GAME 4: Tampa Bay @ New Jersey. 730 PM EST, GOLF, MSG+

[NLinfante]

The hit on Sami is drawing a lot of attention, and deservedly so. But, having slept off the disappointment from the loss, I'm just as inclined to cite the PP and the Zajac/Maroon breakaways with the guys above my post. The team had their chances last night. Time to battle.

[NJDfan1711]

I hope this team knows that this series isn't over.  If this team has shown, learn, and known anything all season long, it's that it can come back and come from behind at any moment.  We have had some great finishes in games this year when we were down 1 or 2 goals in the 3rd period and come back to win.  We've already proven we can skate and play with this team.  Saturday is going to be tough and the atmosphere is going to be nuts, and if Vatanen is still out it's going to feel insurmountable, but we are still capable of beating them.  We did it 3 times in the regular season and that was no fluke.  If everybody pitches in, we play a full 60 minutes, stay disciplined, and stay hungry, we can do this.  Win on Saturday with our backs against the wall, and we can force a Game 6, back on home ice, and go from there. Keep on pushing Devils.

[SterioDesign]

3 hours ago, Nicomo said:

If I was Nico I’d have responded with go fvck yourself. Apology or not, you just don’t do that to another man. 

being young Nico probably replied "K."

Which for anyone with a girlfriend/wife know that it mean its NOT okay.  haha

[mfitz804]

4 minutes ago, SterioDesign said:

being young Nico probably replied "K."

Which for anyone with a girlfriend/wife know that it mean its NOT okay.  haha

I always wonder how that works. Does the guy just ask the other team for the other guy’s cell phone number and they give it? Is there some kind of a directory of everyone’s cell phone number? How in the hell does he happen to have Nico’s cell phone number otherwise?

Also, if he was really sorry, she would’ve done it Keith Kinkaid style, using the eggplant emoji.

[mfitz804]

 In all seriousness, I don’t know if I know how to write a text to a guy to apologize for spearing him in the testicles.

”Hey man, got a little out of control last night when I whacked you in the sack.  Hope they are feeling OK, my bad. “

[DevsMan84]

Some quick MB-style observations about the game:

1) Schneider was good, but not excellent.  I don't blame him for either of the 2 goals that counted against him but the one that was called back on the offsides he just didn't seem like he tracked it well.  However, overall I feel he is still the guy you go to for game 5.

2) Turning point of the game was Vatanen getting knocked out.  It was a headshot and not sure why it wasn't called.  If Kucherov doesn't receive supplemental discipline by the league then the league is a bigger joke than I thought.

3) After Vatanen was knocked out the Devils had big issues with their zone entries and exits.  They replaced him with Severson on the PP who looked lost.

4) Speaking of Severson holy sh!t did he regress.  Guy has gotten slightly worse every year and we have him for another 5 years (IIRC).  I remember a lot of people on here rejoicing about his contract where he salary wasn't too bad, but man that term will come to haunt us sooner rather than later.

5) Maroon might have hands of stone worse than Zajac.

6) Hall easily had his weakest game of the series.

7) Wood was again completely invisible.  Guy is useless when he is not on one of his 2-3 game streaks.

8) Special teams are still a disaster for the Devils.  1/6 on the PP is not going to cut it.  At least we didn't let up a goal on the PK though.

Edited April 19, 2018 by DevsMan84

[NJDevs4978]

39 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Pretty much agree with all of the above. 

The crowd could've been better last night...much more subdued overall than Game 3, and in general we have to learn to be a little less "frontrunner"...of course, being pretty solidly off did factor in that somewhat, but we didn't give the team enough energy to feed off.  The crowd almost acts as though being down by one is more like being down by 3+.  But every seat was filled, and once again, lots and lots of red in the crowd.  That alone is a beautiful sight...and I would love to see it one more time, in Game 6.

 

The crowd was fine in Game 3 and the first period of Game 4 down one, I think it was just a combination of things that dragged everyone down - no Vatanen, inept reffereeing that allowed too many cheap shots while penalizing every ticky tack call, a hideous offensive transition/PP after Vat's injury and Tampa choking off the game the last two periods.

[MadDog2020]

TB coach on Kucherov's hit..."the best player flexed his muscle tonight".
 
So fvck it....go for broke. Go after the SOB and send him to the locker room.as well (yea I know I'm dreaming here, won't happen with this gentlemanly team)

If that fvcker isn’t suspended for game 5 (which, lets be honest, he won’t be), I want him flexing his muscle for a fvcking emergency room nurse by 6:30 Saturday evening.


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[NJDfan1711]

Just now, MadDog2020 said:

If that fvcker isn’t suspended for game 5 (which, lets be honest, he won’t be), I want him flexing his muscle for a fvcking emergency room nurse by 6:30 Saturday evening.


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What a douchey quote by Cooper too.  I normally like him, but that's so fvcking arrogant and stupid to say.  You almost get the sense that they were in talks about him needing to provide more offense, and Cooper says to him "hey, their best d-man is shutting us and you down, so just go and take him out, then you can do your thing".

[SterioDesign]

to be fair that hit was really really close to be an amazing hit, 2 inch to the right and ONLY getting his shoulder and not the face too and it was highlight worthy

[mfitz804]

20 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said:

Some quick MB-style observations about the game:

RECAP:

• If you don't use bullet points, its not MB style. 

[NJDfan1711]

Just now, SterioDesign said:

to be fair that hit was really really close to be an amazing hit, 2 inch to the right and ONLY getting his shoulder and not the face too and it was highlight worthy

Yeah I mean it's actually pretty close to the type of hits Stevens used to dish out.  The thing is if you watch it closely it's hard to tell if he flares that elbow out or not, or if it just comes out after the fact due to the impact.  Same with him leaving his feet - it doesn't look like he does - he clearly goes in the air a bit, but I think that's after contact his made, which is what used to happen with Stevens a lot.  He would shoulder guys and the force of the collision was so great that he and/or they would often times end up with a skate or two off the ice, and to the untrained eye it could appear as if he left his feet, but he rarely ever did.  

The thing that bothers me is that he pretty much targeted him, and the fact that, shoulder or not, the contact was to the head.   I'm perfectly fine with the guy leading with his shoulder rather than his elbow, and not leaving his feet - all of which appears to be true on that hit - but the issue is that he hit Vatanen in the head. It doesn't matter if you don't leave your feet and you don't throw an elbow.  Throwing your shoulder into a guys head is still a penalty and should be a suspendable offense.  

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

8 minutes ago, NJDevs4978 said:

The crowd was fine in Game 3 and the first period of Game 4 down one, I think it was just a combination of things that dragged everyone down - no Vatanen, inept reffereeing that allowed too many cheap shots while penalizing every ticky tack call, a hideous offensive transition/PP after Vat's injury and Tampa choking off the game the last two periods.

The officiating was all over the place last night for sure.  Very frustrating...but more and more I just come to expect it. 

15 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said:

Some quick MB-style observations about the game:

1) Schneider was good, but not excellent.  I don't blame him for either of the 2 goals that counted against him but the one that was called back on the offsides he just didn't seem like he tracked it well.  However, overall I feel he is still the guy you go to for game 5.

2) Turning point of the game was Vatanen getting knocked out.  It was a headshot and not sure why it wasn't called.  If Kucherov doesn't receive supplemental discipline by the league then the league is a bigger joke than I thought.

3) After Vatanen was knocked out the Devils had big issues with their zone entries and exits.  They replaced him with Severson on the PP who looked lost.

4) Speaking of Severson holy sh!t did he regress.  Guy has gotten slightly worse every year and we have him for another 5 years (IIRC).  I remember a lot of people on here rejoicing about his contract where he salary wasn't too bad, but man that term will come to haunt us sooner rather than later.

5) Maroon might have hands of stone worse than Zajac.

6) Hall easily had his weakest game of the series.

7) Wood was again completely invisible.  Guy is useless when he is not on one of his 2-3 game streaks.

8) Special teams are still a disaster for the Devils.  1/6 on the PP is not going to cut it.  At least we didn't let up a goal on the PK though.

1) I'm glad to see him stopping pucks at an acceptable rate again, and in a playoff series to boot. 

2) That was a killer, and of course the refs don't notice it.  Because the fvcking refs have a way of missing a hell of a lot. 

3) and 4) Good news is that Severson is on a movable contract...the AAV isn't bad and he's cost-fixed.  I need to see a lot more out of him next year...he's going to be 24 years old and he now has 279 regular season NHL games under his belt.  Start progressing already.

5) Like Tri and others have noted, was definitely not a great night for Maroon in general.

6) Yeah, sucks for him in that the Devils need him to be awesome almost every night.  Like Tri pointed out, when Nico and Hall aren't at their best, the Devils look like a much different team.

7) Can't kill Wood, still not much experience and his first go-round in the playoffs.  But yeah, didn't notice him much.

8) Yeah, for all the bitching about the officiating, Devils had their share of power plays.  They just weren't able to cash in nearly enough.

[SterioDesign]

2 minutes ago, NJDfan1711 said:

Yeah I mean it's actually pretty close to the type of hits Stevens used to dish out.  The thing is if you watch it closely it's hard to tell if he flares that elbow out or not, or if it just comes out after the fact due to the impact.  Same with him leaving his feet - it doesn't look like he does - he clearly goes in the air a bit, but I think that's after contact his made, which is what used to happen with Stevens a lot.  He would shoulder guys and the force of the collision was so great that he and/or they would often times end up with a skate or two off the ice, and to the untrained eye it could appear as if he left his feet, but he rarely ever did.  

The thing that bothers me is that he pretty much targeted him, and the fact that, shoulder or not, the contact was to the head.   I'm perfectly fine with the guy leading with his shoulder rather than his elbow, and not leaving his feet - all of which appears to be true on that hit - but the issue is that he hit Vatanen in the head. It doesn't matter if you don't leave your feet and you don't throw an elbow.  Throwing your shoulder into a guys head is still a penalty and should be a suspendable offense.  

Yeah exactly. Too many people seem to think that if the feet leave the ice at all that it's illegal... it's only a thing if you launch yourself in the player jumping like Downie did on Mcammond for example.

[MadDog2020]

What a douchey quote by Cooper too.  I normally like him, but that's so fvcking arrogant and stupid to say.  You almost get the sense that they were in talks about him needing to provide more offense, and Cooper says to him "hey, their best d-man is shutting us and you down, so just go and take him out, then you can do your thing".

I want Kucherov on a spit. Then we’ll see what Cooper has to say.


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[Gunslinger27]

10 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

I want Kucherov on a spit. Then we’ll see what Cooper has to say.


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Time to break out the foil !

[MadDog2020]

Time to break out the foil !

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[Colorado Rockies 1976]

And one other note, and something I've really noticed in both Games 3 and 4, I think more so than I ever seen before...the sheer numbers of JERSEYS everyone's wearing.  It's awesome to see.  Jerseys themselves are still a considerable expense for a lot of people (even the "lower" trim levels), and yeah, there's some bad knockoffs here and there (at least they're still showing their support, and not everyone knows they're wearing a bad fake), but to me it seems like damned near EVERYONE was wearing a jersey last night.  Pretty damned cool.   

[mfitz804]

42 minutes ago, NJDfan1711 said:

Yeah I mean it's actually pretty close to the type of hits Stevens used to dish out. 

That was my exact impression of the hit. 20 years ago, that was an aggressive good hockey play. Now its a suspendible offense.

I'm really curious to see how it plays out given that its their star forward who was the offending party. Will the league suspend a guy like that during the playoffs?

[MadDog2020]

https://deadspin.com/nhl-refs-are-blowing-the-most-important-calls-of-the-pl-1825373854


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[Satans Hockey]

5 hours ago, Nicomo said:

If I was Nico I’d have responded with go fvck yourself. Apology or not, you just don’t do that to another man. 

Exactly, actions speak way louder than words. Hedman can go fvck himself. 

[mfitz804]

7 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

And one other note, and something I've really noticed in both Games 3 and 4, I think more so than I ever seen before...the sheer numbers of JERSEYS everyone's wearing.  It's awesome to see.  Jerseys themselves are still a considerable expense for a lot of people (even the "lower" trim levels), and yeah, there's some bad knockoffs here and there (at least they're still showing their support, and not everyone knows they're wearing a bad fake), but to me it seems like damned near EVERYONE was wearing a jersey last night.  Pretty damned cool.   

I've never been to a game without one, and I never will. If you're not really a fan, that's one thing. If you are, that's the time to get decked out. I have even worn Devils socks during really cold weather (they're heavy). 

Looking at the stands from TV, there was a LOT of red there and I like that. 

[Nicomo]

7 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

And one other note, and something I've really noticed in both Games 3 and 4, I think more so than I ever seen before...the sheer numbers of JERSEYS everyone's wearing.  It's awesome to see.  Jerseys themselves are still a considerable expense for a lot of people (even the "lower" trim levels), and yeah, there's some bad knockoffs here and there (at least they're still showing their support, and not everyone knows they're wearing a bad fake), but to me it seems like damned near EVERYONE was wearing a jersey last night.  Pretty damned cool.   

Idk if it’s the red popping on tv more, but I’ve noticed this as well. I remarked the other night how it looked like the majority in Columbus weren’t wearing jerseys (which just seems weird in the playoffs). It’s great seeing so many Devils jerseys in the stands. I still think white should be worn at home, but that sea of red looks awesome. 

[Nicomo]

6 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

That was my exact impression of the hit. 20 years ago, that was an aggressive good hockey play. Now its a suspendible offense.

I'm really curious to see how it plays out given that its their star forward who was the offending party. Will the league suspend a guy like that during the playoffs?

Doughty is equally as big a star and he was. 

[Gunslinger27]

" 'Kuch' flexed his muscles," coach Jon Cooper said. ----------> bulletin board material 

" Kucherov said. "Too much physical game. Not enough space. Might as well sometimes throw a hit."

Edited April 19, 2018 by Gunslinger27