Absolutely cruel to be forced into overtime 5mins before end of regulation.
Keefe must have thought Christmas had come early. I absolutely detest the Giants for their dirty play and constant whingeing but I admire them too. Boy, no pratting about doing fancy stuff when they get possession...they are so fast on the breakout and shoot at every opportunity.
They have mental strength not to get down if they are behind. They knuckle down and have the confidence to turn it. One goal more is all that's required to get the result.
Devils worked very hard but gave Giants too much space. At times early on in the game, it felt that Giants were permanently on the powerplay, with Devils pinned.Giants kept two d men on point taking shots and their 3 forwards were all buzzing around the goal or screening Bownsey. On the break, Giants were not really challenged by any forecheck/backcheck until into p2.
Another big difference tonight between the teams was the finishing. Last year in overtime and shootouts, Devils confidently nailed those situations and seemed score GWG in the first couple of minutes. Things looked overcomplicated on O/T and not a single successful shot in shootout.
This year, there are some terrific skaters and puck carriers on the team - so many of those moves ended in turnovers or lack of finishing tonight.
Pity - upside is that the team got a point from a cruel game. Downside is that they lost a bit of ground against Giants in league and conference.
For the newcomer, tonight's game had everything...and the jerseys looked good.
