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GDT: Round 1, Game 2 Canes v. Devils 4/22 6:00

A

andyt

Canes Moderator
Staff member
Same as Sunday, please?

The Canes practiced yesterday with the full squad except for Hall, who got the day off. No morning skate today, RBA and select players will be available at 10:30. He said he knows what they’re doing in goal but wouldn’t name the starter after practice.

Nothing went right for the Devils on Sunday. The Canes scored first to grab the early momentum and got the crowd rocking. Playoff Dougie made an appearance. And Markstrom took out one of his own guys. Keefe had to switch his lines up because Staal‘s line was eating Hischier’s line alive. He said yesterday that all the injured players were still being evaluated but didn’t rule anyone out.

Half price parking if you enter between 1 - 3. Black jerseys. FanDuel and ESPN for TV.
 
I looked but didn't see any updates on the Devils' in game injuries from Game 1. Just a guess at this stage, but I'd be surprised if Dillon goes on D. That's a problem, because with Siegenthaler already out, that puts a huge dent on their stay at home crew. It probably pushes Nemec or Casey into the mix. They've both struggled this season and neither one is particularly good in the D zone or on the kill ... two areas where they lean on Dillon. It would also mean more minutes for Doumolin's aging legs and less protected shifts for Dougie ... who didn't look ready in Game 1. Hughes returned to Game 1 so whatever he did to his shoulder probably isn't too serious, but again ... the drop off if they have to replace him is significant. No idea about Glass, but they were 100% going to mix up the forward group anyway. I'd expect Tatar to draft in and for Keefe to mix up his lines significantly.

Either way, it's last change for the Canes so whatever line Bratt is on will get another dose of Staal's line while Aho holds down the matchup with their other scoring line ... probably Mercer's group again. Where the Devs really ran out of traction was in the bottom six matchups anyway. KK's line caved in their opposite numbers all night and the 4th line tilted heavily to Carolina as well. That is unlikely to change regardless of what NJ does with their top 6. I do expect more physical push-back from New Jersey though. That power play is dangerous and they'll want this to be more of a special teams heavy game than Sunday's rather staid affair. Carolina's not going to take enough penalties on their own to get what Jersey wants, so they'll almost certainly look to dial up the nonsense to create their own chaos. Anything to keep away from the novocaine of steady line rolling they got stuck dealing with in Game 1. The cleaner the game, the more it helps Carolina.
 
andyt said:
The Devils also split Hischier and Bratt. And Tatar is in for Sprong.


View: https://x.com/amandacstein/status/1914690191110942964?s=46&t=8056gLL6Pl3wbApF5otK6g
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OK, I get what the Devs are doing up front but on D not so much. Their first pairing is mismatched and Pesce always sucked on his weak side when he played here. Different systems, sure ... but still. And the third pairing? Carolina's going to looking forward to pressing those two and will have the KK line with which to do so. Fun. Up front, Keefe has at least forced the Canes to make a choice of whether to assign Staal to his best play driver (Bratt) or his best playmaker (Hischier). And he's loaded Hischier up with some size to try and force Staal's line there. I suspect Carolina will just keep Staal on Bratt's line like they planned before the series and then figure it out. Aho plays against Hischier all the time in the regular season and generally fares just fine. Keefe will want Palat and Meier to push play physically, but ... whatever man. One of them is old and slow and the other is ... Swiss. If Noesen is the only producer in your bottom six, you've got your own problems. Oh, and if Glass can't keep up then they'll have to shift Huala to center, which will also be fun. Not sure why he sat Sprong in favor of Cotter, but hey. If you want to play that knuckle dragger and sit a guy who can actually play hockey then knock yourself out.
 
It would be nice to get Nikishin into a couple of games in this series. Let him dip his feet before having to take a more meaningful plunge.
 
How's the tailgate going? We're a mile and a half north and just got hammered with huge gusts and hail, but radar shows it didn't go to PNC.

edit: oops, Lenovo
 
HNIM said:
How's the tailgate going? We're a mile and a half north and just got hammered with huge gusts and hail, but radar shows it didn't go to PNC.

edit: oops, Lenovo
Click to expand...
Just nicked us with a bit of rain as we were cleaning up.. thunder in the background
 
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