Today's blog pic dedicated to Ryan Carter.... just because I am running out of pictures in the options menu
A few days after the hard work win against the Bruins and Sharangovich's late OT goal (the play of the game was Seversen's pass to the "Sherif" to score the game winner. Now back to reality and hopefully the beginning of this season's rivalry against the Rangers. This is a one and done game before the Devils meet the Islanders for two.
Here one the Rangers who have firepower of their own. Blackwood looks to be the starter in net, while Georgiev has been confirmed on the Rangers side.
Another test, as I believe mom of this season will be, and one that may play into Miles Wood's style of play. I think these are the games that will make him rattle the opponent and the Devils need that spark in the lineup.
Lines for today's game, as per Amanda Stein's Twitter feed:
Sharangovich-Hughes-Palmieri Johnsson-Zacha-Gusev Wood-Zajac-Boqvist
Murray-Subban Kulikov-Seversen Smith-Tennyson (Butcher out still puzzles me - can we ship Tennyson anywhere please?)
Nice to see consistency in lines early on as chemistry is developing. (note how happy the entire team was with the OT win and also how happy they were for Sharangovich. Good to see.)
Around the 10 game mark will be a good time to take a good look at the team but a few good and ugly for us to discuss:
GOOD Sharangovich "The Sherif" has impressed me with how he has stepped into the lineup and played in many situations. A real surprise.
Hughes looks like a new player already. A bit more bulk and a season under his belt, he is adapting to the play off the puck and using his body smart. He looks confident and the speed is evident. Yes, a few passing mistakes but one thing we wanted to see this year is development of our top two centers.
3 on 3 Overtime is where I think the Devils have done well winning both OT periods against the Bruins - in my opinion. Open ice looks like is playing into the Devils strength. (you would think the Power Play would also be better).
Zacha has quietly looked good. I am really happy at what I have seen so far.
UGLY Penalty Shots..... Coach Ruff needs a whole week of penalty taking. Just ugly.
Andreas Johnsson looks lost out there. He is getting pushed around and is out of place. Too early to demote him to the 3rd/4th line but he has underwhelmed me so far. Hopefully when we get bodies back a few line tweaks could help him.
Power Play hasn't established an identity. We have seen flashes of good puck movement but shots on net (especially from the point Mr. PK) needs to happen.
Devils claim Aaron Dell 2 goalie claims in two weeks. I do like Comrie but he is nothing but depth at this stage.
Dell, however, is a decent pick up in my opinion. Certainly a better one year option than Wedgewood. Dell, who played in San Jose for four seasons, was once seen as a threat to Martin Jones and at 31 years is a more than capable backup. And at $800k salary for the year he can step in to give relief to Blackwood and play 10-15 games barring an injury.
Experience and games played over last few seasons is what set him apart from Wedgewood and Comrie for this year.
So a good addition and feels more like Crawford than Wedgewood. He can help Blackwood's development.
Truly yours, The Devils Advocate