Josh Biringer: G6 Review: Dismal Defense Too Much For Devils to Overcome

Thanks Josh.

I agree with your thoughts as I was having similar ones myself. The defense has been the largest culprit to our inconsistency IMO. Seems we are missing the Marino/Graves pairing more than expected.

Also, the lack of 60 minutes of effort is very concerning. Sure we have some high end talent but not enough to get by without a full 100% compete level, for all players, from the drop of the puck.

Success in 1 season is a funny thing. Some times it makes a team hungrier the next year and other times it makes them feel complacent (like we can turn it on when needed). Unfortunately, I see a little complacency in the Devils game and not enough "I'll die on this hill for this team."

Can't wait for the 10-9 shootout tomorrow night! Great offenses on both sides, with inconsistent defense and terrible goaltending.

Schmid being absolutely terrible is by far my biggest concern. We know exactly what Vitek is, he's an average or slightly above league average goalie. But we saw him burn out last season. If Schmid can't reliably play half of the games this year, Fitz NEEDS to make a move. Because we can't start Vitek for ~55+ games, he's just going go fall apart again.

The funny thing is, the team is still one of the best 5v5 teams in the league so far even with the no-show starts and inconsistent play. Just goes to show how great this team is when they're actually playing. When they're on their game, they dominate. Just wish we could consistently see them play that way for full games at a time, right from puck drop.

To early to trade for Blackwood?

Thanks Josh.

I agree with your thoughts as I was having similar ones myself. The defense has been the largest culprit to our inconsistency IMO. Seems we are missing the Marino/Graves pairing more than expected.

Also, the lack of 60 minutes of effort is very concerning. Sure we have some high end talent but not enough to get by without a full 100% compete level, for all players, from the drop of the puck.

Success in 1 season is a funny thing. Some times it makes a team hungrier the next year and other times it makes them feel complacent (like we can turn it on when needed). Unfortunately, I see a little complacency in the Devils game and not enough "I'll die on this hill for this team."
- Crushers68

I never understood the hate for graves, I thought he was doing a lot of things right for the team.

New bottom 6 in morning today:

Toffoli-Jack-Timo
Palat-Nico-Bratt
Haula-Mercer-Lazar
Holtz-McLeod-Bastian

Same D

New bottom 6 in morning today:

Toffoli-Jack-Timo
Palat-Nico-Bratt
Haula-Mercer-Lazar
Holtz-McLeod-Bastian

Same D
- vlongo4419

Has Lazar earned 3rd line and holtz been that bad

Has Lazar earned 3rd line and holtz been that bad
- dmarsden2988

Lazar's been pretty good tbh, i've liked a lot of his game so far to start this year(pretty much liked everyone on that 4th line. Nosek/Lazar/McLeod/Bastian have all been good). Holtz has been up and down for the most part, but he's been better than Mercer lol. I dont understand how Ruff is gonna bench Timo after 2.5 games of being poop, or bench/demote Holtz, but he continue to keep Mercer in the lineup when he's been completely invisible and a negative impact in every single game so far this year. He needs to sit for a game or something, he's been the worst player on the team.

Palat needs to not be in the top 6, Holtz should be there. It's clear this team has zero interest in letting him to play his strengths and they just want him to play a certain way. Just trade him for a goalie, idk. Let him go play somewhere that will allow him to play him game.