GDT: Anaheim vs. Devils, "Thank you, other Scotty" Edition

[95Crash]

Replays on FSNY after the game showed that the puck hit the inside of Vishnevski's skate, slightly changing its trajectory before getting past Marty. Dano blamed VV for backing up too much on the play.

Once again, the Devils gotta put a few pucks in the net. But how?

[SatansDevils]

Once again, the Devils gotta put a few pucks in the net. But how?

[95Crash]

There were a lot of Niedermayer support before the game which I thought was nice and nice to see him back home in New Jersey. He had a good game tonight and showed how much the Devils miss him.

[SatansDevils]

I missed most of the game, but I heard that there were quite a few boos for Nieds. Particularly early on in the game when he had the puck behind his net. Supposedly, Dano commented on it in between periods, although that was before I tuned in. I did hear Doc and Chico briefly mention it in the 3rd period.

Also, I heard that before the game started, the FSNY telecast showed a fan holding up a sign that said "NJ misses you Niedermayer" or something like that.

Edited February 9, 2008 by SatansDevils

[NJDevs4978]

The reaction was blase at the start because people were just getting into their seats then around middle of the first period the boos kicked in most of the time when he touched the puck.

I wasn't really gonna bother with booing Nieds but the Ducks got me pissy by sitting Giggy-Puff (I so wanted a piece of him and so did we all but they're too smart for that ) so I booed a little out of spite

Edited February 9, 2008 by Hasan4978

[metallidevils]

i'm not at all blaming marty for any of these losses but its been i think 11 games since he's given up less than 2 goals. he's given up 2 goals in a lot of those games, and obviously you should expect to win those games regardless, but it just seems like so long ago that he last gave up <2, and unfortunately, with this offense, that needs to be the case

[maxpower]

The reaction was blase at the start because people were just getting into their seats then around middle of the first period the boos kicked in most of the time when he touched the puck.

I wasn't really gonna bother with booing Nieds but the Ducks got me pissy by sitting Giggy-Puff (I so wanted a piece of him and so did we all but they're too smart for that ) so I booed a little out of spite

I booed him a couple of times because the puckrat behind me wouldn't stop screeching about how great Nieds was.

Then, I forgot to do it and gave up. Wasn't in my heart to do it. I'll wait until we trade a 4th round pick for Bobby. Then, it's time to boo.

Didn't think the booing was that intense and it was just kinda "going through the motions". Wasn't like with Gomer, where it sounded like they turned on a "booing machine" every time he touched the puck.

[thefiestygoat]

The highlight of the game for me was walking right by Chico on the concourse before the game. He was chatting with a family and I am kind of shy and didn't want to be rude and interrupt so I just kept walking. Really wanted to shake his hand and kind of regret not doing it.

Greene looked pretty good tonight. If only this team can play a full 60 minutes, they could win more.

[Devil Dan 56]

Pathetic performence by the offense(again). While I hate to blame Marty, that first goal was extremly weak and cost us a point.

So, Marty now needs a shutout every game or else he 'costs us a point'? That is beyond ridiculous. The offense needs to score more than a goal a game, end of story.

I really don't like this new 'Marty cost us a point' trend when the team loses 2-1, 3-2, especially when the goal in question happened in the 1st period. The team should battle back the same way he does.

[DevilinLA]

I think trading for an elite scorer asa #1 priority is a great idea....I can see all the shots on the opposing goalie right now!!!...

.....Now, if we can only get the puck out from the back of our own net to get it to him!

[Don]

The Devils played extremely well, and caught bad breaks not to come out of this with a point.

By the number of game threads where you say that, I've come to the conclusion that we must be the unluckiest team of all time. Therefore all we really need to do is send the team as many four leaf clovers, horseshoes and some lucky charms as we can and this team will kick ass.

[Chimaira_Devil_#9]

By the number of game threads where you say that, I've come to the conclusion that we must be the unluckiest team of all time. Therefore all we really need to do is send the team as many four leaf clovers, horseshoes and some lucky charms as we can and this team will kick ass.

Normally i don't buy the "we played well line but we didn't get any breaks" line , but last night was the exception.

We had so many chances where the puck would get a slight deflection or it would hit a skate or take a strange bounce.

Marty will be wanting those two goals back , because he was outstanding apart from those two.

[teddy]

I had a couple of observations: The ice looked bad, the puck seemed to be bouncing around everywhere. The Devils looked really small compared to the Ducks, we looked like we were half their size.

As for individual play, I don't know why the defense always gets the finger pointed in their direction. I can't tell you how many times I saw the defense pass it up to the winger only to have them standing around unable to get the puck out of the defensive zone. Langenbrunner was brutal with that last night. If not for the defense actually scoring lately, I can't tell you how many games we would have lost. Asham is a waste of a roster spot. Zajac's line was god awful and really struggled to get the puck out of the zone. And couldn't create any offense either. Thought the entire defense looked shakey again last night. I don't know what Greene everyone else was watching, with the exception of the one PP, thought he was pretty weak (which is understandable given his situation). This is the 3rd bad game by Martin, I know Oduya blew it on the 2nd goal taking a chance and stepping up (which VV does on a constant basis and never gets blasted), but I don't understand why Martin didn't take the body. He got juked out of his shorts. Still, if Brodeur's stick is on the ice, it's not a goal. Sorry to say, but VV is awful. He's the worst in +/- right? Enough said.

Still people have to remember that this Ducks team had a poor start, but is still pretty damned good and swept every team in this area. Our defense clearly had a problem with the long outlet passes. And by defense I mean the forwards to. Half the time they were no where to be found. I need an extra dose of tonight.

[Triumph]

By the number of game threads where you say that, I've come to the conclusion that we must be the unluckiest team of all time. Therefore all we really need to do is send the team as many four leaf clovers, horseshoes and some lucky charms as we can and this team will kick ass.

Edited February 9, 2008 by Triumph

[njdevsfn95]

Highlight of the night:

Under 2 minutes in the thrid, Oduya is taking the puck right by the ref with a player on him. Guy "hooks" Oduya, his glove is above the shoulder, his stick smacks Oduya in the face, Oduya throw's his head back and the stick gets knocked out of the Ducks player's hand....and no call.

Did I mention this happened RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE REFS? I thought we were lucky when we didnt have Fraser reffing the game.

[Devils731]

Highlight of the night:

Under 2 minutes in the thrid, Oduya is taking the puck right by the ref with a player on him. Guy "hooks" Oduya, his glove is above the shoulder, his stick smacks Oduya in the face, Oduya throw's his head back and the stick gets knocked out of the Ducks player's hand....and no call.

Did I mention this happened RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE REFS? I thought we were lucky when we didnt have Fraser reffing the game.

[teddy]

Oh ya, to throw my 2 cents in on the 2nd goal for ANA. It's real tough on the defenseman when they can see Oduya has chipped it out nowhere near an Ana player so the defenseman start skating up ice, it hits the linesman and comes back at the defenseman, now the Ana player picks it up and the defenseman are going the wrong direction and are not in position at all to support each other. So while that guy could have been stopped both defenseman were put in a bad position because they had already started to go out to join the rush.

[yort44]

Hockey involves a great deal of breaks. Some nights New Jersey wins this game 6-1.

And I don't say it that often - rather, that the Devils *could* have won a certain game, not that they should've, or deserved to, and so on.

Teddy - good post, agree with most of it. I thought the defense transitioned well last night though.

Let's be honest here. Anaheim is a better team than NJ. They were playing with a backup goalie and having played on the road for the 4th time in 6 nights and played poorly and still beat us. I have no problem losing to a better team (even when THEY play poorly), but it's the losses to the Islanders and the like that KILL me. Let's beat who we should and try to sneak one or two from teams we shouldn't and we'll be fine. Once playoff starts, momentum, injuries and mind games (like we have over Philly and the NY teams have over us) count for much more than the regular season.

Canes we should beat tonight--even with Weekes who HAS to be rusty. 4-2 Devs. (PLEASE!)

[MadDog2020]

no i'm not blaming sutter at all. i've been one of his biggest fans on this board the whole season. i am just saying... sooner or later all these tirades and anger explosions are just going to be tuned out by the players. they dont seem to be responding too well to him.

Well they better fvcking START responding or it's their asses, not Sutter's. The coach isn't getting fired this time around, nor should he.

[DevilinLA]

Let's be honest here. Anaheim is a better team than NJ. They were playing with a backup goalie and having played on the road for the 4th time in 6 nights and played poorly and still beat us. I have no problem losing to a better team (even when THEY play poorly), but it's the losses to the Islanders and the like that KILL me. Let's beat who we should and try to sneak one or two from teams we shouldn't and we'll be fine. Once playoff starts, momentum, injuries and mind games (like we have over Philly and the NY teams have over us) count for much more than the regular season.

Canes we should beat tonight--even with Weekes who HAS to be rusty. 4-2 Devs. (PLEASE!)

Edited February 9, 2008 by DevilinLA

[yort44]

They lost 6 in a row before Teemu?

Were the better team last night....for sure!

Are they a better team on paper - yes!

Do they play even close to their level of talent - usually no!

Does it really matter? - NO -The LA Kings beat Detriot the other night, how, couldn't tell ya....but it can be done.

Despite the media rumors ANA is not going to repeat....Detroit is the REAL DEAL!

Kings beat the Rags too. What I'm saying is "sneak one or two from teams we shouldn't beat". That's exactly what the Kings did in NY and Detroit. Even if we beat Anaheim, you think we're a better team? That team reminds me EXACTLY of the Devils of the 90's. They played with us like a cat with a toy when it came to puck control. We couldn't get them out of our own end and they're just better, period.

As for Detroit, what do you see this year that all of a sudden makes you think that this same Anaheim team won't do to them in the playoffs again? Detroit is built for the regular season, not for a short series. That's been proven time and time again. Anaheim has the right recipe--size, speed, great defense and a great goalie. Again, like the Devils of the 90's/early 00's. And like that team, they can underachieve (as the Devils did), but I've seen nothing in Detroit that tells me they're going to beat the Ducks in a series. There isn't one team out there that matches up with Anaheim if they play near peak. I see another President's Cup for the Wings.. and another Cup for the Ducks (and I HATE the damn Ducks).

[DevilinLA]

Kings beat the Rags too. What I'm saying is "sneak one or two from teams we shouldn't beat". That's exactly what the Kings did in NY and Detroit. Even if we beat Anaheim, you think we're a better team? That team reminds me EXACTLY of the Devils of the 90's. They played with us like a cat with a toy when it came to puck control. We couldn't get them out of our own end and they're just better, period.

As for Detroit, what do you see this year that all of a sudden makes you think that this same Anaheim team won't do to them in the playoffs again? Detroit is built for the regular season, not for a short series. That's been proven time and time again. Anaheim has the right recipe--size, speed, great defense and a great goalie. Again, like the Devils of the 90's/early 00's. And like that team, they can underachieve (as the Devils did), but I've seen nothing in Detroit that tells me they're going to beat the Ducks in a series. There isn't one team out there that matches up with Anaheim if they play near peak. I see another President's Cup for the Wings.. and another Cup for the Ducks (and I HATE the damn Ducks).

I agree with a lot of what you've said here, but for a couple of factors in play.

1.)Precisely that, they came close and lost it to ANA, now they should be hungrier and more determained. While w/ANA...we all know the hardest thing in hockey is to KEEP the cup!

2.)Great goalie - OK - but last year they had 2!!! giguere having problems, no worries, stick Bryz in, same quality. They were real fortunate to have 2 better-than-average/very good NHL starters on one team. Now, granted, we made Hiller look like ROY last night, but he is no Bryz for sure.

3.)Ducks have huge offense problems aside from Getzlaf and Perry. Now if Teemu starts to produce that may all change if he doesn't there's no way they can keep pace with the high-powered DET offense.

4.)Brian Rafalski's statistics high year. Does it completely change the game no, but it will be a factor.

5.)They dropped a lot of games early unlike last year, due in part to the Neider-circus, but they will probably still make the playoffs....but a healthier Scotty could work in their favor, but Pronger and the rest of the guys have been forced to work harder in his place...will they tire....who knows?

BUT YES, at least we both HATE the Ducks.

Edited February 9, 2008 by DevilinLA

[yort44]

I agree with a lot of what you've said here, but for a couple of factors in play.

1.)Precisely that, they came close and lost it to ANA, now they should be hungrier and more determained. While w/ANA...we all know the hardest thing in hockey is to KEEP the cup!

2.)Great goalie - OK - but last year they had 2!!! giguere having problems, no worries, stick Bryz in, same quality. They were real fortunate to have 2 better-than-average/very good NHL starters on one team. Now, granted, we made Hiller look like ROY last night, but he is no Bryz for sure.

3.)Ducks have huge offense problems aside from Getzlaf and Perry. Now if Teemu starts to produce that may all change if he doesn't there's no way they can keep pace with the high-powered DET offense.

4.)Brian Rafalski's statistics high year. Does it completely change the game no, but it will be a factor.

5.)They dropped a lot of games early unlike last year, due in part to the Neider-circus, but they will probably still make the playoffs....but a healthier Scotty could work in their favor, but Pronger and the rest of the guys have been forced to work harder in his place...will they tire....who knows?

BUT YES, at least we both HATE the Ducks.

[njdevils2003champs]

Some smuck on Sportscenter said that this game was played in front of 100's.