GDT: Rangers @ Devils

[Triumph]

this is only one of lemaire's mistakes. as far as i'm concerned, HE lost this game tonight. oh, let me count the ways:

5 forward PP; let's start off with the fact that this is unnecessary with paul martin and andy greene in the lineup. lets add that it actually uses forwards in positions not necessarily suited for them (parise on the 1/2 boards instead of in front, rolston in ANY capacity, elias @ center). lets then add what it does for the 3 shifts AFTER that PP when the lines are so screwed up because he's burned too many forwards at once. for good measure, we'll add a dash of NO centers on the initial 5F PP leading to the entire shift being played outside the offensive zone because a faceoff was lost. and just to put the proper garnish, we'll take the 2nd best center on the team and bench him so dean fvckING mccamond can get some PP time. what's wrong JL, neidermayer said no thanks?

i don't know what zubrus has done to earn the coach's ire, but i do know that he's really not doing anything worthwhile on the third line.

chaining zubrus to the bench in the 3rd while rolston kept burning his chances.

rolston was at least getting chances. the rolston-kovalchuk-zajac line basically worked as the coach draws it up tonight - rolston created the kovalchuk goal with his shot in the first, and was getting open looks with his slapper for the rest of the game.

as you said, not having a center out for the last 90 seconds of the game - especially his "most all around devil".

zajac had just played the shift before that, with the way the game and whistles played out, that was the sensible option. you can't plan for the last 60 seconds in the final 4 minutes, that's just idiotic.

not addressing the rangers' gameplan (as it has been for YEARS vs NJ) which is get behind brodeur and pass to wide open forwards in the slot or parked in front and coaching your team during the final TO to prepare for this and to collapse down low - don't be afraid to take a penalty white and mash the guy on the boards and don't let him go. don't be afraid to knock drury into next week in front of the net mottau.

that's unfortunate, but i'm hesitant to ascribe last-second failures to errors of coaching or anything besides good/bad fortune.

the devils were clearly the better team tonight. but they still find ways to lose and seem shocked when the same breakdowns that have plagued them for YEARS come back to haunt them. why not practice how to handle situations when the puck is behind your net? you'd think the devils would have thought that wasn't even a viable offensive play.

also - marty handling the puck is a liability - i don't know how else to say it. his defense has NO idea what he's going to do with it and they're at just as much a disadvantage as the opposition might be. his decision making has really been poor more often than not it seems.

terribly frustrating.

i'm not sure you saw the replay, but christensen made a no look pass in the middle of his stride - it was a very impressive play. white could've just taken his man to the boards, but christensen basically did the passing equivalent of shooting during a deke.

i'm not concerned about tonight. the devils massively outchanced the rangers, and while it sucks to only come away with a point out of that game, i don't think it's a coaching or player failure.

Edited March 26, 2010 by Triumph

[Devil Fan]

From the positive stand point: Rangers will not clinch the 2010 Atlantic Division Title.

Negative: blowing leads...I hope history won't repeat itself.

[HellOnICE]

Didn't watch the game tonight...

ALl I gotta say is...

Why no Jamie in the SO & Thank goodness we're not Chicago - this place would've burned down tonight.

[skeeter]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, that goddamned team is gonna make the playoffs. Boston, Atlanta, and Philly could not possibly suck more and the Rangers schedule is basically the same one that got them to 7-1 at the start of the year, completly laughable. With that mountain of pads in goal anything can happen, just like tonight.

[sundstrom]

i don't know what zubrus has done to earn the coach's ire, but i do know that he's really not doing anything worthwhile on the third line.

playing w/ a slow neidermayer and a similar player to himself in clarkson isn't helping

rolston was at least getting chances.

thanks to kovalchuk and elias. rolston blew them by not being fast enough or skilled enough.

zajac had just played the shift before that, with the way the game and whistles played out, that was the only alternative.

good thing frenchie mcgenius hadn't played his 2nd best center all period - he was thinking about this and keeping him fresh to use late...oh wait.

i'm not sure you saw the replay, but christensen made a no look pass in the middle of his stride - it was a very impressive play. white could've just taken his man to the boards, but christensen basically did the passing equivalent of shooting during a deke.

i didn't see christensen's nice play - doesn't change the fact that a collapsed defense should have been employed and it wasn't.

i'm not concerned about tonight. the devils massively outchanced the rangers, and while it sucks to only come away with a point out of that game, i don't think it's a coaching or player failure.

they don't give you points for style or effort - just wins because you scored more than the other team. defensive breakdowns where the team is not coached properly are coaching failures. failed PP's because of an obvious lack of cohesion from the players sent out is a coaching failure. the coach's job is to put his team in the best position to win. he can't go do it, but he can put the right players out there and preach a strategy. JL has not done this for months on a any kind of consistent basis.

[CADevilsFan]

i'm not concerned about tonight. the devils massively outchanced the rangers, and while it sucks to only come away with a point out of that game, i don't think it's a coaching or player failure.

Spot on Tri, I know it seems like the norm to bash the hell out of either (a)player(s)/coach when they lose, it happens. I haven't seen one slight of elias for not scoring SH or Langs for missing that backhander, either one would have sealed the game. Hindsight is 20/20. It happens and is a part of hockey, let's move on.

[Triumph]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, that goddamned team is gonna make the playoffs. Boston, Atlanta, and Philly could not possibly suck more and the Rangers schedule is basically the same one that got them to 7-1 at the start of the year, completly laughable. With that mountain of pads in goal anything can happen, just like tonight.

hockey-reference had them at 9% to make the playoffs before tonight. i am sure that will go up to something like 15-20% after tonight but they still have a really hard road and they are playing some absolutely brutal hockey. they were terrible tonight.

[sundstrom]

zajac had just played the shift before that, with the way the game and whistles played out, that was the sensible option. you can't plan for the last 60 seconds in the final 4 minutes, that's just idiotic.

you threw this edit in after i started replying so i'll answer the last part regarding coaching the last 60 seconds with 4 minutes left. and to that, my answer is, YES YOU fvckING CAN.

c'mon tri - this isn't boris spasky level chess we're talking here. once you're in the past the last TV timeout, you know you've got maybe 4 or 5 shifts left in the game. you're up one. you know at some point there's going to be a defensive zone draw. you mix your lines at this point to ENSURE that one of Zubrus, Zajac, or Neidermayer or even Mccammond are on the ice at all times. did you look at the faceoffs from tonight. outside of Elias, the Devils owned the dot. Elias was horrible.

[Triumph]

and while i'm a zubrus supporter, calling zubrus the 2nd best center on the team is damning him with faint praise. there's no way that a guy who's been playing wing for most of the last month should be out there in that situation playing center. c'mon now.

[sundstrom]

Spot on Tri, I know it seems like the norm to bash the hell out of either (a)player(s)/coach when they lose, it happens. I haven't seen one slight of elias for not scoring SH or Langs for missing that backhander, either one would have sealed the game. Hindsight is 20/20. It happens and is a part of hockey, let's move on.

these are things that happen in hockey. they're about execution and "puck luck". my arguments this evening are on a coach not putting his team in the best position to win.

[skeeter]

Oh, and Dano was right, that shouldn't have been an icing that led to the tying goal, but we have great luck with officiating and icings against that team.

[Triumph]

you threw this edit in after i started replying so i'll answer the last part regarding coaching the last 60 seconds with 4 minutes left. and to that, my answer is, YES YOU fvckING CAN.

c'mon tri - this isn't boris spasky level chess we're talking here. once you're in the past the last TV timeout, you know you've got maybe 4 or 5 shifts left in the game. you're up one. you know at some point there's going to be a defensive zone draw. you mix your lines at this point to ENSURE that one of Zubrus, Zajac, or Neidermayer or even Mccammond are on the ice at all times. did you look at the faceoffs from tonight. outside of Elias, the Devils owned the dot. Elias was horrible.

why would you mix your lines with 4 minutes left in the game? are you really saying that if zubrus had been out there and had missed his center assignment that you wouldn't be on here yelling about that?

furthermore, while elias is a disaster as a faceoff man, the top two lines have been absolute dynamite at generating scoring chances the last two games.

[maxpower]

and while i'm a zubrus supporter, calling zubrus the 2nd best center on the team is damning him with faint praise. there's no way that a guy who's been playing wing for most of the last month should be out there in that situation playing center. c'mon now.

he should at least be on the same line as Elias to cover him on faceoffs. if not on regular shifts, in the endgame. their options after the icing were Elias or Langs. both are awful. Langs has taken that faceoff in the past, but not tonight. they're going to have a hard time at the end of games in the playoffs because Zajac can't be everywhere at once.

[Random Poster]

you threw this edit in after i started replying so i'll answer the last part regarding coaching the last 60 seconds with 4 minutes left. and to that, my answer is, YES YOU fvckING CAN.

c'mon tri - this isn't boris spasky level chess we're talking here. once you're in the past the last TV timeout, you know you've got maybe 4 or 5 shifts left in the game. you're up one. you know at some point there's going to be a defensive zone draw. you mix your lines at this point to ENSURE that one of Zubrus, Zajac, or Neidermayer or even Mccammond are on the ice at all times. did you look at the faceoffs from tonight. outside of Elias, the Devils owned the dot. Elias was horrible.

Neidermayer was subtely bad tonight. Well, slow or lazy as hell is more like it. Maybe someone can remember the whole thing better, as i think it was a broken play or miscommunication. There was one sequence in the defensive zone where he stood absolutely still and watched the point man and half boards Ranger. I mean total lost, lazy or frozen...whatever you want to call it.

Grandpa had him out there during another lazy shift with about 5:00 left, then he sends him back out there a shift later. I had a Carpenter flashback for a minute.

[sundstrom]

and while i'm a zubrus supporter, calling zubrus the 2nd best center on the team is damning him with faint praise. there's no way that a guy who's been playing wing for most of the last month should be out there in that situation playing center. c'mon now.

gun to your head - who do you want taking an important faceoff? elias or zubrus? i don't care if zubrus hasn't played center in the last 2 years. i KNOW that Elias is terrible to begin with and against the likes of chris drury, there's vitually no chance he's winning the draw.

he IS the 2nd best center. he's a better center than elias when you consider what the position calls for. of course elias is a much better player and winger but not at center. i'm aware that you don't put a lot of stock in faceoffs and i think you know that i do. it's why for years i wanted yanic perrault stashed on the 4th line. it's why i would have driven to minnesotta and paid for my season tix next year up front to get eric belanger. the devils really owned this game tonight and yet they still lost. that's what shows that little things can have a huge effect. one of those "little things" is faceoffs.

i do not want to say i told you so on this, but if the devils bow out early in the playoffs and its clear that a misconceived PP and a poor record on faceoffs from Elias show any affect, well that i will not forgive. and i'm going to blame some of the people in this room.

[njdevil26]

Zubrus had TEN minutes of ice time tonight. What the hell... really. And why is NO ONE talking about this in the media?

[CADevilsFan]

these are things that happen in hockey. they're about execution and "puck luck". my arguments this evening are on a coach not putting his team in the best position to win.

So the converse happens and you'd be here singing JL's praises? I don't think so. I said the Kovy trade wouldn't happen and if it did I'd post of picture of me eating my head, and I did. Sometimes I feel like this website is all about b!tching and not giving credit where it's due. Perhaps that's unfair of me, but I get really sick of reading nothing but negative posts by some posters.

[The Facepainter]

Spot on Tri, I know it seems like the norm to bash the hell out of either (a)player(s)/coach when they lose, it happens. I haven't seen one slight of elias for not scoring SH or Langs for missing that backhander, either one would have sealed the game. Hindsight is 20/20. It happens and is a part of hockey, let's move on.

I feel the same way as well. Last year the devil's lossed 3-0 and had absolutelly no life against the rags in their last meeting of the season. Tonight the devils would have run away with this game if it weren't the puck luck lundquist was having. I look at that game, and I wonder how the rags would ever beat us again, that's if we miraculously met in the post season. I did not have that feeling against anyone last year. The Devils are beginning to feel good about their game, that's all that matters goin into the playoffs.

[Triumph]

okay a+ on the godfather reference as one of the rarer-cited lines -

there's not 'virtually no chance' he is winning the draw. if drury is a 55% guy and elias is 40%, then drury is 65% to win it. i obviously want zubrus taking an important faceoff, but i don't want zubrus with niedermayer and clarkson out on the ice, nor do i want lemaire shifting lines around with a minute to go.

[CADevilsFan]

d'oh double post.

Edited March 26, 2010 by CADevilsFan

[Vic Rattlehead18]

Zubrus had TEN minutes of ice time tonight. What the hell... really. And why is NO ONE talking about this in the media?

and Peters with 1:44 of ice time...What is the point of even dressing this guy? Just to have one pointless fight? Please. Pando barely got on the ice too.

[maxpower]

Zubrus had TEN minutes of ice time tonight. What the hell... really. And why is NO ONE talking about this in the media?

what media? TG's still getting to the bottom of why STH's were allowed in the press box and on the radio. it's not his writing style, he's not going to ask questions, and he's not a fan or an ideologue, so he's never going to get riled up enough to ask questions like that.

not to mention, if they cut off his access, what good is he?

if someone like me was a beat reporter, I would have been exiled and fired in a month. it's a business

[Jerrydevil]

i do not want to say i told you so on this, but if the devils bow out early in the playoffs and its clear that a misconceived PP and a poor record on faceoffs from Elias show any affect, well that i will not forgive. and i'm going to blame some of the people in this room.

We hit Brian Rolston at 4 o'clock this morning.

[sundstrom]

why would you mix your lines with 4 minutes left in the game? are you really saying that if zubrus had been out there and had missed his center assignment that you wouldn't be on here yelling about that?

furthermore, while elias is a disaster as a faceoff man, the top two lines have been absolute dynamite at generating scoring chances the last two games.

re: zubrus - i'd be mad if they didn't collapse but i wouldn't be saying he shouldn't have been out there. what's to say that he would miss the assignment? JL has NO problem mixing lines whenever so what's terrible about making sure a center is out there to take draws.

re: top two lines - i'll admit that i was not a fan of breaking up zzpop but zajac and kovalchuk have worked and of course, parise can work with anyone so he and elias have made it happen. but i continue to assert that rolston has not added anything to his line.

he should at least be on the same line as Elias to cover him on faceoffs. if not on regular shifts, in the endgame. their options after the icing were Elias or Langs. both are awful. Langs has taken that faceoff in the past, but not tonight. they're going to have a hard time at the end of games in the playoffs because Zajac can't be everywhere at once.

this is the point i've been trying to make as well.

Neidermayer was subtely bad tonight. Well, slow or lazy as hell is more like it. Maybe someone can remember the whole thing better, as i think it was a broken play or miscommunication. There was one sequence in the defensive zone where he stood absolutely still and watched the point man and half boards Ranger. I mean total lost, lazy or frozen...whatever you want to call it.

Grandpa had him out there during another lazy shift with about 5:00 left, then he sends him back out there a shift later. I had a Carpenter flashback for a minute.

i think the play you're referring to was more a fault of andy greene who started after the puck and then stopped and had a miscommunication with neidermayer. yeah, he's slow and does some dumb things but i don't think he's been super terrible lately.

[Triumph]

yea, TG is asking 'why wasn't ilya kovalchuk used in the shootout?', which is basically because he sucks at the shootout and isn't any good at it.