GDT: Your New Jersey Devils (7-5-1, 15 Pts, 4th in Metropolitan) vs. Winnipeg Jets (7-5-2, 16 Pts, 3rd in Central), 8 PM, MSGSN

[glenwo2]

If the Defense played Well as Lindy claims, then the onus falls on guess who? The Goaltenders.

Personally, I think his Defensive structure / system sucks as well as the Goaltenders not playing well.

 

[devilsblood]

Sorta but at the same time that's on the coaching staff, why are you running the same system if you see your goalies having issues 10+ games into the year? Adjustments are what differentiate the best coaches from average ones. It's also not a shock why Lindy has hopped around from team to team in regards to being a HC. This has been his MO since Buffalo, it's his system or the highway.

Why is the system to blame for Sieg's blowing a tire and Bahl flubbing the puck?

 

[Bleedred]

If you think the recent struggles are because of goalies, you aren't watching.

Some of it is.

Vitek sunk us in the last Washington game (Akira and Vitek both sunk us the first Washington game) and we couldn’t get a third goal because the team played so horribly after the two stinkers on Vitek until the 3rd period.

Some of you are too quick to defend goalies.

This is why goalies are overrated. There’s a chant for Grubauer in Seattle, when he’s been an overpaid albatross that has done more bad than good there.

People always tout the most average of goalies.

 

[devilsblood]

Despite Schmid being bad tonight, my issue isn't even with him. You can't blame a 23 year old for not carrying a contender all season.

The bigger issue is with Vanecek and the goaltending in general. Akira should be rolling nightly in Utica and the Devils should have a reliable 1A in the NHL.

It's hard to critique Fitz too much since we don't know what the asking prices were over the summer, but not addressing goaltending is a massive achilles heel for this team. It's a problem that won't be going away regardless of how the defensive zone structuring changes.

Thoughts about a goalie with a bad save % and good HD save %?

 

[guitarguyvic]

I am soooo f***ing sick of these xG stats and the Baghdad Bob routine its citers pull.

Funny how I'm watching the game live, score is 0-0 second period. I already watched this team sleep walk through the first period, it was fairly low event for both teams but Winnipeg had at least two odd man rushes I recall, both teams had maybe one other good scoring chance each. But now in real time I can see the defense breaking down. Unable to control the puck in their own zone. Unable to get a clean breakout pass or clear the zone. Winnipeg not getting an avalanche of chances but still clearly controlling the play. Extended shifts in their own zone. I can sense the major breakdown and GA coming. They had already been getting outplayed for the whole period to that point. And then the obvious GA happens.

But then someone is gonna come on here and cite a clearly flawed statistic that flies in the face of the observations, and claim that my perception of what I was looking at was colored by bad goaltending, even though the bad play was obvious before a GA was even scored? GTFOH

This is another reason this is feeling like 21-22. Same f***ing shit. I'm watching garbage hockey in real time, but the xG obsessed have to add insult to injury telling me it's not piss it's actually rain.

And the same thing with the injury excuse. Let's just ignore how the top teams in this league routinely tread water or sometimes don't even take a major step back when they get big injuries, which is because they have real depth and a real f***ing system. If this team is this bad because our two centers our out, the only thing it tells me is that we don't have the quality depth or the system of a true contender.

I'm pretty f***ing pissed with how this season has played out so far. I said it even when Jack was still in the lineup that they are playing like shit and just simply out-scoring/out-talenting their major problems but that's not sustainable. Jack coming back will obviously make them better, but these are major f***ing problems we are witnessing that will prevent them from being a consistent winner if it doesn't do a major 360. The really bad sign is that there hasn't been one f***ing ounce of improvement from game one to game fourteen. That is a huge red flag.

 

[glenwo2]

Why is the system to blame for Sieg's blowing a tire and Bahl flubbing the puck?

Because I said so.

 

[devilsblood]

And Schmid was not bad tonight. I get you are letting the stats dictate your opinion away from the obvious, but he was not bad tonight.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Why is the system to blame for Sieg's blowing a tire and Bahl flubbing the puck?

I never blamed him for the 4th and 5th goals, even above I said those were on the players when someone mentioned the goaltending being 100% the issue. But it's been a proven thing in his coaching record that teams get worse defensively and he gets worse results from goalies as he goes along. There's also next to no reason why we should be playing high event hockey without our 2C's which also falls on Lindy.

 

[Unknown Caller]

Why is the system to blame for Sieg's blowing a tire and Bahl flubbing the puck?

Every team has breakdowns like this nightly. Average goalies make saves on a large number of the breakdowns. They can't all wind up in the back of your net.

It's a fast game. Guys are going to blow tires, give the puck away, blow coverages on occasion, etc.

The goalie is on the ice for a reason.

 

[forceten]

Should have drafted Askarov #7 in 2020. We knew then we needed a goalie and haven’t made a credible goalie pick. All projects and reaches

 

[NjDevsRR]

Y’all chomping at each other when its a little bit of everything

System isn’t good enough

D play isn’t tight enough

Transition isn’t good enough

Goaltending isn’t good enough

Offense isn’t producing good enough

 

[devilsblood]

I never blamed him for the 4th and 5th goals, even above I said those were on the players when someone mentioned the goaltending being 100% the issue. But it's been a proven thing in his coaching record that teams get worse defensively and he gets worse results from goalies as he goes along. There's also next to no reason why we should be playing high event hockey without our 2C's which also falls on Lindy.

Well the back door tap in can't be on him either.

Y’all chomping at each other when its a little bit of everything

System isn’t good enough

D play isn’t tight enough

Transition isn’t good enough

Goaltending isn’t good enough

Offense isn’t producing good enough

Goal tending has not been good this year. But it was not at all the issue tonight.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Well the back door tap in can't be on him either.


Goal tending has not been good this year. But it was not at all the issue tonight.

That Luke-Dougie pairing was bound to be bad defensively, not sure why the first attempt at it was on the road where we got last change.

 

[devilsblood]

Every team has breakdowns like this nightly. Average goalies make saves on a large number of the breakdowns. They can't all wind up in the back of your net.

It's a fast game. Guys are going to blow tires, give the puck away, blow coverages on occasion, etc.

The goalie is on the ice for a reason.

I'm not sure "on occasion" is accurate for us. I think "often" is a better fit.

 

[Cheddabombs]

Y’all chomping at each other when its a little bit of everything

System isn’t good enough

D play isn’t tight enough

Transition isn’t good enough

Goaltending isn’t good enough

Offense isn’t producing good enough

You get it, my friend. I'm so tired of this all or nothing approach to arguments when the whole team needs to be better.

 

[NJDevs26]

Even if you want to blame goaltending for say, two goals tonight, that still leaves four for the rest of the team, and that’s too many to win a game without the big two.

 

[Bleedred]

If anything, I think the current stretch is really proving to Fitz that not only can’t this goaltending win a championship, but it can’t win games 3-2. Never mind this stretch, we’ve hardly won this season without giving up 3 goals of our own.

I definitely think depending on what happens the rest of the year he’ll do whatever he can to bring someone in. I won’t be convinced Saros will re-up in Nashville until he does. I know he’s been poor to start the year, but what goalies start do you think is more unsustainable? Saros or Vanecek?

I think next year’s tandem will be someone good and Schmid.

Vitek is done here after this year, barring a huge turnaround and finishing the season with similar numbers to last year.

They won’t give him as many strikes as Blackwood. They gave Blackwood three strikes, Vitek probably gets two and he’s already on one with last playoffs, despite a fine regular season. He’ll either be moved in return for a goalie upgrade or he’ll be dumped to one of the perennial dumping ground/rebuilding teams, even if we have to throw a sweetener. He was never supposed to be the guy. Merely just an insurance policy for Blackwood.

I’m not sure how they feel about Akira yet. I don’t think they’re as high on him as they were Blackwood not too many years ago, but I think this year will answer more questions about him for everybody.

 

[devilsblood]

Even if you want to blame goaltending for say, two goals tonight, that still leaves four for the rest of the team, and that’s too many to win a game without the big two.

Excellent point, we should be playing a cleaner game with those guys out. Tonight can not be described as clean.

 

[TonySoprano]

This team is sinking like a stone.

No leadership, Ruff is the modern day Uncle June. Slow and can't adapt to ANY changes. It might be too late if Carolina, NYR, Pitt and Washington keep winning.

 

[NJDevs26]

You get it, my friend. I'm so tired of this all or nothing approach to arguments when the whole team needs to be better.

Plus one guy is talking like we don’t blame goaltending, frigging goaltending is ALL that gets talked about daily here (well that and coaching)! Everyone else are the ones getting the pass when this team just has not been anywhere near as good as last year, pre and post injury issues.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Yeah, this team has to play more defensively with their top centers out. Play like the good version of the f***ing Islanders in recent years, who cares? It's just pounded into this team's mentality to push at every damn chance they get, they play like a roller hockey team instead of an NHL team.

 

[devilsblood]

If anything, I think the current stretch is really proving to Fitz that not only can’t this goaltending win a championship, but it can’t win games 3-2.

I definitely think depending on what happens the rest of the year he’ll do whatever he can to bring someone in. I won’t be convinced Saros will re-up in Nashville until he does. I know he’s been poor to start the year, but what goalies start do you think is more unsustainable? Saros or Vanecek?

I think next year’s tandem will be someone good and Schmid.

Vitek is done here after this year, barring a huge turnaround and finishing the season with similar numbers to last year.

They won’t give him as many strikes as Blackwood. They gave Blackwood three strikes, Vitek probably gets two and he’s already on one with last playoffs, despite a fine regular season. He’ll either be moved in return for a goalie upgrade or he’ll be dumped to one of the perennial dumping ground/rebuilding teams, even if we have to throw a sweetener. He was never supposed to be the guy. Merely just an insurance policy for Blackwood.

I’m not sure how they feel about Akira yet. I don’t think they’re as high on him as they were Blackwood not too many years ago, but I think this year will answer more questions about him for everybody.

Last year Schmid did though. Vitek, for a part of the year at least, did as well.

Blackwood was a catastrophe, as evidenced by his non hd save % indicating a ton of softies.

But as a team we played a much cleaner game.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

If this team is this bad because our two centers our out, the only thing it tells me is that we don't have the quality depth or the system of a true contender.

I'm pretty f***ing pissed with how this season has played out so far. I said it even when Jack was still in the lineup that they are playing like shit and just simply out-scoring/out-talenting their major problems but that's not sustainable. Jack coming back will obviously make them better, but these are major f***ing problems we are witnessing that will prevent them from being a consistent winner if it doesn't do a major 360. The really bad sign is that there hasn't been one f***ing ounce of improvement from game one to game fourteen. That is a huge red flag.

It tells me exactly what I've been saying, they win in spite of Ruff. No one will admit it though I guess.

 

[NJDevs26]

Yeah, this team has to play more defensively with their top centers out. Play like the good version of the f***ing Islanders in recent years, who cares? It's just pounded into this team's mentality to push at every damn chance they get, they play like a roller hockey team instead of an NHL team.

That’s called making adjustments, we’re not allowed to do that.

 

[JimEIV]

Last year Schmid did though. Vitek, for a part of the year at least, did as well.

Blackwood was a catastrophe, as evidenced by his non hd save % indicating a ton of softies.

But as a team we played a much cleaner game.

last year Schmid had 14 starts