Sorry for not writing anything the last three games, if you care. Just didn't see the point with there being nothing on the line.
I was coming into this game with a weird sense of "maybe they can surprise me, but I really have low expectations, but they maybe can do it, but man it hasn't been good, but maybe kinda" and yeah, that was what we all should've expected.
Spoiler alert: you will see the words "push back" A LOT.
Going in I didn't really like the messaging from Keefe. We all know what Carolina is, and he indicated that too - they come at you hard with an aggressive F1/F2 forecheck and the game plan was to just accept that and survive? Check me if I'm reading into that too much, but I saw zero pushback and just an acceptance that we were going to get dominated. Fine, if that's your gameplan the counter punches need to be 100% effective and that leaves very little wiggle room for error. And that is how you wind up losing 4-1 with a too-little-too-late mostly anemic offensive effort.
The first 10 minutes they were overwhelmed and looked like a deer in headlights. Carolina was their usual relentless self, and the Devils just sat back on their heels and let it happen. PUSH BACK! All your plan is to high flip it out and hope for the best in the neutral zone? Because when you're on your heels they aren't going to win puck battles in the neutral zone when your entire game plan is to bunker and withstand pressure. The second half of the period was a little better, but mostly because they weren't in their zone the whole time - we only wound up generating 1 HD Scoring Chance and .08 xG.
Part of the push back has to be the Power Play - this was the ONLY place the Devils had a marked advantage in the series. And, well, dear readers it was not. In fact, Carolina's PK was the better unit offensively - they generated more opportunities on the kill and converted on a PP of their own. Further, you CANNOT take a fucking too many men penalty during one regardless of whether it was at the end or not. Their zone entries were a mess and barely could get anything set up. Carolina, again uses high pressure PKs and that has been where the Devils struggle. They need to get in, get set up and get moving. Also, you absolutely need to win the draws cleanly - Carolina is a master of disruption and PK wins or contested FOs led to the puck getting cleared.
2nd period, usually our best, was our worst. All season, the 1sts have largely been "feeling out" and get a little intermission pep talk and we go out and push back. Well, we didn't push back and fell deeper onto our heels. The Canes had 34 (THIRTY FOUR!) shot attempts at 5v5, and 10 HD Scoring Chances. For those doing the math at home, yes that is over 100 shot attempts and 30 HD Chances and nearly 6 xGs generated over the course of a full 60. Fucking awful. Nico with a tough turnover and Glass let that Hall pass get to Stankoven.. these are small details they need to clean up.
Nico did get us on the board in what felt more like a relief, but I think collectively we knew that wasn't really going to help at this point. Nice snipe, nice play be Pesce to get it up quickly and Bratt to lead him in space. Even though it was 4 on 4, that is how you can get through Carolina, quick pass through their F1/F2 forecheck and you CAN get rush chances. The Devils actually did create a few of them, releasing from the defensive high slot. More of that please. Need to get the rush chances and create sustained O-zone pressure.
Marky had an interesting game - he was under siege, stopped a couple of breakaways, buttttt man that first one from distance he really has to get. It's the Carolina low to high volume shooting shit that I was worried about and his kryptonite. Maybe he could've squeezed off the 2nd one? However, I am not going to kill him for anything - this was a team loss and he did well - wound up with a .932 sv pct and saved a few goals above expected.
Keefe shuffled up the lines for the third, and this is something I had mentioned on the podcast and a few other people have called out: split up Bratt and Nico to make them choose the matchup. We got better this period, controlled the play (25-13 shot attempts, 11-7 scoring chances) but couldn't get anything on the board. Our best chance - Timo got robbed on the doorstep and shockingly the game could've been very interesting had that gone in. But, like I said above we cannot count on capitalizing on one moment a period to win - We needed to get more pressure on Anderson, we made his life too easy. Their goaltending was a weakness and we made it a strength. Say it with me: WE NEED MORE PUSH BACK.
The big story coming out of this was the MASH unit from the 3rd. Luke came back after getting a Bud Kilmer treatment, but losing Dillon and Glass are concerning simply from a bodies perspective. Word was Dillon wanted to come back out, but that is because he's a tough MFer. Losing Glass hurts our most vulnerable position, and Lazar has been flat out unplayable this year. Not sure what we do here, but injuries have once again tanked this team.
Ok. So deep breath. I still think there is a path here. Remember when we lost 5-1 twice to the Rangers and were getting dunked on by their fanbase? Well we flipped a switch and came back in that one. Need to get this next game, get on the board first and...
PUSH FUCKING BACK!
Stop with the conceding philosophy. Be more aggressive on pucks. Get some dump-and-chase pucks back.
How'd your round go, Valiquette? 70s? 80s?
LGD