GDT: Game 2 - Rangers @ Devils - 20 Apr - 730p - TBS/MSG

[jagknife]

I’m early, but hopefully they burn the tape today.

One of the youngest teams in the league got a very valuable lesson last night: the playoffs are a different monster.

No more coming out of the gate with half-assed efforts. Attack early, attack often, and for the love of freaking god register a shot on the freaking power play.

My dream changes for this one:

- Lazar in for Wood.

- Palat back to the third line with Timo back to the second.

- Give Graves some pointers on not leaving Kreider alone in front on the PK, or maybe just don’t send his pair when Kreider goes out.

 

LETS GO DEVILS!

EVEN THIS sh!t UP!!

Edited April 19, 2023 by jagknife

[Lateralous]

[MadDog2020]

LGD

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Oh mighty purple bar, I invoke thee

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

13 minutes ago, jagknife said:

I’m early, but hopefully they burn the tape today.

One of the youngest teams in the league got a very valuable lesson last night: the playoffs are a different monster.

No more coming out of the gate with half-assed efforts. Attack early, attack often, and for the love of freaking god register a shot on the freaking power play.

My dream changes for this one:

- Lazar in for Wood.

- Palat back to the third line with Timo back to the second.

- Give Graves some pointers on not leaving Kreider alone in front on the PK, or maybe just don’t send his pair when Kreider goes out.

 

LETS GO DEVILS!

EVEN THIS sh!t UP!!

Yeah I'm pretty much done with Wood...the whole big dumb animal thing lost its appeal some time ago.  That guy cannot be back next season (and I don't expect him to be...Lazar is the cheap in-house stopgap replacement who will make up in brains what he lacks in offensive ability).

Agree, put Timo on the second line.  Also hope we see a lot of less of Timo putting "no chance" weak sweeping backhanders to Shersterkin's sides.  Those are just never going in.

I like Graves but he's just gotta be better in a series like this.

L G M F D!!!

[Lateralous]

I’m on board with Lazar in for Wood.   We need someone running around hitting everything in sight without taking a stupid penalty.  
 

Also, maybe it was the Wood penalty but I would like to see more than 7 minutes of Bastian and McLeod out there, especially when a guy like Bratt was absolutely invisible all night.   The former were much more physical and frankly generated more in their limited amount of ice time.  
 

Obviously special teams needs to be better and Vancenek needs to close the gap significantly in the goaltending matchup.  

Edited April 19, 2023 by Lateralous

[jagknife]

4 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Yeah I'm pretty much done with Wood...the whole big dumb animal thing lost its appeal some time ago.  That guy cannot be back next season (and I don't expect him to be...Lazar is the cheap in-house stopgap replacement who will make up in brains what he lacks in offensive ability).

Agree, put Timo on the second line.  Also hope we see a lot of less of Timo putting "no chance" weak sweeping backhanders to Shersterkin's sides.  Those are just never going in.

I like Graves but he's just gotta be better in a series like this.

L G M F D!!!

To be fair, his no chance back handers were more of a chance than all but like 1 attempt on all 4 power plays combined…

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

2 minutes ago, jagknife said:

To be fair, his no chance back handers were more of a chance than all but like 1 attempt on all 4 power plays combined…

Sadly I can't dispute that.

And of course, on the WFAN this morning, some dopey Ranger fan sounding exactly like I would expect him to "Duuuuuuuuuuh, we took ova da Rock last night!  Did ya hear us?"

OK, the Devils were down 2-0, 3-0, and 4-0.  Do you think the Garden's gonna be rocking if your Rangers are not giving you much to cheer about?

If that had been a competitive nail-biter, no way would the Devils fans in attendance not be loud as hell.  And I was there and even though the Devils were losing for much of the game, the Ranger fans were not THAT loud.  I've seen them in greater numbers and making much more noise than they were last night.  They weren't THAT significant of a presence.  

[MadDog2020]

11 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

If that had been a competitive nail-biter, no way would the Devils fans in attendance not be loud as hell.  And I was there and even though the Devils were losing for much of the game, the Ranger fans were not THAT loud.  I've seen them in greater numbers and making much more noise than they were last night.  They weren't THAT significant of a presence.  

Yeah the Rag fans weren’t bad last night; not nearly as many as I thought there would be. The WFAN moron sounds like the typical dipsh!t Rag fan.

[bostondevil11]

Yesterday was just an all around crap day. Right after work my cat escaped and went on a adventure on a couple neighbor's roof decks. So I was stressed out and that game did not help. Hoping for a much better effort Thursday. I expect this series to at least go 6 so the Devils have to lose at least once. I am also thankful I am not a Leafs fan.

[Rock]

I've been going to Devils playoff games since the first series in 1988.  Been though all the Ranger series.  I can unfortunately say last night was one of the worst if not THE worst I've experienced. Not violence but the obnoxiousness and the stupidity of the Ranger fans around me.(Some stupidity by Devils fans too. Every time a Devil falls down is NOT necessarily a penalty. Ice is slippery and the Devils have a few players in their history that fall down unaided. Wood and Clarkson etc. 🙃) 

Couple points come quickly to mind.  The Devils shoot wide miss the net Completely.  'What a great save by Igor" and in the Devils zone, A Rangers shot whizzes by Vitek's head, "Fantastic shot"

on the disallowed goal. Ranger fan turns to me : "You got this Toronto hates us" I reply "Toronto hates us too, but that goal is obviously off a high stick and Toronto's hatred has nothing to do with it"

I assume I'm in for another rough night (because they'll be back Thursday) unless the Devils get a early lead and win the game!

BTW I never seen such idiocy in the parking lot.  Waited at least a half hour to get out of the lot (got home in 20 minutes once I cleared the lot) because so many people didn't pay at the booth before the game and had to give the attendant their ticket and credit card at the barrier gate.😡

 

anyway...

LET'S GO DEVILS!

(looking at the above posts I must have been in the middle of a$$hole Central 😄)

Edited April 19, 2023 by Rock

[StarDew]

1 hour ago, bostondevil11 said:

Yesterday was just an all around crap day. Right after work my cat escaped and went on a adventure on a couple neighbor's roof decks. So I was stressed out and that game did not help. Hoping for a much better effort Thursday. I expect this series to at least go 6 so the Devils have to lose at least once. I am also thankful I am not a Leafs fan.

Is your cat now home and safe? 

Edited April 19, 2023 by StarDew

[Devilsfan118]

I bailed on the GDT yesterday because, holy sh!t what a miserable game.

What are everyone's thoughts on Ruff constantly going to the 4th line after every powerplay - I think it's way, way too predictable.  

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

1 hour ago, Rock said:

I've been going to Devils playoff games since the first series in 1988.  Been though all the Ranger series.  I can unfortunately say last night was one of the worst if not THE worst I've experienced. Not violence but the obnoxiousness and the stupidity of the Ranger fans around me.(Some stupidity by Devils fans too. Every time a Devil falls down is NOT necessarily a penalty. Ice is slippery and the Devils have a few players in their history that fall down unaided. Wood and Clarkson etc. 🙃) 

Couple points come quickly to mind.  The Devils shoot wide miss the net Completely.  'What a great save by Igor" and in the Devils zone, A Rangers shot whizzes by Vitek's head, "Fantastic shot"

on the disallowed goal. Ranger fan turns to me : "You got this Toronto hates us" I reply "Toronto hates us too, but that goal is obviously off a high stick and Toronto's hatred has nothing to do with it"

I assume I'm in for another rough night (because they'll be back Thursday) unless the Devils get a early lead and win the game!

BTW I never seen such idiocy in the parking lot.  Waited at least a half hour to get out of the lot (got home in 20 minutes once I cleared the lot) because so many people didn't pay at the booth before the game and had to give the attendant their ticket and credit card at the barrier gate.😡

 

anyway...

LET'S GO DEVILS!

(looking at the above posts I must have been in the middle of a$$hole Central 😄)

There was a Devils fan behind me who had a voice like he swallowed a jar of nails and washed it down with someone's driveway gravel...and he wouldn't shut up the entire time.  And he kept saying things like "Look at this place...it's 95% Devils fans!"  Clearly it WASN'T.

The Ranger fans (weren't too too many in my section...I was in 208) didn't really do anything aggravating...they were cheering and having fun, and when you're up 2-0, 3-0, 4-0, that's pretty standard fan behavior.  They weren't obnoxious or grating.  

[NJDevils1214]

1 hour ago, Devilsfan118 said:

I bailed on the GDT yesterday because, holy sh!t what a miserable game.

What are everyone's thoughts on Ruff constantly going to the 4th line after every powerplay - I think it's way, way too predictable.  

He has to because all the other lines are tired and the power play has been so sh!t it'd the only way to inject some energy back into the team.

The team having bad power plays that shifts the momentum has been an issue all year.

[bostondevil11]

2 hours ago, StarDew said:

Is your cat now home and safe? 

Yeah. Thankfully a neighbor let me on her roof to chase her back home.

[Nicomo]

[slasher72]

The last game I attended was Game 1 of the SCF in 2012 vs the Kings. I remember watching the Kings in the pre-game shootaround thinking "we're going to lose this one" and sure enough. I had that same feeling last night. On to Game 2 and hoping this team can pull it together and get a W. The Rangers are obviously in a different window than we are, same for Boston and Tampa Bay. Our time will come. I just don't want these bastards to sweep us in this round. Obviously I'd be ecstatic if the Devils defeated them and moved on to the next opponent.  

We have Jack, Luke, Schmid, Nico, Timo, and a good cast around them. The D will get better. Luke will be a huge addition and only get better as the years go on. I'm hoping Schmid can become the stud goaltender we've been without since Corey's first season. That would be awesome. 

Edited April 19, 2023 by slasher72

[MadDog2020]

30 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

Yeah ‘optional’? They better be in the video room.

[NJDevils1214]

34 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

Yeah ‘optional’? They better be in the video room.

Honestly, I don't even think they need video. They need to not have their heads up their asses. Yesterday wasn't a game of a ton of mistakes. It was a game of no execution, something we know they're all too talented to have happen. Whether it was jitters or whatever, just can't happen again. Show up with your head in the game-- It's not December anymore. Rags showed up and looked prepared. Debbies did not.

[Puckbuster]

3 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

There was a Devils fan behind me who had a voice like he swallowed a jar of nails and washed it down with someone's driveway gravel...and he wouldn't shut up the entire time.  And he kept saying things like "Look at this place...it's 95% Devils fans!"  Clearly it WASN'T.

The Ranger fans (weren't too too many in my section...I was in 208) didn't really do anything aggravating...they were cheering and having fun, and when you're up 2-0, 3-0, 4-0, that's pretty standard fan behavior.  They weren't obnoxious or grating.  

I’m sure they were just having fun and cheering for their team.  I still hate the Rangers and their fans during games.  Including my friends and family, lol.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

16 minutes ago, Puckbuster said:

I’m sure they were just having fun and cheering for their team.  I still hate the Rangers and their fans during games.  Including my friends and family, lol.

Actually I was rather pleasantly surprised...I haven't really made it much of a secret about how much I despise Rangers fans.  The ones in my section (and nearby) were actually bearable.  A lot of the ones that I come across are often the complete opposite.  

[Lateralous]

1 hour ago, Nicomo said:

So basically anyone who is less than 100% guaranteed to be in the lineup.   Siegenthaler better watch out, the old man has been known to scratch him for no good reason.      

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

20 minutes ago, Lateralous said:

So basically anyone who is less than 100% guaranteed to be in the lineup.   Siegenthaler better watch out, the old man has been known to scratch him for no good reason.      

Speaking of the "old man", @Chimaira_Devil_#9 had a solid post about Lindy, a couple of weeks ago I think...basically about he was a good transitional coach given the state of the team and the kids, and even though I'm not a Ruff guy, I understand what CD#9's saying.  I think Lindy's been a nurturing presence who probably did everything he could to keep guys like Jack, Nico, etc from getting too down on themselves and their NHL lot in life when the desired results weren't there (especially from a W-L standpoint).  I think he tried to balance some level of accountability along the way, but not at the expense of coming down too harshly on the more top-end kids.  I think there's a reason his players genuinely seem to like him a hell of a lot...they feel like he has their backs no matter what.  Probably not a bad thing for talented kids to have as they acclimate to the best pro hockey league in the wrold.

But soon (if not already) they will need more of a real taskmaster who won't be their pat-on-the-back pal/borderline father figure, as much as he'll efficiently funnel the Devils' considerable talent into a legit system that is less reliant on "talent guys doing pure talent things", or won't be based in part on VV or Schmid standing on their heads for the first 10-15 minutes of too many games while Lindy attempts to figure out how to adjust to what's been thrown at him.  It won't surprise me if the players feel like they're having a little less fun at first and if there's some chafing, but as they experience a more "refined" type of success, they'll come to appreciate what they've been shown, as well as the fact that an actual system is making them better and more well-rounded players without them even realizing that it's happening.

And to state one particular case,, I think a different kind of coach makes today's practice mandatory for all.  

I may not believe in Lindy, and he does have a lot of ability to work with now, but I give him some credit for taking the Devils this far.  Just don't know how much further he'll be able to, the longer that he stays on.    

Edited April 19, 2023 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[njbuff]

For God's sake, what is Timo doing on a third line???