Post Game Thread: New Jersey Devils at Columbus Blue Jackets – 19 Dec 2024

32 comments

1. We have still only let up more than 20 shots twice in December. Thats 6 out of 8 games only letting up 20 or less. Thats pretty insane

2. Tough game…its gonna happen over the course of 82…..still on a very solid pace and playing well overall. Just take it out on the Penguins and Rangers.

3. All you need to do is look at Washington dropping 2 points to the Hawks last night. It happens, move on to the next.

4. Jake Allen lost them this game. Jack had a defensive lapse at the end of a 5 minute shift with an empty net. We should’ve never been desperate enough to be in that situation in the first place if Allen made the saves he needed to make.

5. We can all agree a comeback there would have been incredible. That being said, it sucks but hell of an effort. I really think they coulda done it if they didn’t allow that EN.

6. Gonna have to figure out why we’re so consistently getting goalied, but overall good game.

7. Something kinda crazy, CBJ had 20 shots on goal. Jack and Luke combined had 19

8. Great comeback at the end and good to see Luke get his goal, he earned it and more for sure. Also 100% with him there at the end banging the stick on the ground. It took Elvis to look like The King for the Jackets to hang on. Take the comeback as a positive and move on to the Pens!

   LGD!

9. Unfortunate but it’s definitely a team with some fight in them

10. I don’t know why there’s downvotes for rightfully calling out Jack coughing up the puck (something he does often at inopportune times mind you) when there was so many other options to not do that.

    No, it isn’t why we lost the game, but it’s a mistake he makes often, and yes I know he’s tired.

    This game could’ve been tied up much quicker if we knew how to either lift the puck or aim on net better, that’s really been the major stories in the games our offense “disappears” in.

11. [deleted]

12. Props to Keefe for pulling the goalie at 6 minutes and at least giving us a show.

13. Forty Three Shots. Forty. Three. Shots.:

    * we weren’t shut out.
    * we fought until the end.
    * we made it very fucking interesting too.
    * Merzlikins had the game of his life. it happens.
    * I refuse to doom.
    * I *do* want to talk about our bottom six. because the lack of offense from them is getting more and more and more concerning. you cannot have the Nicos and the Jacks and the Jespers and the Timos being the only ones scoring every game. I gotta see something from Erik Haula soon.
    * depth scoring is what gets you far in the season when your hot hands suddenly grow cold. we need to get those guys going. they gotta wake up.
    * I think it is incredibly telling to see that much fight and passion until the very end of that game.
    * this team is never going to give up and thats going to be important to maintain as the season chugs along and especially as we enter the post season.
    * another thing is that we are forming very good habits that will become so ingratiated into our day to day play and that will be pay dividends down the line.
    * yeah so we can’t win four games in a row and a true winning streak would be really nice, but I dunno man, I rather have overall consistency then being very hot and then very cold.
    * I said this in the game thread, but the way we played this game was better than some of the games we’ve handily won.
    * I was so impressed with both Hugheses tonight.
    * we move onward.

    I’ll be at the game on Saturday. Bringing my mother to her first hockey game, so they better put on a show for her, a good show, not a bad show.

14. I’d like to acknowledge the fight this team has, it’s really something special. They kept playing 110% all the way up until the end. Great games guys, sometimes it doesn’t go your way.

15. Devils still fuck

16. Well that was painful.

    Even in a loss this team is entertaining to watch though. Besides that Avs game and maybe against Tampa I can’t remember many real stinkers.

    They’re going to the playoffs unless something catastrophic happens, and that’s all I really want. Just a chance to make some noise in the Stanley Cup fucking playoffs

17. I don’t know how many devils games I’ve watched recently past few years that are just really tough games. This was another all timer. There’s usually a few this frustrating a year but this might be number one for the year. You don’t tell the tale of the devils without shit like this. You just hope these games don’t happen very often. And if they do, someone will be there to gaslight you.

    Let’s be constructive. This team has ALOT going for it. We just clearly need more shooting talent, this was too Herculean of an effort to make. Just a wasted effort. Hopefully it’s more motivating than deflating for the team. Columbus just turtles and stopped playing and it benefitted us.

    When it’s early on in a game, let’s have that same urgency about scoring. Be ready next game and let’s move on from this shit for the rest of the year. No more “putting it in your back pocket”.

    This was not a great opponent but it’s crazy how we’re limiting shots. Another game on the board with low shots against.

    Erik Haula sucks.

    Goodnight!

18. That crash out from Luke is all I needed to see to know at least the attitude from the team is we fucking hate losing. Which is honestly a better attitude than we love winning.

19. I have nothing quantitative to back this up, but I feel like we lead the league in getting goalied per season. it’s insane how often it feels like goalies stand on their head against us

20. A lot of people tryna hyper analyze this game. Again I reiterate that we have the most reactionary fanbase in the league, and it’s not even close. It’s also gross.

    We got goalied. That’s literally it. Funny enough, we got goalied by a goalie who does this shit quite often (which is ironic due to his poor stats)

    He did it to the Jets literally like, a week ago.

    “We need a bottom 6” “Jack turns it over too much” are all valid…for literally 1 game.

    Check out our standings. Check out our analytics, our season xG, anything that isn’t a single fucking game and you’ll see we are in ZERO position to be dooming in any capacity.

    I saw people talking about “well what about the playoffs?” Which is a braindead thing to say when we are just finally approaching HALFWAY THROUGH THE SEASON.

    Yall gotta get over yourselves or something.

    Other than that, we played hard and thoroughly outplayed them at every turn other than goals for, which is all that matters

21. I think Fitz put it best when he said “it’s not a coincidence that we’ve been shut out so much” in his presser the other day. Glad it wasn’t a shutout but for most of the game, it practically was. Not enough details on shots: guys are not lifting the puck, aiming directly at the pads, and hesitate too much on wide open chances. They’re not cutting into the inside to screen the goalie, nor are they taking quality shots from the slot. This is mostly an issue with the bottom 6 guys but the top 6 struggle with these issues too. For as much as Keefe has helped the defense, the offense has regressed since the start of the season, even in the wins we’ve had recently. Guys need to take more intelligent shots, else we’re like last year’s canes who put up nice shot totals but failed to make most of them count against decent goalies.

22. Lots of really good things from the Devils tonight, especially in generating chances.

    Now, the not so good:

    1. Hughes and Hamilton made really bad plays with the puck became goals against. Don’t let that stuff creep back in!!!

    2. Failure to finish. Several almost sure goals…and the Devils shot it to the only place Merzlikins could possibly get the save.

    Is getting goalied by non-elite goalies so often a coincidence, or is it in part due to something in the Devils game?

    In the end, the Devils have not played a truly bad game in over a month. In that time the losses all look the same—Devils play reasonably well but hardly score.

23. Is Hamilton cooked? Played almost 10 less minutes than Luke, is shooting less, wasn’t out there for the 6 on 5.

24. From the devils graphic tonight.

    Since Nov 1st, Devils Opponents save percentage:

    Nov 1st Calgary: 1.000

    Nov 10th San Jose: 1.000

    Nov 16th Tampa: 1.000

    Nov 27th St Louis: 1.000

    Nov 30th Washington: .815

    Dec 8th Colorado: 1.000

    Dec 10th Toronto: .974

    Dec 19th (tonight) Columbus: .956

    This isn’t just one of those things that happens like some are trying to play off, or just bad luck, it’s currently an actual issue that’s happened entirely too much in a month, and only 34+ games in.

25. We actually played really well. If there’s anything I learned from that game is the only way to score on a goalie having a hot night is to just cram the hell out of the net

26. A top 6 sniper and a 3C should be on Fitzy’s shopping list. Our bottom six is a black hole offensively, which probably explains why we get shut out so often. If Nico/Jack/Bratt/Timo aren’t on, nobody else can provide that offensive spark.

    On an unrelated note, Timo should be playing RW. I don’t care if he’s comfortable on both wings, he’s way more dangerous on the right side. LET. HIM. COOK.

    Hot take to end off: We’re not winning a cup with Dougie on this team. He’s too much of a liability defensively, and his shot has become less effective since his injury. He doesn’t provide anything to the team outside of PP production. I’m not convinced we can’t find someone else to fill his role for far less money

27. Well that sure sucked. Nut up, boys… these divisional games are too important to give away.

28. Know some others have already mentioned but I’ll pile on: if this game was good for anything, it was demonstrating that this team fucking hates losing. There was zero quit, they (mostly) kept their composure, and I have the feeling we’re gonna see them come out with a vengeance in their next game, which is exactly the kind of reaction a winning team would have. Hope they prove me correct.

    I’ll also throw out that I find it interesting so many people are talking about getting shut out when, in fact, we had 2 goals… Look, I’m not gonna argue the team couldn’t be improved with some forward depth. It would absolutely help. But… how many of the 32 teams *wouldn’t* be helped by forward depth? Of course we want to stack our team with guys who can score. But it’s easier said than done. If Fitz can make a move to improve the team midseason, then great. But I think we’re far from doomed if it doesn’t happen.

29. haula + cotter both have 1 goal since the start of november. That’s a shitty 2/3s of a third line right there. It’s useless. Both are better suited for the 4th. 

30. Holy shit that game was a rough watch

31. Why are we like this

32. Tough game to lose! I was really really hoping we’d get our 4th win in a row, for the first time in almost 2 years!!!! We’ve had 2 opportunities to do it earlier in the season against the Sharks and Blues and so when I saw we were yet again playing a not so good team to lock in our 4th win in a row, I knew it would be an uphill battle lol.

    But I have to say, I do think this was the best we looked, out of all those games we lost to crappy teams. Their goalie was definitely playing great. Even though I do think we made some poor rebound shots that should have been somewhat easy goals.

    I did love the fight at the end, and really do feel like we could have maybe tied it up if it wasn’t for the fumble at the end with Jack.

    One thing that shows is we really have improved when pulling our goalie because last season, we would auto-lose as soon as we pulled our goalie. I think we only scored like 1-2 goals all season when pulling our goalie, and one of them was when Luke Hughes skated down the ice and scored in like 5 seconds lol. So it is nice to already have a few goals when pulling our goalie.