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He’s back...

It doesn't help that his stick shatters like Saruman's staff 50000 times a season. In the Ranger game it broke on a freaking pass! How!?

I would settle for just an evenly called game.

Devils goalies so far have put up a .966 save% at 5-on-5. They've been outchanced 73-32 (in high danger situations, 23-8). They're not nearly as good at 5-on-5 as we'd like to believe, and there's been some scary periods that haven't resulted in as many goals as we'd expect...but they have also played well in 5-on-5 situations for stretches too...enough so that I don't think of them being as "bad" (or lucky) as these numbers suggest. I'd say that some of the luck they've experienced at 5-on-5 is evening out with the awful penalty killing. What's scary is that the PK rate is currently

It's funny, in that my first reaction to the bolded was "I'd say a hell of a lot better than pretty good, given the early results!" The team has been competitive in every game (though have obviously at times looked overwhelmed within some games), despite missing some key pieces, and guys like Palms and Goose getting off to slow starts. But then I think that maybe Hynes was just so terrible at making adjustments that a guy like Ruff looks like a friggin' genius by comparison, yikes. All Lindy has to do is get DBA 2.0 off his staff. But baby steps...Devils now have a competent HC that

Well I know what I'm wearing tonight...Heritage Bratt it is!

I’m sure some early rust is inevitable, but this is encouraging...

And Ruff just confirmed that Bratt is going right into the lineup tonight...nice.

One piece back, others to follow (hopefully sooner than later). L G M F D!

Jesper Bratt is back tonight:

This does make a lot of sense. Most of what PK does seems to be from trying too hard to dominate a game instead of playing it. He looks like he desperately wants to make a big impact and turns into a bull in a china shop. Unnecessary risky passes, poorly timed shots, bad penalties, etc. I can say this... If Ruff can manage to get PK to buy in and settle down his game, he will have put this team in a great position going forward

This really sounds like Ruff is trying to say the right thing to encourage PK to stick to the game plan. And to finally get him to focus on defense and not his offence. Everything he said in there is PRECISELY what every coaches who coached him wanted him to do but he just wouldn't. The knock on subban was always that he'd try to be flashy or make fancy plays or carry the puck when he had a simple outlet pass option. He'd constantly put himself in risky situation that could turn into turnovers (and did a lot) Or that his teammates literally couldnt read him cause he'd never stick to

Yeah especially that there's always that honeymoon period with anything new. Let's be honest and remember that we were all very happy with Hynes coaching early lol

Slowly getting guys back. I don't expect much from Bratt tonight but happy to have him back. Let's Go, Devils, point time.

Not yet...tonight is #998. This Sunday vs the Sabres will be #1000. Travis Zajac Stats | Hockey-Reference.com (hockey-reference.com)

So much Swedish, locker room gonna sound like:

Good to hear Bratt is back. One out of three. LGD.

So far Ruff has been pretty good at making adjustment between games. Hopefully he can do it again tonight. Will he start the lines the way they finished the last game? I thought Hughes and Goose looked pretty good together. It'll be good to see Bratt back in the line up. Stay out of the freakin' box boys! LGD!

LGD

Thanks for digging this up. Very informative but still leaves the question. I always like him in the NHL.

That’s gotta be what he’s trying to do, because anyone with eyes can see Subban hasn’t played well.

I never would have guessed that PK leads the team on shots. That means with the blocked ones, his shot attempts must be astronomical. Even if Ruff is happy with his play, he can't possibly be liking the stupid penalties

Dunn has been a favorite target over at HF for a while now. I can’t say I know too much about him, but if it would even slightly reduce Subban’s minutes (hopefully Vats will help with that too) then I’m all for it.

I have no idea, I just hope he’s doing ok.

Couple years ago when I still worked in the city, I was on the train home one evening and a guy across from me had the most impressive combover I've ever seen. His hair was parted on both sides, with the hair combed over from each side and sort of ... I guess "interlaced" is the right word ... on top of his head. So, from either side it looked perfectly normal. And honestly, it looked pretty OK from the front, too; it kinda took awhile to notice that something was not right. Gotta say, I was (and still am) pretty impressed. I can't imagine how long it must take to comb it like that. Pretty sur