GDT: Rangers @ Devils

[thelastonealive]

Agreed. Looking at possible opponents there's Ottawa, who has Leclaire and the other Brodeur, Philadelphia with their minor league flavor of the week, Montreal with Halak and Price, and Boston with Thomas and Rask.

Clearly of those, Halak/Price will be the best, but they are still beatable goaltenders who I would not put on Lundqvist's level. If Thoams decides to play like the goalie he was last year, he would obviously be on Lundqvist's level, but I can't see him just turning it on after the mediocre season he's had.

If Thomas even plays. Rask has been getting the vast majority of the starts lately.

[Demonic26]

the point is we are losing to trash teams we should be beating.... yea we are in the playoffs but dont plan on making it far playing like this

[thelastonealive]

the point is we are losing to trash teams we should be beating.... yea we are in the playoffs but dont plan on making it far playing like this

Why the hell not? Those trash teams won't be there! Problem solved.

[Demonic26]

Why the hell not? Those trash teams won't be there! Problem solved.

hope your right... i would like to think that.

[DevilNurn]

The Devils lost this game themselves.

...The Devils won this game until there were 20 seconds remaining. Couple bounces go the wrong way and they end up losing but still getting a point. I don't see at all how they lost it.

[Sickman]

I gotta say I would normally agree with you, but you are overreacting here. The Devils played a very good game. The only reason we didn't win is bad luck on our part, good luck on the rags part, Lundqvist stealing the game, poor coaching by Lemaire, and horrible decisions by Parise and Elias on the SO. 99 times out of 100 this game is a clear win for the Devils.

All I have been waiting for is this team to play good solid hockey in consecutive games for months now. Its just not going to happen. Its always something every game. I'm sick of the bad luck excuse or hot goaltender excuse. I'm just tired of hearing it. How much bad luck can a team have? What is the excuse for tonights second period? The Rangers are fighting for their season so you know they'll likely come balls to the wall. And the Devils respond the way they did? Then to allow another late goal. Can you imagine if this was the playoffs. We would all be sh!tt!ng bricks going into the OT thinking they were going to lose.

I take nothing out of being the "better" team tonight. The Rangers are a terrible team. How many breakaways and odd man rushes did they give up tonight. It was so sad it wasn't even funny.

[The Facepainter]

Devils simply dominated. It was just unfortunate that the rags pulled off a miracle. There was so many great things that happened in this game, but I as well as most others will be dwelling on that Carolina-like goal at the end. The difference between this game and Carolina games was that the devils continued to dominate in the ot afterwards.

[metallidevils]

...The Devils won this game until there were 20 seconds remaining. Couple bounces go the wrong way and they end up losing but still getting a point. I don't see at all how they lost it.

by having no finish whatsoever. two of the 3 goals were total garbage goals. lundqvist got clean beat on goal #3, and there should have been no rebound on goal #1.

[Random Poster]

...The Devils won this game until there were 20 seconds remaining. Couple bounces go the wrong way and they end up losing but still getting a point. I don't see at all how they lost it.

3 blown leads. It doesn't matter if there was 5 mins left or 20 seconds left. You blow 3 leads, you don't deserve to win.

I'll say it again. The game from start to finish was a prime example of what's been plaguing them all season and why i believe they'll be gone very early.

[Sickman]

by having no finish whatsoever. two of the 3 goals were total garbage goals. lundqvist got clean beat on goal #3, and there should have been no rebound on goal #1.

Gotta disagree here. All 3 goals were strong goals. First goal came off of crashing the net, so that is a good thing. The 2nd goal was a great shot off a nice pass to the slot and the 3rd was just a heavy well placed bomb.

[Pepperkorn]

HA! My husband switched the channel on me right after the icing call... So Devils snatched defeat from the jaws of victory eh? -- nice going boys.

[Devils Pride 26]

fvck henry you celebrate like you've accomplished something when you beat us in a shootout. your career is extremely unfufiling, let me know when you reach the ecf

[RSC]

If Thomas even plays. Rask has been getting the vast majority of the starts lately.

Has he? I haven't watched the Bruins as often as I should lately. Did this start after Thomas got pulled in the game against the Devils, or was this happening before then as well?

[Daniel]

Agreed. Looking at possible opponents there's Ottawa, who has Leclaire and the other Brodeur, Philadelphia with their minor league flavor of the week, Montreal with Halak and Price, and Boston with Thomas and Rask.

Clearly of those, Halak/Price will be the best, but they are still beatable goaltenders who I would not put on Lundqvist's level. If Thoams decides to play like the goalie he was last year, he would obviously be on Lundqvist's level, but I can't see him just turning it on after the mediocre season he's had.

Rask has been really good.

[Legion15]

i've always been against a shootout deciding a game. go back to the old format, 5 min OT, and if it's still tied, it ends tied. save the shootouts for skills competitions before the all-star game. your goalie hiccups once, or one of your shooters just misses, it's all over.

[thelastonealive]

Has he? I haven't watched the Bruins as often as I should lately. Did this start after Thomas got pulled in the game against the Devils, or was this happening before then as well?

It started before that, but I don't think Thomas has started a game since then. Last I heard (and this is probably two or three games ago for them), Rask had started something like six in a row and played in nine in a row or something like that.

[Satans Hockey]

I don't know if this has been stated but a devils-rangers first round matchup is a real possible scenario. Philly and boston can easily slide out of 7th and 8th

[Devil Dan 56]

Agreed. Looking at possible opponents there's Ottawa, who has Leclaire and the other Brodeur, Philadelphia with their minor league flavor of the week, Montreal with Halak and Price, and Boston with Thomas and Rask.

Clearly of those, Halak/Price will be the best, but they are still beatable goaltenders who I would not put on Lundqvist's level. If Thoams decides to play like the goalie he was last year, he would obviously be on Lundqvist's level, but I can't see him just turning it on after the mediocre season he's had.

Ottawa has been using Elliot. The other Brodeur is in the minors. Elliot seems to have taken the starting job from Leclaire.

[sundstrom]

Give it a rest. The guy won the shootout.

We had a chance to more or less put the nail in the Rangers coffin and blew it. Kind of reminds me of a certain game against a certain team from the Southeast in mid-April of last year. It's all a haze though.

bingo - from that last faceoff, it was just like carolina debacles.

I gotta agree that Lemaire choosing to have no good faceoff man on the ice in the last 90 seconds is completely inexcusable. That's just poor coaching right there, and very likely cost us the game and kept the rags season alive.

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?

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

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

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.

chomp on that gum though JL and keep making funny french-english commentary. but it's mirror time for you buddy.

What the hell did Zubrus do to Lemaire, man, hes being used correction abused worse than Sutter.

discussed above but it's like these coaches are the anti-triumph when it comes to zubrus.

Can we all agree at least that putting Peters out there was the right move? Great game Andrew.

you won't get me to agree. other than the last shot that took down an off-balanced shelley, he got destroyed in that fight. and because he's so terrible, it led to double shifting when pando/mcammond needed to get minutes.

hopefully, that's the last time we see him in a Devils uniform other than the team photo at the end of the season.

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.

[devilsrule33]

you won't get me to agree. other than the last shot that took down an off-balanced shelley, he got destroyed in that fight. and because he's so terrible, it led to double shifting when pando/mcammond needed to get minutes.

hopefully, that's the last time we see him in a Devils uniform other than the team photo at the end of the season.

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.

Good points all around. I was being sarcastic about Peters though.

[RSC]

Ottawa has been using Elliot. The other Brodeur is in the minors. Elliot seems to have taken the starting job from Leclaire.

God damn it, I need to watch Center Ice more.

[maxpower]

bingo - from that last faceoff, it was just like carolina debacles.

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?

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

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

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.

chomp on that gum though JL and keep making funny french-english commentary. but it's mirror time for you buddy.

discussed above but it's like these coaches are the anti-triumph when it comes to zubrus.

you won't get me to agree. other than the last shot that took down an off-balanced shelley, he got destroyed in that fight. and because he's so terrible, it led to double shifting when pando/mcammond needed to get minutes.

hopefully, that's the last time we see him in a Devils uniform other than the team photo at the end of the season.

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.

when you spend the minimum on defensemen and give them big minutes, and you have one center on your roster, and he's not out on the ice, these things happen. it shouldn't have happened, but the conditions that allow these things to happen are on this team in spades. and if it happens to you once in the playoffs, it can be curtains. we got a lucky break last season where it took two gigantic fvckups in the end game to lose.

I have no confidence in them holding a 1 goal lead against anyone who is playing for their lives. hopefully we're really freaking prolific in the playoffs. you dominate the third, score twice, still lose (or go to OT in playoff sense).. and you can't fault the goalie on anything. just shouldn't happen.

[slasher72]

bingo - from that last faceoff, it was just like carolina debacles.

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?

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

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

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.

chomp on that gum though JL and keep making funny french-english commentary. but it's mirror time for you buddy.

discussed above but it's like these coaches are the anti-triumph when it comes to zubrus.

you won't get me to agree. other than the last shot that took down an off-balanced shelley, he got destroyed in that fight. and because he's so terrible, it led to double shifting when pando/mcammond needed to get minutes.

hopefully, that's the last time we see him in a Devils uniform other than the team photo at the end of the season.

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.

With 30 seconds left in overtime, I caught myself saying the same thing I said with less than a minute to go vs. Carolina last year, "clear the puck, clear the goddamn puck!!" And just like last year, the same end result.

I dont know what it is with this team and Brodeur. It's almost a given that when they're put in crunch time versus either the Rangers or the Hurricanes, 9 times out of 10 they'll lose.

As for Lemaire leaving anytime soon, it wont happen. As long as he keeps the Devils winning during the regular season, Lou will keep bringing him back regardless of our postseason record. Lemaire is one of Lou's guys. He's not going anywhere anytime soon.

[maxpower]

With 30 seconds left in overtime, I caught myself saying the same thing I said with less than a minute to go vs. Carolina last year, "clear the puck, clear the goddamn puck!!" And just like last year, the same end result.

I dont know what it is with this team and Brodeur. It's almost a given that when they're put in crunch time versus either the Rangers or the Hurricanes, 9 times out of 10 they'll lose.

As for Lemaire leaving anytime soon, it wont happen. As long as he keeps the Devils winning during the regular season, Lou will keep bringing him back regardless of our postseason record. Lemaire is one of Lou's guys. He's not going anywhere anytime soon.

there was nothing Brodeur could do except take the penalty himself, and if he moved, the coverage was so bad it would open something else up.

[sundstrom]

when you spend the minimum on defensemen and give them big minutes, and you have one center on your roster, and he's not out on the ice, these things happen. it shouldn't have happened, but the conditions that allow these things to happen are on this team in spades. and if it happens to you once in the playoffs, it can be curtains. we got a lucky break last season where it took two gigantic fvckups in the end game to lose.

I have no confidence in them holding a 1 goal lead against anyone who is playing for their lives. hopefully we're really freaking prolific in the playoffs. you dominate the third, score twice, still lose (or go to OT in playoff sense).. and you can't fault the goalie on anything. just shouldn't happen.

by "lucky break" i'd think you'd mean "unlucky" from the devils point of view - unless you're insinuating that it was lucky because it was so glaring that lou should have done something about it in the offseason regarding defensemen. I'm just not sure what you meant by that.

regarding the team's current construction; roster-wise, assuming good health, this team has EXACTLY the kind of roster that wins in the playoffs. but JL refuses to use it that way. PP's get squandered because the wrong personnel is out there. elias and his for sh!t faceoff skills are counted on at center when zubrus is available. rolston is allowed to continue to get top 6 minutes when offense happens in spite of him, not because (sorry, i'm not giving him credit on kovalchuk's goal - i think it's amazing that he actually hit the net with his shot. i mean, in the intermission interview, he said - "they're laying off me." of course they are - you're sh!t and no threat).

it stinks that TG can't ask these kinds of questions of JL:

why do you feel elias @ center is viable when he has such difficulties on faceoffs? do you not find puck possession off faceoffs to be valuable?

what has zubrus done that you felt he could no longer get 2nd line minutes?

why, when it clearly looks like it hasn't worked, have you stuck with a five forward power play when other options clearly exist?

i assume it's because it would get TG's access limited and probably get JL to give some francophile "becaus i'm da coach" answer.

there was nothing Brodeur could do except take the penalty himself, and if he moved, the coverage was so bad it would open something else up.

agreed - i don't fault marty in the slightest on this one. he was very good when he had to be. the 3 rangers goals were no fault of his.