Sloppy play costs the Devils.

[MCDevils]

First: I think that the Devils looked really rusty. It's been a week since they played in a game so hopefully they can shake this off ASAP. The next two games are going to be tough and I'd take a split.


Second: I can't remember the first goal, but the 2nd and 3rd were total defensive breakdowns. Tallinder can't let Erikson stand all alone next to marty. Greene's giveaway also cost the Devils. No chance for Marty.

OT: I thought that the Devils were playing well, but you can't pinch in that far if you're Greene especially considering how he lost balance on the play.

Kovalchuk: Had about 3 good shifts all night. Two of those shifts resulted in goals. It took the stars about 5 minutes to realize that when Kovy starts to stick handle in 1 on 1 situations that they just needed to take the body. I also wasn't happy to see how many times he tries to poke check the puck away from the stars dmen when they are on the point. It's a high risk/high reward play where if he can get it from them he's off to the races, but he wasn't able to pull it off tonight and once he misses he's out of position to play the body and the opposing d just steps right around him.

Effort: The Devils stormed the stars in the middle-late 3rd, but weren't even close to matching that intensity earlier in the game. Arnott-Elias-Lang took over the third period.

 

[TheRobotDevil]

Was not impressed with tallied defensively .nay help if he's not paired with Greene who thrives with a defensive defenseman.wandering is a big part of greenes game but he needs to be paired with someone more capable of backing him up.Fraser looked terrible.there were a couple shifts where zubs and clarky did some nice work on the boards where Fraser rushed the play and shot the puck wide.doesn't seem like much but that seriously disrupts any momentum.I liked kovy parise and zajac but at times it felt like putting all our eggs in one basket.last thing I'm not to sure what to think about juggling 3 lines was looking real good for a while but the team looked like they started to tire.could be rust hopefully they bounce back tomorrow.

 

[MCDevils]

The other thing that drove me nuts was all the soft passing the Parise's line was doing. Too many turnovers because of that. Kovy needs to be stronger on the puck too.

 

[TheRobotDevil]

May just be me but I liked tallinder paired with urbom in the pre season.would prefer tallinder/urbom. Greene/volchenkov and white/Tao .can't say I would complain if they waived Fraser and signed mair.the soft passing is part of the reason I would like to see the lines spread a little.pp looked good atleast the little we saw of it.sorry I didn't get back to you today all hell broke loose did yoi get to go.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

The Good: 1st + 2nd Lines
The Bad: 3rd + 4th Lines/ Defense

The 2nd line didn't do anything for me at first but the 2nd half of the game they were awesome. 3rd Line was mediocre but Clarkson was very underwelming. Rolston and Zubrus were ok.

Our D was terrible. Andy Greene was the key culprit, key turnover that led to a goal plus looking to Kovy instead of firing a shot. Did nothing to make up for it. Tarominara or whatever his name is can also take the blame. Maybe it was a terrible line change but he was a mile behind on the one goal.

4th line looked like they belonged in the AHL.

The D left a lot to be desired, I will leave it at that.

 

[kellmit]

Fraser was terrible.. just a turnover machine who can't skate

 

[MCDevils]

Oh god, Fraser has looked terrible all season. I thought the stars played a similar style to the Flyers in last years playoffs.

 

[TiLoBrown]

The 4th line played? I dont even remember seeing them on the ice...

 

[TiLoBrown]

Hmm, guess they did...thats what I get for missing the starting line ups...not know who was on what line....still mad about that..

 

[MadCaptain]

The 4th line was a 1 man show. That man was whoever was being double shifted on the line. Pelley did absolutely nothing. more than useless. PL3 was hitting guys so he atleast was doing his job.

I kinda expected the defense to completely blow this game and am expecting it to be this way for atleast 10 more games. Lou completely revamped his D lineup with rookies who need to experience how NHL games play and defensive defensemen who traditionally have a real slow transition to new teams and defensive schemes.

On a positive note, their PK looked really good and they were so-so on the PP but still went 1-1. If they can keep up their strong play on special teams there wont be as much to worry about.


Lastly.. they brought the damn 2nd period curse with them to this season. They were SOOOO bad in the 2nd last year.

 

[TiLoBrown]

Yea, we got to do something about those damn 2nd periods. Marty kept us in the game that period because I think Dallas could have had atleast 2 more goals