Derlique

Fair

This feels like a schedule loss. Especially without Cory, Mojo, Wood and Gibbons, I'm ok with them giving Wood a game

You're telling me a Devils goalie stole a game!?

They robbed Nico of an assist

If you look at one of the angles, Darling's blocker was in position just as Nico took the shot. He moved it a couple of inches to the side in what seemed like a total guess move. Darling was realllyyy bad last night.

Gonna be a tough game. Carolina has a veryyyy good defense and Staal is as good of a shutdown center as any. Skinner and Aho are both incredibly skilled as well. Hopefully we dont get skull****** by the refs tonight

Was at the game tonight, and I'm not gonna lie, I was not optimistic at all going in. The first two periods did nothing to alleviate my fears, especially when there was no sign that Hall was going to return. I'll give the team credit, they didn't quit in the third period. I seriously have not seen a worse officiated game ever. There were missed calls on both sides, but NJ certainly got the short end of the stick. 1) Interference on Gudas against Hall 2) Wood slashed in the leg 3) Ghost embellishing the high stick 4) Zajac getting bloodied by a high stick 5) Not one of the refs calling the first Hall goal a goal Was pretty funny hearing a 'ref you suck' chant when Konecny got drilled. Some idiot next to me said "it's not soccer" when Zajac was down on all fours after taking that stick. When I said the same thing to him when Ghost embellished, he gave me the finger lmao.

Why even bother watching these games with the officiating the way it is?

I fvcking hate Gudas. Clear interference

Pronman summed it up pretty well in his mailbag for the Athletic today. He's a prospect, but probably not high end. His team is stacked and he has a prominent role in that. He should be lauded for what he's doing, but his numbers are probably not quite reflective of his ability.

Missing tonight's game, so there's that

I will be there....

Funny, I expected more from Staple here. I know he's not a Devils beat but it was a pretty barebones interview.

URI is up to #18...crazy. A sweet 16 appearance would be fantastic

The tricky thing is that he still has a year left on his deal. I know the buyout isn't costly, but would they consider having him in Bingo?

I know we talked about it a little last night but there's just not much to be done unless you want to mortgage part of the future. Lack made his first start last night. Sure, he hasn't been good the last little while, but he has more of a track record in this league than Kinkaid. You can't kill Shero for waiting on Lack while Kinkaid was getting some wins (albeit playing poorly). The fact of the matter is that Kinkaid is an NHL goalie, who has to be expected to make a save. You let guys work through stuff during the season, especially when your other option is Ken Appleby- you know, the dude who is rocking Kinkaid numbers in the AHL. Goalies just don't move during the year and who are you really going to get that has a better track record than KK, who up until this year had decent numbers for a backup? I get your frustration. There have been no less than ~10 times the since January started that I have wanted to throw my remote at my tv. It's disheartening because every single silly mistake ends up in the back of the neck because goaltending has been poor. Look at Boston last night- how many egregious turnovers did they have that Khudobin covered up for? It sucks because the team doesn't have the feeling that they suck. They are legitimately decent, which is crazy to say considering where they were last year. I am much more encouraged that they can make the playoffs this year than any other year in our drought, even with the recent slide. Every team has a flaw. I'm considering Pittsburgh and Washington gone. Philly (goaltending, defensive depth), Islanders (defense, goaltending), Hurricanes (goaltending, scoring), Rangers (defense), Columbus (special teams, offense). There is no denying that if they don't make the playoffs, it will be a massive punch in the ****. But it's easy to lose track that when they were winning, they were getting their teeth knocked in. No one wanted to talk about it because who the hell complains when you win, right? Now that the team is playing well, they can't get a save. Unless they really crater the next two months and finish ~NHL .500, this is a successful year no matter what. Nico and Butcher are legit. Bratt is going to be a good forward in this league. Hall has confirmed that he can carry an offense to the playoffs with league average goaltending. Zacha is looking like he can be a solution at the 2C spot. I would never tell someone how to spend his/her money but the timing of this is weird. It seems like a weird time to pull out after suffering so much since 2012. The fact that you care this much shows the team is close and I think you know that. The best players on this team this year have been: 26 (Hall), 19 (Hischier), 23 (Severson), 19 (Bratt), 20 (Zacha), 22 (Wood) and 27 (Palmieri). You have to assume Hischier, Bratt, Wood and Butcher still have some growth to their games. This is all a process and the team is well ahead of schedule.

Rubstov has worse numbers in the Q and he's there

Hoffman's age and contract status should scare Shero. He doesnt fit into the timeline of this team at all. Love him as a player, but not a fit for this team

It's just an odd argument to make. Pretty much every fanbase in a large metropolitan area sells out when they win and draw poorly when they lose. Philly is not in any way different or special in this regard. It is just as much as a bandwagon city as any other. Ehh Philly is ok as a city. It's certainly becoming much more gentrified. The fans are different, though. They revel in the fact that they're "intimidating" and people are scared to go to away games there, but then cry when people call them trash. It certainly is a much more gritty environment than anywhere I've been. Your second point is valid. Probably even the correct take considering South Jersey doesn't even show Devils games locally.

Buddy, as someone who grew up in South Jersey, you sound ignorant. Go check the attendance for the Phillies and Sixers when they suck. You could buy a ROW at Sixers game for a freaking dime. The Eagles and Flyers draw no matter what and I'm not even sure the latter would if they had to deal with prolonged suckitude because its never happened. So please spare me about Philly being such a great sports town

Yeah, Lovejoy has been good in his role. And we're not talking about the "Lovejoy Scale" he was graded on last year, I'm talking about a normal one!

Things change very quickly. If Nico and Bratt are as good as we hope/need them to be, we're looking at ~11-13 combined once their ELCs are up Hall will likely get at least 8 years, 9 million per Butcher could get Severson money if his offense stays between 30-45 points Wood is anyone's guess, but I think I'd sign him to something like 5 years at 3.5 million per. This one is risky, but could pay huge dividends even if he doesnt improve much. Zacha is due for a raise Yes, LJ, Zajac, Greene and Boyle will all be up in 3 years (after this year is up), but you can see where the crunch is gonna come in if we're not careful. Then you have to account for the fact that NJ has to address the LD situation.

Devils are.....good?? Seriously, if Zajac is 1/2 as good as he was tonight going forward, NJ will be very tough to play against.

Carolina and Cbj losing in regulation is sweeeet

No excuses tonight. Philly finished a game at 11pm last night. Ghost and Provorov both played 25 mins, Giroux and Couturier both played 23 mins, Simmonds and Voracek both played 20. Oh, and they have a league average AHL starter making his first career NHL start. Throttle these losers