GDT: 11/7/17 Blues @ NJ Devils

[Devs64]

6 minutes ago, eaglejelly said:

Men against boys. Very frustrating how inferior the Devils were in the third

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Disagree about men vs boys. Inferior? Absolutely. 100%. 

[NJDevils1214]

6 minutes ago, Devs64 said:

Awful game. Can't clear the zone, can't forecheck, turn pucks over all over the ice. Our D just stand in front of Cory letting the opposition do whatever they want. One of those "memorable" nights. 

And too many penalties.

[Devs64]

1 minute ago, Mike Brown said:

RECAP

• Missing an entire top 6 line essentially really sucks.
• Completely flat in the 3rd period.
• Why the coaches just choose to allow the opposition to dictate the play is beyond me.
• Despite that, they actually played well defensively all things considered.

POSSESSION

• ES CF: 30 to 46
• ES FF: 23 to 40
• ES SF: 16 to 30
• ES SCF: 18 to 21
• ES HDCF: 7 to 8
• All CF: 40 to 65
• All FF: 33 to 54
• All SF: 22 to 40
• All SCF: 24 to 36
• All HDCF: 10 to 13

Only 3 GA because Cory played well, defense didn't.

1 minute ago, NJDevils1214 said:

And too many penalties.

Absolutely, and in every game.

[MadDog2020]

It seemed like nothing was going the right way in the second. Like 3 or 4 prime chances that bounced. 

Puck was bouncing all night. Incredibly frustrating.


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And too many penalties.

As usual.


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[EdgeControl]

Awful PP tonight, but we lost this game early when we didn't finish our easy chances...  should have jumped on this team 3-0  

Looks like the kids are tiring in the 3rd now... Marcus,  palms and travis are needed fast

[Devs3cups]

PP wasn't clicking, too many penalties again, btu overall we held the blues for most of the 2 first periods so that's a positive.

2 minutes ago, EdgeControl said:

Awful PP tonight, but we lost this game early when we didn't finish our easy chances...  should have jumped on this team 3-0  

Looks like the kids are tiring in the 3rd now... Marcus,  palms and travis are needed fast

When is Travis set to return?

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Beyond the very obvious (the Devils weren't going to keep pocketing points at a .818 pace), they sorely need Palms back...ditto MoJo and Zajac.  This team is interesting and often fun to watch, but not yet equipped to overcome injuries to too many forwards...especially ones expected to contribute some offense.

Any comparisons to last year's team are faulty...just look at the roster that the 2016-17 team iced for Game 14 last year, and compare it to this one.  

[MadDog2020]

PP wasn't clicking, too many penalties again, btu overall we held the blues for most of the 2 first periods so that's a positive.

When is Travis set to return?

Around Christmas I think.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 8, 2017 by MadDog2020

[nessus]

Santini continues to impress each game. I know he hasn't produced much offensively at any level, but I can't help but feel like that potential is there somewhere. He's so smooth, not afraid to pinch and join the attack, and he seems to have pretty good vision.

It's amazing how Butcher was able to come into the league and so easily QB the powerplay. He consistently looks like one of the best PP guys out there, and it seems to come so naturally for him. Really nice to see that, since it seems like the Devils haven't had someone to fill that role in quite a while.

Mueller had a couple of tough breaks tonight, particularly that one toward the end, but I thought he was quite good otherwise. I really hope Hynes keeps him in the lineup so we can see what he can do. He's got that heavy shot that we saw in preseason, but hasn't used it much. We will be able to see his offensive potential as he gets more comfortable.

Palmieri needs to come back ASAP, so that Hynes can break up this Hall-Hischier-Bratt line. I feel like any combination of two of those guys works, but all three is a bit messy, since they're all so good with the puck.

Zacha seems like he's on the verge of breaking out a bit. Playing with more confidence, but not getting the bounces.

Injuries aside, it seems like this team is coming back to reality. 

[Marshall]

52 minutes ago, nessus said:

Zacha seems like he's on the verge of breaking out a bit. Playing with more confidence, but not getting the bounces.

If by breaking out he'll be getting a shot on goal, maybe. I think he's been bad. Disliked the pick from day 1 and I was hoping he'd prove me wrong this season. No offense and penalties galore. 

[titans04]

They've had a great start and that's been encouraging. Having key guys out is something they will struggle to cover up. Seeing Boyle out there was enough to make this one worth going to. As for the rest it's a tough road when more than a handful of guys are so small they get pushed off the puck easily. Some of the young guys may fill out but damn. 

 

They play hard which is good to see. The defense at times just can't even get out of their own way and more than a few times made fundamental mistakes like trying to clear the puck up the middle instead of hard off the boards. Zacha imo showed absolutely nothing and if that's showing signs of improvement that's sad. 

They eye test results tonight said they were exposed as a team that plays hard but still has a long way to go. Yet their record is a tribute to their hard work because imo the talent especially with  this current  lineup doesn't match the record to dat

A few times it looked like Boyle was out there with guys literally half his size. . 

[Nicomo]

Agree Zacha has been unimpressive lately. Crazy to think a kid like Bratt made it to the 6th round and Zacha went 6th overall. 

[MadDog2020]

Looks like Quenneville is getting called up: https://mobile.twitter.com/ChrisRyan_NJ/status/928093591024603136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fs9e.github.io%2Fiframe%2Ftwitter.min.html%23928093591024603136


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[Devilsfan118]

5 hours ago, Marshall said:

If by breaking out he'll be getting a shot on goal, maybe. I think he's been bad. Disliked the pick from day 1 and I was hoping he'd prove me wrong this season. No offense and penalties galore. 

Starting to wonder if we'd be better off shopping him while he has some perceived value from his draft position.

What I wouldn't give to have Provorov right now..

[Jerzey]

I thought they played pretty good. Just ran into a better team that night. St. Louis is a pretty big and physical team too. 

[MadDog2020]

Starting to wonder if we'd be better off shopping him while he has some perceived value from his draft position.
What I wouldn't give to have Provorov right now..

Zacha was our final parting gift from Conte. I have no doubt Castron would've picked Provorov. I'm really sick of Zacha's inconsistency.


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[DevsMan84]

15 minutes ago, Martyisth3b3st said:

Zacha is by far the most disappointing part of this season, but let's not forget that he's only TWENTY years old. If you guys haven't remembered anything from your "trade Larsson for a bag of pucks" fiasco back in the day, it's that judging players at 20 years old is silly. 

While true, the salt in the wound are who was drafted immediately after him.  Those guys are still contributing to their teams more than Zacha is.

[NJDevils1214]

1 minute ago, DevsMan84 said:

While true, the salt in the wound are who was drafted immediately after him.  Those guys are still contributing to their teams more than Zacha is.

While I understand this a little bit, these guys are still individual people in the end and they all develop at their own pace. Constantly throwing the expectations in Zacha's face isn't going to help anything. Hedman also got this treatment when he first came into the league. If NJ can give Yayo like 5 years to decide if he wants to exceed 5 goals in a season, they can give Zacha a bit more time. The penalties are a separate issue though as far as I am concerned.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

14 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said:

While true, the salt in the wound are who was drafted immediately after him.  Those guys are still contributing to their teams more than Zacha is.

He's still a baby in NHL years...he won't turn 21 until April.  But I'm really hoping that by the end of the season, we'll see more clear on-ice reasons to justify this pick.  

[CommonDreads]

I think Zacha needs to be given some decent linemates, right now they have him in basically a 3rd line checking role playing with Boyle and Hayes, he's not exactly going to light it up out there with those two and that line seems so redundant to me – a lot of size and puck protection is what you get from the guys on that line. I'd love to see Zacha paired with Bratt and see how they play together, think those their skill sets would play well off each other with Bratt being the creativity on that line and Zacha being a bigger, more steady presence on that line. If they wanna try it, I could see a line of Quenneville - Zacha - Bratt for next game being quite effective.

[MadDog2020]

Zacha is by far the most disappointing part of this season, but let's not forget that he's only TWENTY years old. If you guys haven't remembered anything from your "trade Larsson for a bag of pucks" fiasco back in the day, it's that judging players at 20 years old is silly. 

Judging players (particularly defensemen like Larsson) at 20 years old is silly, I agree. And I'm not saying the jury is out on Zacha yet, but I'm really not liking his trajectory. I'll be patient and give him more time, but he hasn't shown really any improvement over last year, and he isn't the brightest light on the block re: hockey IQ. I expect more from the #6 overall. He needs to be a lot more consistent.


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[Marshall]

1 hour ago, Martyisth3b3st said:

Zacha is by far the most disappointing part of this season, but let's not forget that he's only TWENTY years old. If you guys haven't remembered anything from your "trade Larsson for a bag of pucks" fiasco back in the day, it's that judging players at 20 years old is silly. 

I never wanted Larsson traded (until the actual pie in the sky trade happened). Judging players is part of any evaluation at any age and definitely not silly, it's necessary. Stating with 100% certainty that a player is this and will forever be this at age 20 is however silly.

Hedman had the offense but not the defense. With Zacha, I just don't see any of it. Not good on defense, not good on offense. You see it in spurts but there's no volume accumulated. To me this goes back to his draft - didn't dominate anywhere except for one season in Czech U20 in draft -2. There was a lack of a track record befitting his draft slot, and it continued in draft +1 in Sarnia. He looks like a player with tools but no toolbox, to me.

[slasher72]

2 hours ago, DevsMan84 said:

While true, the salt in the wound are who was drafted immediately after him.  Those guys are still contributing to their teams more than Zacha is.

If only we had drafted Provorov or Werenski. Oh, the horror...the horror....the horror. Btw, was that David Conte's last draft with the Devils?

[nessus]

3 hours ago, Martyisth3b3st said:

See -- this is what I don't understand. How can you say "injuries aside"? Take 3 of the top-6 forwards off of any team and they're going to struggle. It's not fair to this team to say "ahhhh, look, it's the same old Devils"

I can say "injuries aside" because Zajac has been out all season, and the team was winning without Palmieri. I doubt that Johansson, who has had his share of bad games, is the difference between one of the top teams in the league and a team that has struggled since its road trip. I never said "same old Devils" either, I said that they are coming back to reality. I don't think anyone expected them to maintain their record through the season. And it's becoming apparent that the team that was generating tons of offense, without Zajac and Palmieri, is having a tough time now. That's all I was saying.

[nessus]

1 hour ago, Marshall said:

I never wanted Larsson traded (until the actual pie in the sky trade happened). Judging players is part of any evaluation at any age and definitely not silly, it's necessary. Stating with 100% certainty that a player is this and will forever be this at age 20 is however silly.

Hedman had the offense but not the defense. With Zacha, I just don't see any of it. Not good on defense, not good on offense. You see it in spurts but there's no volume accumulated. To me this goes back to his draft - didn't dominate anywhere except for one season in Czech U20 in draft -2. There was a lack of a track record befitting his draft slot, and it continued in draft +1 in Sarnia. He looks like a player with tools but no toolbox, to me.

Everyone (me included) used the argument that he wasn't used to playing on North American ice so maybe that's why he wasn't producing in Sarnia during his draft year...and then during his draft +1. He had impressive numbers in the Czech leagues compared to other players to come out of the Czech Republic in recent years, so there was no reason to worry. While he may find his game eventually, this season has reminded me of Josefson a bit, where you feel like there's something there but he isn't putting it together yet. It's similar down to the fact that they both have looked amazing in preseason. I'm not ready to give up on him, and I think he will get it together soon. But if you take a look at what Filip Zadina (who has a similar story with playing in Czech up until his draft year) is doing in Halifax now, you'll realize that we might have a problem here.