NFT: Devils - Bolts Game 4

I’ll be at Game 5 on Saturday and expect to see the Bolts close out the round

Good move to insert him and hopefully he keeps it up.

TB looked frustrated and off their game in the 3rd period on Monday night. As Daneyko pointed out, Blake Coleman had a lot to do with that.

That's a good recipe for the Devils and may be the only one because TB has more talent obviously. Win tonight and this series likely goes the distance.

and against all odds hope I'll be there for game 7.... LOng odds, but anything can happen

for putting Schneider in. Where's PatchoguePete with today's pearls of wisdumb?

at the end of the game when Sergachev was trying to fight him. Maybe he will actually kill him.

at the end of game 3 that I punched my bed in excitement.

I forgot my wife's foot was under there (as she was trying to go to sleep).

Needless to say she was pretty pissed off at me. I told her I couldnt help it and now I have to watch in the basement tonight.

- Obviously I watched the 2 games closely in TB along with the 3 reg season games and was at game 3
-Not sure whether its the acquisition of McDonagh but especially in person I was really impressed by how they move the puck out of the zone for the first half of the game the Devs were thoroughly frustrated at the lack of chances and ability to forecheck at all. As the game wore on they were better, but Tampa really is the more skilled team
-Devils have to stay out of the penalty box, TB's PP is on fire. They called it real tight the other night, so if that keeps up it could be a big factor because TB's PK isn't very good.

Will be very interesting to see how tonight goes. I felt if we fell down 2 goals we would have been in real trouble. Luckily we didn't. Would be nice to see the Devs get the first goal once.
- Kilorn has been a killer. Hopefully we can keep getting contributions from our 2nd and 3rd lines like the other night.

It was on my side of the ice and I know Conacher broke his stick forechecking. As he was coming towards the bench to get another one, Hall did try to screen him off a bit, the puck went in the TB zone, I followed the puck in and as I glanced over and Hall had his hands in the air and the crowd was going crazy. Did Conacher take a shot at him?

I'm also very intrigued to see how the fighting that closed out Game 3 spills into (or doesn't spill into) Game 4.

Fighting of any kind is advantage Devils.

Coleman is a pain in the ass. I hope he keeps rattling their cage.

In comment 13919170 Chris684 said:

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Fighting of any kind is advantage Devils. Coleman is a pain in the ass. I hope he keeps rattling their cage.

Hard to argue with that. Whatever it takes, do it.

He had me at "I F%$&*ing own you!" when he was yelling that at Keessel the last time they played the Pens.

In comment 13919177 Stu11 said:

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He had me at "I F%$&*ing own you!" when he was yelling that at Keessel the last time they played the Pens.

+ 1 Love his fire !!!!

great penalty killer and can create top level chances with his skating ability

He is one of those players that you appreciate more in the playoffs.

Now let's hope Hynes benches Lovejoy tonight.

he just nearly gifted a goal with a terrible pass in his own zone right to TB.

Hopefully we can extend the season Saturday. I do think most of us as Devs fans have to realize that a long playoff run this year was not in the offing, especially the way we match up with any of the top 4 seeds in the East. Teams like the Bolts, Boston, Pitt, and Washington are loaded with top end talent. This roster is still a work in progress, especially on D. This season has really been a special one for me. I've really re-connected with the team on an every night basis and have gotten to share it with my 10 year old son for the first time. Went to 5 or 6 games including the Toronto one where we clinched a birth and the win in game 3. Those were great nights at the Rock. The emergence of Hall as an MVP candidate and his scoring streaks has been great. Hopefully the future is bright, we are in good cap shape so we can aggressively go after a guy like John Carlson or maybe even get in the Erik Karlsson sweepstakes ( A Long shot I know)and really give us that Norris candidate type Dman that we need. I feel Schneider playing the way he did these past few games has been huge for his confidence going forward. Jay I know you want him gone and are in love with Grubauer, but as you saw he spit the bit vs. Columbus and got yanked, so a #1 goalie is nothing to spit at and take for granted (Ask Philly).

I feel the same way about this season. I totally re-connected with hockey, it's a tremendous sport. The Devils had a great season overall and this is one of the rare times I truly felt anything after making the playoffs was pure gravy.

There is a lot to look forward to for Devils fans.

As for the game last night itself, I came away with a major theme. After the Devils upped the aggression on Monday night and really turned things into more of a street fight, I thought that would rattle TB and intimidate them a little bit. I have to say I was very surprised by the physical play of TB, they definitely didnt back down from the challenge. We know they are super skilled but credit to them for withstanding the Devils push.

The Devils played well. It ultimately came down to not finding the back of the net on more than one of their many early opportunities. The Zajac and Maroon breakaways didnt net results for us. Credit to AV. Hell of a game last night.

Hall has had better games. Losing Vatanin is huge . he's by far their #1 Dman. Don't see the hit as dirty, but very cheap. Toook a run at him and totally blind sided him from the side. Did leave his feet a bit and the contact to the head/jaw is debatable. Either way Kucherov has to pay for that Saturday.

They had several chances to tie it up but failed. Stu I am beginning to change my tone on Schneider. I think it is clear that his poor play was tied to the injury as he has played well these past two games. TB is clearly the superior team but hopefully the Devils can get another win on Saturday.

how little we have gotten out of the PP. we have the 2 5 on 3 goals, but 5 on 4 has been atrocious, and TB has a pedestrian PK. Until last night they had had absolutely torched us on the PP. Bryce broke it down how we did a much better job last night of not chasing Kucherov on the PP and instead cut off his passing lanes. definitely worked.

In comment 13920807 Stu11 said:

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how little we have gotten out of the PP. we have the 2 5 on 3 goals, but 5 on 4 has been atrocious, and TB has a pedestrian PK. Until last night they had had absolutely torched us on the PP. Bryce broke it down how we did a much better job last night of not chasing Kucherov on the PP and instead cut off his passing lanes. definitely worked.

The Devils really need to add a top defenseman in FA, Carlson, and get lucky with some prospect notably Sissons or Jacobs. It's too bad that Jeremy Davies decided to return to college for another season. He appears to be another late round steal for the Devils and he is already a very talented offensive defenseman.

In comment 13921624 Jay on the Island said:

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The Devils really need to add a top defenseman in FA, Carlson, and get lucky with some prospect notably Sissons or Jacobs. It's too bad that Jeremy Davies decided to return to college for another season. He appears to be another late round steal for the Devils and he is already a very talented offensive defenseman.

Based on how hard he went after Shattenkirk last year I would totally expect Shero to be hot on Carlson's trail come July 1st.