Well, I didn't see a total dud against the Mighty Dukes coming. That game was fucking stupid!
The Devils actually looked pretty good in the first, crisp and on the front foot creating chances. Which obviously means the Ducks were going to score first. Of all the things that were certain after Dostal made several high end saves and Timo hit the crossbar - of course the first shot was going to go in. An uncharacteristic Dzone mistake by Kovacevic saw the puck squirt out front and Markstrom was fooled by a change-up front point blank range. Here we go again. It's such a strange phenomenon - when they come out hot they give up the first, when they come out badly they have weathered the storm.
The wheels got very loose in the second. Penalties didn't help, but the rhythm didn't carry over at all - they just didn't have it. Nico ended his Lady Bing campaign with one play (very weird call on that one), Noted goon Bratt took his place right afterwards. They couldn't establish much on 5v5, and mishmashing lines because of all the penalties led to some sloppy play, and barely cracked .5 xG in the 2nd. For the boomers who think xG is scawwy, that is not good at all.
The third saw more uninspired play, and I was actually a little surprised we came back from 2-0 down. I debated switching over to USA-Canada WJC game, but I have a duty to all 4 of you who read this drivel. The only real silver lining I'd take away is we did fight back while playing their D- game, although it was the Ducks. So who knows.
This team hasn't found the structure and compete they were playing with before the 3 day holiday break. They were bleeding chances, particularly on the rush, and Markstrom held down the fort stopping multiple breakaways, 2 on 1s, and in-zone chances. This guy was the only one who showed up yesterday and to paraphrase Keefe postgame: he should be a little pissed at his teammates. If you think any goal against him was his fault, you would be incorrect. An uncharacteristic brain fart from Kovacevic on the first, and an inexplicably bad pinch by Pesce (and poorly played 2 on 1 from Luke), and a 5 man self inflicted screen (2 for 1 by Dougie) on the 3rd and we lose. Gotta clean this shit up, because the last few games haven't been very good at all defensively. Are we spoiled? Maybe, but I like being spoiled, I'm a good boy and deserve it. So are you, we sat through some very dark days to get here.
Further, the depth scoring continues to be problematic. This isn't a secret. All we're asking is a goal here and there from one of you 6 and we are carrying 3-4 cardio merchants and one guy who can't fucking skate. I have no idea why MacDermid continues to see time, he blew a point blank chance, got pick pocketed like it was nothing, doesn't back check well, misses hits constantly and has to ride the pine when we need anything productive. Sweet breakaway chance dude (please don't kill me). But the Ducks have a heavy lineup, right? No they dont - they have two over-the-hill meatheads who can barely skate themselves. We need more scoring, and this guy does not do that, and we wound up running out an 11 forward lineup on the front end of a back to back - with a very good team on the docket today. Oh but the guys say he makes them feel bigger. Well, yeah they aren't going to say, "yeah man he fucking is bad at hockey." And by the way, he has been on the physical ice surface when Siegs got hurt last year, when Lazar got hurt this year, and when Max Domi went after Nemec last year. He watched Dillon fight his fight, and Kovacevic dealt with Rassmussen.
Why are we carrying Tatar if he isn't going to play in a role? He's not a fourth liner, and while his metrics have been good with brutal lineys, it seems like he is not long for this team. Waive him now if Keefe doesn't want to use him, we have cheaper options in the AHL.
I appreciate Mercer and Cotter coming out of hibernation, but the 3rd line is a linchpin line in the NHL and ours has been brutal as constructed. Below are rates and actual GF/GA as evidence that it's not working as a threesome, and Cotter-Haula certainly doesn't work:
5v5 from Natural Stat Trick:
Mercer - Haula - Cotter: 50.8 xGF%, 49.8 CF%, 3 GF, 6 GA
Mercer - Cotter - w/o Haula: 71.6 xGF%, 53.6 CF%, 4F, 1 GA
Mercer - Haula - w/o Cotter: 63.0 xGF%, 50.0% CF, 3 GF, 2 GA
Cotter - Haula - w/o Mercer: 47.7 xGF%, 46.6 CF%, 6 GF, 7 GA
Haula seems to be the biggest problem here, it's been 16 games since he registered a point. He even went 38% in the dot last night, which was his one redeeming skill. Love this guy, and he has been a great part of this team, but we need results Erik. Maybe give Dowling a game at 3C.
Bastian sucks. He took a long shift, and found himself netfront on a pass from Timo (or Nico I forget). If he changes, Noesen buries it. Bastian did not. That was the only time I even noticed him or heard his name.
Some other notes:
I'm not really sure what the NHL was doing with the Winter Classic, moving it to NYE feels like overthinking. I get avoiding CFB bowl games, but at this point the Winter Classic is established on New Year's Day. It's a thing, own it and continue to do it, regardless of the competition, the NBA did fine on Christmas. Not even going to get into the matchup, they dug their own grave on that one picking this well in advance, but Wrigley was certainly a cool choice. The NHL continues to be the best product with shoestring marketing.
Second, I am sorry to all Optimum customers, It really blows when billion dollar companies try to leverage customers and paint the other one as the bad guy. Like clockwork their finger pointing campaign was gross yesterday and will continue to get worse. Not sure who really is the asshole here, probably both to a degree. The current state of the entertainment industry is a bad one: Cable is falling and streaming is far from profitable to date, and fans pay the price. We just want to watch the games, guys.
Back to the Devils - we are still a wagon kiddos, tough loss but I trust in Fitz to find the right pieces we need. Happy New Year, and hope it's a great one for all of you (not you, Valiquette).
LGD
