GDT1: Bruins @ Devils 1/14/2021 7PM Season Opener!

[SterioDesign]

I just re-watched the highlights and i got mad again at Palmieri for the first goal. He get's full control of the puck... has plenty of time and has a clear path to skate it to the wing, it's wide open. But he decides to go back to the middle for a pass and turned it over. That's a basic decision veterans shouldnt make but wtv. 

I was really happy with McLeod's game. He didnt do anything crazy but I don't remember him making bad decision. He was solid with the puck and made good plays. I'd be happy to get a solid young 4th liner like him for the future.

When Wood got that breakaway, I got excited and then swore out loud when i realized it was Wood... then a second later he sniped that one. Great goal but its now clear that Wood will never change. There's no way the staff never sat with him through the years telling him he had to play smarter and it never happened. So we'll just have to deal with that.

Happy for Ty. Was really shaky and stiff at first but started making better plays through the game and got one of the weirdest/luckiest goal he could lol Gotta feel bad for the guy that his parents couldnt be in the building for that moment and that he had to take his "first nhl goal" picture with a damn mask. Hopefully there's a lot more to come.

Sharangovich was amazing. 

I'm also pretty confident that after another full season I won't be alone in the Not huge fans of Subban club

 

[Aitchmack]

Having had a bit of time to reflect on that game;

• The first period was so bad it was laughable.
• Blackwood was the reason the team was able to get a point instead of a hammering.
• Sharangovich looked good from the off.
• Smith, Hughes, Boqvist all improved steadily as the game went on.
• Palms and Subban- Sheesh, hope that was just rust from the long lay off.
• Miles Wood  - oh FFS, stay out of the freakin' crease!
• McLeod looked solid.
• With Nico, Sami and Bratt still to come back maybe, just maybe they might surprise a few teams.

[vadvlfan]

loved our 3rd period,  we out played Boston 5 on 5. I was especially happy with the physicality. McCleod's line was good,  Things will get better when Nico get's back. Man Jack's got wheels.  Smith played well, composed. I think we're going to be OK

[T0asterleav1ns]

Blackwood is the main reason we got a point. He was great start to finish.

Definitely can see the rust on some guys, Gusev in paticular.

Hughes was pretty good, and I saw him throw a check or two... he seemed a bit stronger. Finishing is still poor it looks like but lots of time to improve.

Smith settled down nicely, and the move to get his shot off on the lucky goal was impressive.

PK is awful. Horribly bad. Good lord.

Murray was decent, Kulikov meh to poor. 

Sharongovich looks amazing. What a player. 

Thank god there was improvement after that first period because I was having John MacLean flashbacks. 

 

And lastly, Miles Wood had the most Miles Wood game its possible for a Miles Wood to have. Horrible penalties (1 or two of which were scored on I think?), multiple goalie interference calls and a breakaway goal. 

[HellOnICE]

Mack is just a joy to watch. So tight and controlled. Makes the big saves. 

McLeod and Bastian did the job they needed to do and I'm very happy with that. Use the speed and size to corner and cut guys off. IIRC they drew a good penalty. 

Yegor - what more can you say - so confident and poised. Didn't throw pucks from what I say, drew what - 3 calls? 

Ty looked better as the game went along. The pairing though was not great- I think Sami should help in that department. He needs protection, which is fine given age/experience. 

Hughes got two points, made the first play happen with his body, again - 1st game/long time with new physical abilities. Let's wait and see. Happy he got on the board. 

PK didn't look great. But he did play 30 mins and they didn't allow a ES goal. Yes b/c Blackwood, but I hope Sami and cut his minutes down. He looks a little slow, and chasing the physical play around the ice too much. 

Little too much passing, but I think they'll get their timing back. 1st game in a year, full speed, full checking, some their first games, in a new system, with a lot of new faces. I'll take it over the veteran team with a long-running system in place. 

MIles is a pain in the ass to watch, but hey - did score a big goal and can still create. Just stop with the fvcking penalties. Jesus, the crease is in the same place since he was born. Know where it is. 

Overall - hockey's back!

Edited January 15, 2021 by HellOnICE

[pumpkin cutter]

gotta say once again. blacky looked great. kid got hammered with shots and showed up. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

12 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Wearing my new GI Hughes jersey.  Doesn’t seem to be working (yet).

Guess it did after all.

Think it was Nicomo who brought up the Devils playing better in the second and third in part due to coaching adjustment.  That's a nice plus a long-time coaching vet like Ruff can bring.  It just never felt like we saw enough of that from DBA.  

As for Mac...we saw last season how he basically made it look like Nas was somehow making a difference (which wasn't the case).  I just hope he doesn't become one of those unfortunate "Bad Team Good Goalies" (like Cory was during his first few seasons here).  Mac really does look like a guy who can be #1 here for a while though...he was so good last night, and had already has some fine stretches in his young career.

As for the rest, it's all been touched on already.  Palms was brutal last night (that pass on the PK was just...goddamn), but we know for as long as he's here, he'll score at the 30 G per 82 GP pace that he always has, as a Devil.  He's not a perfect player and never has been, but some wanna jump up and down on the guy for whatever the reasons...more and more I get the feeling he'll be moved by the deadline, even if the return is a bit meh-ish...I know he loves it here and it's nice to have a solid vet around, but not sure if he really fits in with this team's long-term timetable anymore.  I also think he's one of those players (like Vats, Hall and others) who will wind up signing for a lot less than we would have thought in the pre-COVID NHL...I wouldn't even be all that surprised if he was dealt, and came back on a two or three-year deal.  Not sure if I would consider him for longer than that.     

PK looks like he's almost done...said it before, but wow did Nashville know when to get out from under him (not to mention still get something back, even it didn't seem lot a whole lot at the time).  Given his hit, no real choice but to suck it up the next couple of years...maybe at next year's deadline, take a mid-round pick, pick up some of his money, and call it a (long) day.  Going to be lots of maddening moments with him.  Ditto Severson, as far as maddening goes...he'll get some points and occasionally tease progress, but it seems like those WTF moments will never go away.  Hard to believe he's already in his 7th season and in a full 82-game season would've reached 500 GP for his career.      

Edited January 15, 2021 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[mfitz804]

I have to say, though, everyone loves making fun of PK, but he was not the only bad defenseman in this game. Severson looked bad, Murray let a few pucks go right through him like he wasn't even there, and Kulikov didn't look good either. 

It's clear that defense will be our issue going forward if we don't improve it, but that said, as @HellOnICEnotes, we didn't allow an even strength goal to last season's Presidents' Trophy winners. That's mostly because of Blackwood, yes, but it got done.

As bad as we looked yesterday, it took two absolutely moronic penalties by Wood to let them break through. If he didn't get one back, I would have had him sitting the rest of the game and when Nico and Jesper come back, I would re-evaluate which forwards were staying and going based on Wood's inability to play good hockey. 

And that's coming from me, who definitely appreciates the chaos that Wood causes when he's out there. But come on, fvckface, stop running into the goalie on breakaways, and stop running into the goalie when standing in front of the net. Just stop running into the goalie. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

36 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

I have to say, though, everyone loves making fun of PK, but he was not the only bad defenseman in this game. Severson looked bad, Murray let a few pucks go right through him like he wasn't even there, and Kulikov didn't look good either. 

It's clear that defense will be our issue going forward if we don't improve it, but that said, as @HellOnICEnotes, we didn't allow an even strength goal to last season's Presidents' Trophy winners. That's mostly because of Blackwood, yes, but it got done.

As bad as we looked yesterday, it took two absolutely moronic penalties by Wood to let them break through. If he didn't get one back, I would have had him sitting the rest of the game and when Nico and Jesper come back, I would re-evaluate which forwards were staying and going based on Wood's inability to play good hockey. 

And that's coming from me, who definitely appreciates the chaos that Wood causes when he's out there. But come on, fvckface, stop running into the goalie on breakaways, and stop running into the goalie when standing in front of the net. Just stop running into the goalie. 

I don't argue against the bolded, but it just sucks that all of the working out with the Rock (or likely anything else PK tries at this point) isn't going to help much...not that I wasn't hoping to be pleasantly surprised, but PK's an old 31.

Yeah, D is going to be a problem (not like we didn't all know that going in), but at least now it's not the D being a problem + Cory being an even bigger problem.  Just hope Mac doesn't get worn down by what figures to be a lot of busy busy nights.

And agree on Wood.  For every good moment, does there have to be seemingly endless stupid ones (most involving opposing goalies)?  Can he cut down the stupid-to-good ration just a LITTLE?!  Big big goal obviously, but yeah, if not for that...

Edited January 15, 2021 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[Crisis]

I don't know.  I don't want Wood to stop running the goalies.  That has got to be fvcking frightening as a goalie to see him speeding into the zone with the puck and know that you're probably going to get at least a little bumped.  There is something to not letting the goalie feel comfortable in the crease.  Granted, it fvcking sucks that the Bruins scored on both of his penalties.  Maybe the PK can bail him out next time.  Or maybe the PP can score a goalie during at least one of Charlie McAvoy's dumbass penalties.  I will take running the goalie 10 out of 10 times compared to the sh!t he was sent away for.

Other than that, I kind of wish Palms slowed up on his half ice breakaway that Rask stop.  Hughes was coming in late and that would have been an easy 2 on 1.  Obviously that's an easy call the next morning.  It's never a bad situation to have your most prolific goal scorer on a breakaway from the red line in.

[RunninWithTheDevil]

16 minutes ago, Crisis said:

I don't know.  I don't want Wood to stop running the goalies.  That has got to be fvcking frightening as a goalie to see him speeding into the zone with the puck and know that you're probably going to get at least a little bumped.  There is something to not letting the goalie feel comfortable in the crease.  Granted, it fvcking sucks that the Bruins scored on both of his penalties.  Maybe the PK can bail him out next time.  Or maybe the PP can score a goalie during at least one of Charlie McAvoy's dumbass penalties.  I will take running the goalie 10 out of 10 times compared to the sh!t he was sent away for.

Other than that, I kind of wish Palms slowed up on his half ice breakaway that Rask stop.  Hughes was coming in late and that would have been an easy 2 on 1.  Obviously that's an easy call the next morning.  It's never a bad situation to have your most prolific goal scorer on a breakaway from the red line in.

Palms and Jack were absolutely gassed on that shift

[Devil Dan 56]

I watched the highlights again this morning and the trademark Severson skating by all slumped over after being out of position on a goal has gotten really really old

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

3 minutes ago, Devil Dan 56 said:

I watched the highlights again this morning and the trademark Severson skating by all slumped over after being out of position on a goal has gotten really really old

Remember when he scored four goals through his first 8 NHL games (7 points total), and looked so promising?  Small sample stuff, sure, and many players have gotten off to flying starts and then settled into being much more ordinary (or even worse)...it's just clearer now more than ever that he is what he is.  

[Nicomo]

Severson is such a frustrating player. He’s the Zacha of the defense. It’s interesting that Ruff gave him an A (even if it’s only because Nico is out). He needs to really take a step forward this season. At 26 he probably won’t ever get much better though. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

2 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

Severson is such a frustrating player. He’s the Zacha of the defense. It’s interesting that Ruff gave him an A (even if it’s only because Nico is out). He needs to really take a step forward this season. At 26 he probably won’t ever get much better though. 

In his case, yeah, that's just it.  He's only 20...only 22...now 23, but D-men take a while to develop...24, still young...

I was hopeful that he might become something more in time too, and would also look at his age and give him the benefit of the doubt...that eventually he would figure out some things, shore up some weaknesses...but yeah, I don't think he's getting any better than he is right now.  

[mfitz804]

36 minutes ago, RunninWithTheDevil said:

Palms and Jack were absolutely gassed on that shift

Yup. The fact that Jack wasn’t right with him despite having double his skating speed proves that. 

[Crisis]

40 minutes ago, RunninWithTheDevil said:

Palms and Jack were absolutely gassed on that shift

 

4 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

Yup. The fact that Jack wasn’t right with him despite having double his skating speed proves that. 

Fair point.  I would have scored in NHL21 though.

[SterioDesign]

3 hours ago, mfitz804 said:

I have to say, though, everyone loves making fun of PK, but he was not the only bad defenseman in this game. Severson looked bad, Murray let a few pucks go right through him like he wasn't even there, and Kulikov didn't look good either. 

Yeah but but all of those guys aren't getting paid 9m to play though

[Devil Dan 56]

6 minutes ago, SterioDesign said:

Yeah but but all of those guys aren't getting paid 9m to play though

With about $26 million worth of UFA contracts coming off our books at the end of the year plus Camallerris 1.6 buyout coming off as well,  that $9 million cap hit isn't much of an issue. Like CR1976 said, we'll probably unload most of it at the 2022 trade deadline and eat the rest 

It'll be interesting seeing the Devils just make it to the cap floor next year if Palms or Goose don't sign

[SterioDesign]

2 minutes ago, Devil Dan 56 said:

With about $26 million worth of UFA contracts coming off our books at the end of the year plus Camallerris 1.6 buyout coming off as well,  that $9 million cap hit isn't much of an issue. Like CR1976 said, we'll probably unload most of it at the 2022 trade deadline and eat the rest 

It'll be interesting seeing the Devils just make it to the cap floor next year if Palms or Goose don't sign

It's not because i can afford my rent, pay all my bills every month and have some wiggle room budget wise that i should be fine with paying $250 for a sh!tty Tim Hortons coffee every day. And that it's not a problem.

hopefully you get my drift there.

[Devil Dan 56]

8 minutes ago, SterioDesign said:

It's not because i can afford my rent, pay all my bills every month and have some wiggle room budget wise that i should be fine with paying $250 for a sh!tty Tim Hortons coffee every day. And that it's not a problem.

hopefully you get my drift there.

I get your drift, but your analogy doesn't have a cap ceiling or cap floor. And PK, though overpaid, is not making 15,000% more money than he's worth. Maybe double or even triple. So to scale, a $3.00 - $5.00 cup of coffee is a little much but like I said, not that big of a deal

[mfitz804]

1 hour ago, SterioDesign said:

Yeah but but all of those guys aren't getting paid 9m to play though

Maybe if you add them all together lol. 

[SterioDesign]

6 hours ago, Crisis said:

I don't know.  I don't want Wood to stop running the goalies.  That has got to be fvcking frightening as a goalie to see him speeding into the zone with the puck and know that you're probably going to get at least a little bumped.  There is something to not letting the goalie feel comfortable in the crease.  Granted, it fvcking sucks that the Bruins scored on both of his penalties.  Maybe the PK can bail him out next time.  Or maybe the PP can score a goalie during at least one of Charlie McAvoy's dumbass penalties.  I will take running the goalie 10 out of 10 times compared to the sh!t he was sent away for.

Other than that, I kind of wish Palms slowed up on his half ice breakaway that Rask stop.  Hughes was coming in late and that would have been an easy 2 on 1.  Obviously that's an easy call the next morning.  It's never a bad situation to have your most prolific goal scorer on a breakaway from the red line in.

Out of curiosity. You're aware of how dangerous is it for goalies when players run them over right? I get the whole selfishness of doing wtv you want to win but... You're trying to keep position to stop a puck and there's a guy with knives on his feets crashing into you and there's metal bars behind you. Many goalies were hurt badly through the years because of that. 

I don't quite understand how it should be encouraged. Encouraging it means we should be okay with other dummies around the league running into Blackwood. We sure don't want that

Edited January 15, 2021 by SterioDesign

[mfitz804]

4 hours ago, SterioDesign said:

It's not because i can afford my rent, pay all my bills every month and have some wiggle room budget wise that i should be fine with paying $250 for a sh!tty Tim Hortons coffee every day. And that it's not a problem.

hopefully you get my drift there.

Well, this has to depend on what your hypothetical girlfriend pays for a cup of coffee, I would think...

[mfitz804]

6 hours ago, Crisis said:

I don't know.  I don't want Wood to stop running the goalies.  That has got to be fvcking frightening as a goalie to see him speeding into the zone with the puck and know that you're probably going to get at least a little bumped.  There is something to not letting the goalie feel comfortable in the crease.  Granted, it fvcking sucks that the Bruins scored on both of his penalties.  Maybe the PK can bail him out next time.  Or maybe the PP can score a goalie during at least one of Charlie McAvoy's dumbass penalties.  I will take running the goalie 10 out of 10 times compared to the sh!t he was sent away for.

Other than that, I kind of wish Palms slowed up on his half ice breakaway that Rask stop.  Hughes was coming in late and that would have been an easy 2 on 1.  Obviously that's an easy call the next morning.  It's never a bad situation to have your most prolific goal scorer on a breakaway from the red line in.

I can’t see how you’d be happy about it. Granted it was one game in a meaningless spot in a meaningless season, but his lack of awareness cost the team two goals and the game last night. I like that he’s aggressive, but there’s a way to do it where you don’t take a penalty on a breakaway, that just means you have terrible hockey sense or you know you lack the talent to actually score. And I don’t think he lacks the talent to score.