Sam Woo: Devils Demolish Pens 6-1, Nico Daws With 37 Saves

If Daws is OK with playing back to back, why not?

Great team performance. Love seeing Mercer on the wing, really creates two quality lines. You can see the future, just have to survive the present, and games like last night make it easier.

Since the start of 2022:

Jack Hughes - 19 points in 16 games(97 pt pace)
Jesper Bratt - 17 points in 15 games(93 pt pace)
Nico Hischier - 15 points in 18 games(68 pt pace)
Yegor Sharangovich - 12 points in 16 games(62 pt pace)
Dawson Mercer - 11 points in 19 games(47 pt pace)

Just keep building around that. They should keep improving and getting better/more consistent. Hopefully add a top 6 scoring winger from the outside as well as Holtz into the lineup next season, thats shaping up to be a formidable top 6/top9.

All we need to do is somehow figure out the goaltending(easier said than done though). If that happens, and we can stay healthy, this team is a bubble team next season and will be playing meaningful games in the final month or two.

Since the start of 2022:

Jack Hughes - 19 points in 16 games(97 pt pace)
Jesper Bratt - 17 points in 15 games(93 pt pace)
Nico Hischier - 15 points in 18 games(68 pt pace)
Yegor Sharangovich - 12 points in 16 games(62 pt pace)
Dawson Mercer - 11 points in 19 games(47 pt pace)

Just keep building around that. They should keep improving and getting better/more consistent. Hopefully add a top 6 scoring winger from the outside as well as Holtz into the lineup next season, thats shaping up to be a formidable top 6/top9.

All we need to do is somehow figure out the goaltending(easier said than done though). If that happens, and we can stay healthy, this team is a bubble team next season and will be playing meaningful games in the final month or two.
- vlongo4419

They won’t maintain it

They won’t maintain it
- shvingter88

Nope; but it’s impressive they could reel that off at all.

Gillies(-9.8 GSAE in 13 games) vs Lankinen(-12.5 GSAE in 13 games) in net. One of the worst goalie matchups you could get in the league. Could be a shootout tonight.

Lines are the same as last night.

I know this is a pot calling the kettle black moment, but Chicago is pretty embarrassing of a team too.

Jack's next contract looking like a steal....

Jack's next contract looking like a steal....
- redmonsters

Yep, as expected. Gonna be looked at in the same light as the MacKinnon deal by the 3rd year of it...maybe sooner at this rate.

We got lucky he decided to not wait until the offseason, and didnt hold out for a bridge deal.

my god Gillies is horrible.

Ty Smith is actually nowhere near an NHL-level player this season. Holy...

Nico has to bury that against an AHL goalie...

Back to back breakaways we don't convert on comes back the other way leading to a Hawks goal. Unlucky.

Wow what a pass from Sevo

Ty Smith is actually nowhere near an NHL-level player this season. Holy...
- vlongo4419

It's unbelievable that he's still on the team at this point. What is he learning playing bottom pairing minutes and getting trashed every night.

It's unbelievable that he's still on the team at this point. What is he learning playing bottom pairing minutes and getting trashed every night.
- Pomegrant

Agreed. I get not wanting to "give up" on him but he should absolutely be in the AHL right now, and should've been for a few months now.

Agreed. I get not wanting to "give up" on him but he should absolutely be in the AHL right now, and should've been for a few months now.
- vlongo4419

I hate to sound stupid, it would not be a first, but he is Jack's roomate/friend. That might be the reason. I think ty could be a good NHL Dman, but needs a wake up call.

I hate to sound stupid, it would not be a first, but he is Jack's roomate/friend. That might be the reason. I think ty could be a good NHL Dman, but needs a wake up call.
- redmonsters

I think it's more to do with how thin we are at defense from an overall organizational standpoint. Most of the callups this season have been actively bad with the exception of White being merely decent.

I hate to sound stupid, it would not be a first, but he is Jack's roomate/friend. That might be the reason. I think ty could be a good NHL Dman, but needs a wake up call.
- redmonsters

Honestly I'm not sure that's part of it. I just think they figure it's best for him to try to play his way out of it, and maybe don't want to completely ruin his confidence by sending him down. I would love to see Walsh get a shot in his current role for sure though.

I agree he can still be an effective NHL dman, and be a good PP qb, but I think his projected ceiling has definitely taken a hit. I wouldn't give up on him, but I'm more willing to move him in a deal now than I was at this point last season.

So happy for Sieg to get a goal. He's been so good this year on the defensive side so it's nice for him to get one.

You know, it just hit me. Im starting to understand why the Devils essentially forced Blackwood to play through his injury.

Can't even be mad at Gillies though. He's a career AHLer for a reason. Just sucks we're at this point.

Unless the stars of this team are doing something, then nothing. Mango and Sauce do nothing, what a waste of salary cap.

You know, it just hit me. Im starting to understand why the Devils essentially forced Blackwood to play through his injury.

Can't even be mad at Gillies though. He's a career AHLer for a reason. Just sucks we're at this point.
- vlongo4419

While Gillies is terrible there should be something said about some of the things the players are doing on these plays. What is coaching doing in which they aren't teaching the players how to mark properly on rushes? Obviously an NHL caliber goalie makes a lot of these saves and we've lost a lot of games this way, but sometimes the defensive structure is just bafflingly bad.

How a penalty was not called for the haul down on Hischerr, shameful.

While Gillies is terrible there should be something said about some of the things the players are doing on these plays. What is coaching doing in which they aren't teaching the players how to mark properly on rushes? Obviously an NHL caliber goalie makes a lot of these saves and we've lost a lot of games this way, but sometimes the defensive structure is just bafflingly bad.
- Pomegrant

Yeah some players making boneheaded decisions(Graves pinch), not backchecking hard(Zacha), ect, but in the end you need your goalie to make the saves they should make. And sometimes make saves they shouldnt. If you score 5 goals, you should win every single time. We shouldn't need a touchdown to be able to win because our goalies can't keep a puck out of the net lol, but our goalies have consistently given up goals that should be a routine save for an NHL-calibur goalie.

Like the Hawks 2nd period power play goals, that's 3 goals on 0.59 xGs lol. None of those goals shouldve happened. All 3 were poor goalie positioning where he never gave himself a chance to make a save.(granted 1 was deflected off of Severson, but still)

CJ Turtoro's tweet sums it up, "If Gillies were only very bad instead of an unmitigated disaster, we might have won this game"