GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators @ New Jersey Devils - 7:00pm ET - Fri. Dec. 18th, 2009

caissie_1 wrote:

Gohan wrote:

Sens19 wrote:
Do you think Backstrom will be in net? I know they're getting them spare equipment by 2moro, but isnt it harder for a goalie to change equipment?

Equipment or not, the Sens have seen a lot of backup goaltenders this season...I don't follow MIN close enough to know how many games straight Backstrom has been in...I'd guess we'll see him, but I don't know.

The equipment angle is interesting though...I'm really not sure. Any goalies here? How would it affect you?

Well if there new it's hard cause there not broken in.... Your accostumed to your pads and the new ones feel weird and are different... It definetly affects you and takes time to get used to them...

Yeah but as Dawh said, they've always got a few sets of pads. I'm not sure they'd have to use anything completely new.

Sens19 wrote:

Michallica wrote:well, what a Dung way to lose. I hate new jersey

I dont. Its always fun to watch Brodeur play.

PP Sens

Can't stand him as a human being. When you have an affair with your wife's sister you break up two families.

Well, looks like I missed another snooze fest .

Sounds like they competed hard. No issue for me then.

Tomorrow should be a winnable game. I've watched a few (2 ) games from Minnie lately. Nothing to be scared about there, we can take a win, just don't let Johnsson and Zidlicky shoot on net, their forwards are good on rebounds.
We give 100% every night, so there won't be any 4-5 games losing streaks, which means this team is probably a playoff team .

Now, Murray has to find a defenseman who can shoot the puck badly, but trade deadline would not be too late.
I think we can beat NJ in a playoffs series though, because we play hard every night, but that 7th or 8th spot, we have to avoid. 6th is perfect, I am not afraid of Buffalo or Boston.

marakh wrote:Now, Murray has to find a defenseman who can shoot the puck.

I'm not quite sure that's the problem. The puck-movement on the powerplay is so slow that on almost every shot the goalie has time to settle when facing the pointmen. Karlsson and Picard can both shoot but they're not going to cleanly beat top goaltenders very frequently.

I do think, though, that there has to be a more concerted effort on Clouston's part to get one of those two out when the Alfredsson line is on the ice. I love Phillips and Volchenkov but they are not taking advantage/can't take advantage of the opportunities that top line is creating. One shift in the third in particular leaps to mind.

asq2 wrote:

marakh wrote:Now, Murray has to find a defenseman who can shoot the puck.

I'm not quite sure that's the problem. The puck-movement on the powerplay is so slow that on almost every shot the goalie has time to settle when facing the pointmen. Karlsson and Picard can both shoot but they're not going to cleanly beat top goaltenders very frequently.

I do think, though, that there has to be a more concerted effort on Clouston's part to get one of those two out when the Alfredsson line is on the ice. I love Phillips and Volchenkov but they are not taking advantage/can't take advantage of the opportunities that top line is creating. One shift in the third in particular leaps to mind.

Is that the shift where they had NJ hemmed into their zone and Volchenkov refused to pinch down and keep the play alive, resulting in a Devils chance just seconds later?

I agree. Having those two out there to support the top line is a substantial issue, given the frequency...

marakh wrote:
I think we can beat NJ in a playoffs series though, because we play hard every night, but that 7th or 8th spot, we have to avoid. 6th is perfect, I am not afraid of Buffalo or Boston.

NJD is 1st overall right now, so that 8th spot wouldn't necessarily avoid them.

I agree though, only two teams that would worry me at this point are Washington and Pittsburgh---and even then, I would have faith in the team I've watched in the past two games.

asq2 wrote:

marakh wrote:Now, Murray has to find a defenseman who can shoot the puck.

I'm not quite sure that's the problem. The puck-movement on the powerplay is so slow that on almost every shot the goalie has time to settle when facing the pointmen. Karlsson and Picard can both shoot but they're not going to cleanly beat top goaltenders very frequently.

I do think, though, that there has to be a more concerted effort on Clouston's part to get one of those two out when the Alfredsson line is on the ice. I love Phillips and Volchenkov but they are not taking advantage/can't take advantage of the opportunities that top line is creating. One shift in the third in particular leaps to mind.

Because I think Picard and Karlsson are not deadly enough (yet), the strategy is not,
imo, really to give them as many shots as possible, which should be the case.
Also, Karlsson plays on the right side for now, so he should play more like Mike Green (move a lot) than a Matthieu Shneider. But of course, the experience is not there yet, so it is not effective enough.
Or we could play him on the left side, but if he loses that puck we're Diddled.
So while waiting, we should grab a RH shooting dude who can play on the left.

Gohan wrote:

marakh wrote:
I think we can beat NJ in a playoffs series though, because we play hard every night, but that 7th or 8th spot, we have to avoid. 6th is perfect, I am not afraid of Buffalo or Boston.

NJD is 1st overall right now, so that 8th spot wouldn't necessarily avoid them.

I agree though, only two teams that would worry me at this point are Washington and Pittsburgh---and even then, I would have faith in the team I've watched in the past two games.

Something's telling me that, as usual, Brodeur will slow down in February, especially with the Olympics, and he's not 30 anymore.
I see Philly waking up and Pittsburg winning the division.

I never even thought Jersey would make the playoffs (I've been predicting their downfall for three years now...still wrong) so I can buiy that theory. After having watched them play several times this seasons and considering the success they had without him last year, though, its obviously not all about Marty. He played alright last night and did his usual 3rd D-man stuff, but we didn't challenge him the way we did Miller. If NJD is to falter significantly down the stretch, it'll have to be more than just Brodeur who falls down.

marakh wrote:

asq2 wrote:

marakh wrote:Now, Murray has to find a defenseman who can shoot the puck.

I'm not quite sure that's the problem. The puck-movement on the powerplay is so slow that on almost every shot the goalie has time to settle when facing the pointmen. Karlsson and Picard can both shoot but they're not going to cleanly beat top goaltenders very frequently.

I do think, though, that there has to be a more concerted effort on Clouston's part to get one of those two out when the Alfredsson line is on the ice. I love Phillips and Volchenkov but they are not taking advantage/can't take advantage of the opportunities that top line is creating. One shift in the third in particular leaps to mind.

Because I think Picard and Karlsson are not deadly enough (yet), the strategy is not,
imo, really to give them as many shots as possible, which should be the case.
Also, Karlsson plays on the right side for now, so he should play more like Mike Green (move a lot) than a Matthieu Shneider. But of course, the experience is not there yet, so it is not effective enough.
Or we could play him on the left side, but if he loses that puck we're Diddled.
So while waiting, we should grab a RH shooting dude who can play on the left.

I'm pretty amazed with Karlsson; his play seems to be improving from period to period. I can't wait to see him 2 - 3 years down the road

TheAvatar wrote:

marakh wrote:

asq2 wrote:

marakh wrote:Now, Murray has to find a defenseman who can shoot the puck.

I'm not quite sure that's the problem. The puck-movement on the powerplay is so slow that on almost every shot the goalie has time to settle when facing the pointmen. Karlsson and Picard can both shoot but they're not going to cleanly beat top goaltenders very frequently.

I do think, though, that there has to be a more concerted effort on Clouston's part to get one of those two out when the Alfredsson line is on the ice. I love Phillips and Volchenkov but they are not taking advantage/can't take advantage of the opportunities that top line is creating. One shift in the third in particular leaps to mind.

Because I think Picard and Karlsson are not deadly enough (yet), the strategy is not,
imo, really to give them as many shots as possible, which should be the case.
Also, Karlsson plays on the right side for now, so he should play more like Mike Green (move a lot) than a Matthieu Shneider. But of course, the experience is not there yet, so it is not effective enough.
Or we could play him on the left side, but if he loses that puck we're Diddled.
So while waiting, we should grab a RH shooting dude who can play on the left.

I'm pretty amazed with Karlsson; his play seems to be improving from period to period. I can't wait to see him 2 - 3 years down the road

He was dominant in every facet at some of the games in the WJC last year. Still made some mistakes defensively but overall he was . It's not a coincidence he was named best D of the tournament. Considering all the great defensemen that were there (albeit no doughty or bogosian), that's quite an accomplishment.
The talent and smart were always there, just a matter of doing it at the NHL level. I, too, cannot wait.

Gohan wrote:I never even thought Jersey would make the playoffs (I've been predicting their downfall for three years now...still wrong) so I can buiy that theory. After having watched them play several times this seasons and considering the success they had without him last year, though, its obviously not all about Marty. He played alright last night and did his usual 3rd D-man stuff, but we didn't challenge him the way we did Miller. If NJD is to falter significantly down the stretch, it'll have to be more than just Brodeur who falls down.

Well I'm not talking about a downfall from 1st to 8th obviously, more like slowing down from 1st to 4th/5th style. It's not just Brodeur, but at some point they are gonna lose 4-5 games out of 82 in April because he's gonna let a few bad goals.

Yeah I hear you. The same can be said about Pittsburgh and Washington though, what with all their eventual Olympians

marakh wrote:

TheAvatar wrote:

marakh wrote:

asq2 wrote:

marakh wrote:Now, Murray has to find a defenseman who can shoot the puck.

I'm not quite sure that's the problem. The puck-movement on the powerplay is so slow that on almost every shot the goalie has time to settle when facing the pointmen. Karlsson and Picard can both shoot but they're not going to cleanly beat top goaltenders very frequently.

I do think, though, that there has to be a more concerted effort on Clouston's part to get one of those two out when the Alfredsson line is on the ice. I love Phillips and Volchenkov but they are not taking advantage/can't take advantage of the opportunities that top line is creating. One shift in the third in particular leaps to mind.

Because I think Picard and Karlsson are not deadly enough (yet), the strategy is not,
imo, really to give them as many shots as possible, which should be the case.
Also, Karlsson plays on the right side for now, so he should play more like Mike Green (move a lot) than a Matthieu Shneider. But of course, the experience is not there yet, so it is not effective enough.
Or we could play him on the left side, but if he loses that puck we're Diddled.
So while waiting, we should grab a RH shooting dude who can play on the left.

I'm pretty amazed with Karlsson; his play seems to be improving from period to period. I can't wait to see him 2 - 3 years down the road

He was dominant in every facet at some of the games in the WJC last year. Still made some mistakes defensively but overall he was . It's not a coincidence he was named best D of the tournament. Considering all the great defensemen that were there (albeit no doughty or bogosian), that's quite an accomplishment.
The talent and smart were always there, just a matter of doing it at the NHL level. I, too, cannot wait.

At 18, no less. That's a 19-year-old's tournament.

If he were to play this year he'd put up 2PPG.

marakh wrote:Because I think Picard and Karlsson are not deadly enough (yet), the strategy is not,
imo, really to give them as many shots as possible, which should be the case.
Also, Karlsson plays on the right side for now, so he should play more like Mike Green (move a lot) than a Matthieu Shneider. But of course, the experience is not there yet, so it is not effective enough.
Or we could play him on the left side, but if he loses that puck we're Diddled.
So while waiting, we should grab a RH shooting dude who can play on the left.

I just think that there are very few players in the league who have the ability to consistently beat goaltenders cleanly if the goalie has time to settle (especially not a Brodeur). And we're definitely not in any position to acquire one of those players (Douchy, Kovalchuk, OV, Chara etc.).

The solution, to me, would be to move the puck more quickly so the goalie doesn't get a chance to settle. If guys like Kovalev would stop being so damn slow about moving the puck we'd generate the opportunity for shots that have a better chance to score.

I'd take that with open arms. May be we should try the umbrella.

New GDT is up. I have a new appreciation for Shabbs.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2009020525

That's the kind of stuff that tells me he can't play 60+ games anymore...