Jump to content

Thoughts from the game


'7'

Recommended Posts

Wasn't a sellout but the crowd was very loud and into it start to finish. Scattered empties, haven't looked at the box score yet but from being in the building I'd say 17,200. Most of the luxury suites sit dark and empty...though I don't know if those are considered a part of the 17,600

Not much to say really, the Devils pretty much flipped the switch today after weeks of bored, disinterested hockey. And the Canes have come down to earth as they couldn't keep that kind of hot streak going for much longer anyway.

Was a little worried early on as Ward kept them in the game. The Devils out shot them by a ton but only had the slim 1-0 margin. Gradually they began to pull away.

Pandolfo is a mess. Too slow to poke the puck away from the guy at the point, too weak and confused to outmuscle and win loose puck battles at the half boards. It's like he's perpetually at the end of his shift.

The entire arena was stunned when the Rags game went final.

The Canes D is soft, nobody on that teams sacrifices to block shots. Parise is going to be torpedoing in on Ward the entire series and I doubt anybody is going to put him on his butt. One thing the Canes have done is gotten in close to Brodeur and bumped him a few times...but the Devils usually respond.

Basically we outworked and outmuscled them all night, a good start.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We had fire in our game, when we play like this I feel we are the best team in the NHL. Pandolfo did an excellent job tonight no matter how slow he looked. Everyone was hitting and Shanahan makes so many little plays that help a team win. On top of that, the Zubrus line looked like they did in early December. It was scary how good a game those 3 played.

Edited by Jas0nMacIsaac
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Watching on TV I would have said pandolfo had a strong game. Looked like he rushed the point fearlessly and a couple times put that extra effort to get the puck out. And I'm a big Pando detractor.

I had no complaints about Pando. That line played better than I expected. I don't love pairing him with Madden on the PK anymore, but put him with Gio or Patty and he's fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pandolfo had a great game and played very well '7'. Don't know what game you were watching but he was very good on the PK as well. Pandolfo has been playing well since he has been back in the line up. he is here to stay in the line up. He was all over the ice tonight and I was even suprised to see him move on the ice as he had and many of the Devils players had jumps in their steps. Devils were ready for this game and yes it was like they turned a switch on tonight and got it going from beginning to the end of the game.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7, it ended up being a papered announced sellout. I'd trade 500 empty seats for 5,000 fewer Ranger fans any day of the week. I've certainly seen way more pathetic playoff crowds at the Meadowlands. I don't think people realize yet how much better this building has been for the Devils attendance-wise.

With respect to the game itself, the Devils played fantastic. They made sure this game was going to be determined 5 on 5 and they absolutely dominated the game. Ward was solid except for Mottau's goal, but it didn't really matter. The better team clearly won tonight. Hopefully, the Devils keep things going on Friday and really seize control of the series.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Shanahan played well, I don't think Pandolfo was any better than usual. But I didn't have the TV vantage point...

7, it ended up being a papered announced sellout. I'd trade 500 empty seats for 5,000 fewer Ranger fans any day of the week. I've certainly seen way more pathetic playoff crowds at the Meadowlands. I don't think people realize yet how much better this building has been for the Devils attendance-wise.

With respect to the game itself, the Devils played fantastic. They made sure this game was going to be determined 5 on 5 and they absolutely dominated the game. Ward was solid except for Mottau's goal, but it didn't really matter. The better team clearly won tonight. Hopefully, the Devils keep things going on Friday and really seize control of the series.

If Ward had a clunker this game is 4-0 heading into the 1st intermission. The Devils came out red hot. I'm hoping he saves his clunker for later in the series, because he had his A- game today and we still won handily.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Shanahan played well, I don't think Pandolfo was any better than usual. But I didn't have the TV vantage point...

If Ward had a clunker this game is 4-0 heading into the 1st intermission. The Devils came out red hot. I'm hoping he saves his clunker for later in the series, because he had his A- game today and we still won handily.

Absolutely. The goaltending had absolutely nothing to do with the outcome. I think the play on the ice was pretty indicative of the score.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Shanahan played well, I don't think Pandolfo was any better than usual. But I didn't have the TV vantage point...

If Ward had a clunker this game is 4-0 heading into the 1st intermission. The Devils came out red hot. I'm hoping he saves his clunker for later in the series, because he had his A- game today and we still won handily.

I gotta disagree here, that goal by parise coming out of the corner he looked unsure of himself he was hugging the post and sitting deep instead of coming out to challenge. He gave Parise a great angle to shoot. I'm not taking anything away from Parise it just looked uncharacteristic for Ward. I expect the next game to be real close and could be a 1 goal or OT heart breaker for either team.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess this is the postgame GDT.

Watching on TV, it was sort of a strange game. The Hurricanes looked like they weren't ready to play tonight. Granted, the Devils obviously were ready to play, so that had a lot to do with it. But still, let's not get ahead of ourselves. This series has barely begun.

As for the varying opinions on tonight's attendance, watching on TV it looked like a solid crowd, but not packed to the gills like some games have been this season. And I don't doubt that if you were there the crowd was loud, but it wasn't Game 7 crazy or even Game 5 crazy. Not every playoff game is going to be like that. I'm sure Friday will be crazier.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pando played very well. If tonight is representative of what he's got left, he'll be serviceable at best.

Sutter won't be able to match him against a team like Pitt though.

Edited by Cowutopia
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was at the game tonight. The Rock had some energy but there sure were some seats that never were filled. Still, it was nice to see 99% Devils fans instead of the Ranger/Flyer/etc fans in the house.

Pando- I thought he had a great game.

Shanny- God he is so smart and made some nice crisp passes and decisions. He still doesn't have the speed of his youth but a very good player.

ZZpop line did great.

Oh, and the Devil's Dancers looked hot too!

Great game all around. The key for me was how the pressured the puck carrier all game. Regular 5 on 5 or on the pK, PRESSURE PRESSURE PRESSURE. LOVED it.

Scoops

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I gotta disagree here, that goal by parise coming out of the corner he looked unsure of himself he was hugging the post and sitting deep instead of coming out to challenge. He gave Parise a great angle to shoot. I'm not taking anything away from Parise it just looked uncharacteristic for Ward. I expect the next game to be real close and could be a 1 goal or OT heart breaker for either team.

eh, when you have so many free runs to the net and wide open shots it's hard to fault the goalie. The Mottau goal was bad but he was being peppered at the point. Zajac had a wide open slapper from like 8 feet out. That's hard to do even in a video game. If you want you could downgrade him to a B+ game...but he was good overall.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Watching on TV I would have said pandolfo had a strong game. Looked like he rushed the point fearlessly and a couple times put that extra effort to get the puck out. And I'm a big Pando detractor.

I agree I was there and while he wasnt a star he played solid and did well on the few PK oppurtunities when he was out there.

I was at the game tonight. The Rock had some energy but there sure were some seats that never were filled. Still, it was nice to see 99% Devils fans instead of the Ranger/Flyer/etc fans in the house.

Pando- I thought he had a great game.

Shanny- God he is so smart and made some nice crisp passes and decisions. He still doesn't have the speed of his youth but a very good player.

ZZpop line did great.

Oh, and the Devil's Dancers looked hot too!

Great game all around. The key for me was how the pressured the puck carrier all game. Regular 5 on 5 or on the pK, PRESSURE PRESSURE PRESSURE. LOVED it.

Scoops

Yes the best part of the night were the Ward chants, many started from our section in the second period after the Devils scored their 3rd goal. He looked up a few times and it was clear he was hearing it all!!! Keep it up on Friday!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

See my comments about Zubrus in the GDT. He was awful, awful, no heart, terrible, poor hands, poor decisions, poor battle, poor everything. Seriously, check the GDT.

My favorite thing about this game is how many Carolina players flat out WIPED OUT because Devils players were stopping and starting so hard they just kept tipping over. Maybe they don't dive because they're dirty but because they really can't skate??

I'm watching the game on TV now btw, and you really can't see just how badly Zubrus played on here.

Edited by Cowutopia
Link to comment
Share on other sites

See my comments about Zubrus in the GDT. He was awful, awful, no heart, terrible, poor hands, poor decisions, poor battle, poor everything. Seriously, check the GDT.

My favorite thing about this game is how many Carolina players flat out WIPED OUT because Devils players were stopping and starting so hard they just kept tipping over. Maybe they don't dive because they're dirty but because they really can't skate??

I'm watching the game on TV now btw, and you really can't see just how badly Zubrus played on here.

It is sad that I just expect zubie to suck. I want him to play great but he doesn't prove me wrong.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wasn't a sellout but the crowd was very loud and into it start to finish. Scattered empties, haven't looked at the box score yet but from being in the building I'd say 17,200. Most of the luxury suites sit dark and empty...though I don't know if those are considered a part of the 17,600

FROM NHL.COM I also heard wfan on the way home say it was a sellout. Again, do not judge by the "empty seats." With new arena's, looks can be deceiving. Many people are at the bar drinking watching the game, or eating food at the lounge.

The goaltending had absolutely nothing to do with the outcome. I think the play on the ice was pretty indicative of the score.

:closedeyes: I didn't think there were that many quality scoring opportunities. I thought the defense played fantastic however. With only 19 shots allowed, I would have liked the shutout (to really send a message) but whatever. It was still domination overall.

Shanny- God he is so smart, made some nice crisp passes and decisions. He still doesn't have the speed of his youth but a very good player.

*very true. Dano spoke (during the post'game) about how much fortitude it showed to the rest of the team, for him to get right up like that after taking a slapshot to the mouth nonchelont, as if nothing had happened.

I agree, it wasn't a good game for Zubrus. He made alot of mistakes in the offensive zone.

Dinus proves game in-game out, how he is this teams weak link. Tonight was no different.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.