next year but he still also has a small sample size at the NHL level. His AHL numbers this year aren't anything great. He does have a better SV% and GAA than Vitek and Blackwood though so I'll give him that. He has been impressive at times and I think he will be at minimum an NHL backup. If Vitek goes down with injury than we are riding alot of pressure on him next year. We have alot of potential players that won't be back next next year so we are going to have a need to for young talent on ELC's to contribute next year. I wouldn't be suprised if Blackwood is retained for one more year just to let Schmid get reps in the AHL and potentially steal his job. He can walk next year or possibly be traded if he doesn't like it.

 

[Bleedred]

It should't wear on his confidence. If it is, he may not be ready. Let's not sit here and pretend young goalies don't get sent down all the time even though they do play well, because it's a numbers game. What he needs to do is play well so they just HAVE to bring him up again.

He played well enough up here. I don't think there was any chance of him sticking once Blackwood got healthy.

The most we may see of him is if the staff and management feels more comfortable starting him in a playoff game if there's trouble with Vitek than they do Blackwood.

He could get a shutout the rest of his AHL games and could have gotten 2 or 3 more here and he almost definitely still gets sent back down to the minors both times.

 

[Bleedred]

We can run Schmid as a backup next year but he still also has a small sample size at the NHL level. His AHL numbers this year aren't anything great. He does have a better SV% and GAA than Vitek and Blackwood though so I'll give him that. He has been impressive at times and I think he will be at minimum an NHL backup. If Vitek goes down with injury than we are riding alot of pressure on him next year. We have alot of potential players that won't be back next next year so we are going to have a need to for young talent on ELC's to contribute next year. I wouldn't be suprised if Blackwood is retained for one more year just to let Schmid get reps in the AHL and potentially steal his job. He can walk next year or possibly be traded if he doesn't like it.

You're right, he has not enough of a sample size.

But lets say he isn't any good next year in the NHL and he posts Blackwood numbers.

Would you rather have those performances at under a million dollars a year? Or would you rather have those performances at over $3 million a year? And then wonder where we have to cut costs elsewhere because we have a pedestrian goalie at $3 million dollars? That's something to think about. We're seeing that with Miles Wood this year and the fact we signed him. And it's not quite as bad though, as Wood was still a good player the last we really saw of him, Blackwood hasn't been close to a good player in 3 years now.

Do you want mediocre/bad goaltending for a million a year? Or do you want mediocre/bad goaltending for $3 million a year? And that's just running with the assumption that Schmid plays poorly next year at the NHL level.

 

[HughesCorporation]

He had Pasta's number, he could have had a hat trick!

i dont deny how well he played . MB has possibly the best butterfly in the league. guy takes away the entire ice portion of the net and that includes the five hole. thats whats so dam frustrating

 

[devilsblood]

Mercer doesn't shoot nearly enough.

Mercer is one of 5 guys for this team to have played in every game and he only has 158 shots in 80 games for 7th on the team in total shots.

For comparison Wood has played 6 fewer games and has two more shots than Dawson. But he seems to pick his spots pretty good. I don't think Mercer will ever be a volume shooter but I like to see him up those those totals.

Wood shoots alot though.

And Mercer doesn’t get much pp toi.

And whether Mercer gets enough shots if we agree he doesn’t its not because of passing too much.

 

[Oneiro]

The Atlantic teams are perfect opponents from a learning perspective. All three of them know how to slow the transition game down and execute quickly once they establish possession - this is what we have to work on. I'm confident in the core group against any other type of squad.

 

[NJ07102]

He played well enough up here. I don't think there was any chance of him sticking once Blackwood got healthy.

The most we may see of him is if the staff and management feels more comfortable starting him in a playoff game if there's trouble with Vitek than they do Blackwood.

He could get a shutout the rest of his AHL games and could have gotten 2 or 3 more here and he almost definitely still gets sent back down to the minors both times.

Yes, totally agree with you. Schmid's time will come, probably even during these playoffs.

 

[Bleedred]

.MB has possibly the best butterfly in the league.

Ummm, what?

 

[My3Sons]

I think we're gonna see him in the playoffs…he's a great goalie, he's really good. He's a nice guy, he's a great competitor…

I agree. Based on last night I think Blackwood is primed and ready for the playoffs. Let Vanacek play the last two so Blackwood is rested and ready.