Devils Vs steelers - League - 5th Jan 23 19:00 FO

[august04 2.0]

A very good performance tonight. As already mentioned, I thought Crawford was superb too and Kozun looks more like our no.1 netminder every week. He’s playing so well, it’s going to be difficult not to give him the starts in the coming games. The team defended very well, every one of them and we took our chances to get a well deserved victory. Top job tonight.

 

[Gavevs88]

Fantastic performance, we never let the steelers get going. Greenfield kept them right in it and I felt like we deserved more than the 1 goal lead before the ENG. Crawford and Kozun brilliant, that Cox goal and the assist from Sanford was unreal, especially from a turnover.

 

[voth26]

Who knows with this Devils team, they can beat anyone one day then look like a bunch of clowns on ice the next. First weekend with changes and boom, one day the pros are on it, the next day, the Circus clowns.

The only circus clown on here is you, what ever your called you've had a few aliases of late??

 

[James]

Can we keep from personal attacks please. Let’s enjoy the win

 

[voth26]

I think they’re good friends so we probably won’t see any friction there. Hope I’m wrong though as McNally owned us in the cup.

Voth was good friends with a lot of players but didn't stop him fighting them if he needed to.

 

[beachbum4034]

Throught all the D had a good game Batch had his best game for a while.
Shed boost worked

You beat me to it, I thought Josh was brilliant tonight. Also it's worth highlighting that he was out there for the 2 mins of 6 on 5, so clearly Dupont see's him as dependable when it comes to clutch situations.

 

[Diablo3]

We seem to have found our style of play at last and all the players have bought in to it. Loved the game tonight long may this continue. It also doesn't hurt driving home through the rain when we have a W against the Steelers. Even Guildford were feeling Devilish in their tweets.

 

[The_Stick_]

You beat me to it, I thought Josh was brilliant tonight. Also it's worth highlighting that he was out there for the 2 mins of 6 on 5, so clearly Dupont see's him as dependable when it comes to clutch situations.

Also not a stat most like, but Batch was out for all 3 of our goals tonight, and wasn’t on the ice for the 1 we conceded either

 

[lloyd_jeff]

The pro’s turned up. Dupont will be getting coach of the year.

 

[Rempel16]

I thought Dupont got the tactics absolutely spot on tonight. We played on the counter-attack to a degree, but forcing quick turnovers in the defensive zone and leaving a forward high in the neutral zone allowed us to break at speed and it resulted in several 2-on-1 opportunities.

Of course it is a high risk strategy, as the stretch pass is susceptible to icing calls if the high forward doesn't gather the puck or at least tip it into the Steelers zone but more often than not it was executed perfectly.

And what a difference it makes to have Louis and Fournier in the line-up. McNally was quiet and the rest of the Steelers barely threw a hit until desperation set in with 2 minutes to go, where some questionable hits went in.

Really enjoyed that game, more of the same please! Well done.

 

[Christopher]

Funny to see McNally having a quiet night. No acting the tough guy with Lou on the ice. Lol

Same can be said for Connolly as it’s very unusual for him to play a clean game, he looked scared too.

 

[Swarley]

Funny to see McNally having a quiet night. No acting the tough guy with Lou on the ice. Lol

After the two bulldozer hits Lou put on McNally he went back under his bridge and hid.

Team looked great in the first, second we looked like we took the gas off a little and the third we just looked like a pack of sharks out for blood, great game!

 

[Christopher]

Oh boy do I love it when we beat the Steelers, what a great game the boys played. Well done Devils

 

[kristian]

Mr King it is safe to read the forum.

Let's just let me say I've had worse Thursday nights.

The whole team turned up last night a full 60mins was done by all.

And on personal note I told the guy next to me to sit back after a weeks of different people sitting they. Couldn't see the a 1/4 of the ice. Poor sod hardly moved the rest of the game.

 

[Mooney#16]

I think that was the best I’ve seen Devils play this season. Every player had a lot of jump and matched and often exceeded Steelers for pace of play. The zone exits and speed through the neutral zone were a lot more effective and helped make the defence man’s job a lot easier. I thought the defence were very good and apart from a few chances won the net front enough Kozun saw most things clearly. Crawford played very confident and his stretch passes gave Steelers a lot of trouble as they split the D quite a few times. The Devils rolled all four lines effectively and all seemed to know their role and executed it well. The emergence of a genuine third line centered by Brittain gives Devils sustained pressure on teams now while resting others and helps give physical momentum. Really liked the fourth line as well and getting first goal was great reward for a very responsible performance. Steelers are a good team but that display felt a lot more like a Devils display of old where they could grind on a team relentlessly and then pick them off when the time came. My only criticism is Devils perhaps weren’t clinical enough finishing as should have probably had more than the 3 goals.

 

[osh]

This is the type of performance - workmanlike - we have been calling for since early in the season. Win or lose, most fans just want to see effort first and foremost and last night we got that and deserved the win. Now we need to continue in the same vein. It is obvious that things have improved since the introduction of new players, similar to previous seasons !

 

[moggy#9]

I think that was the best I’ve seen Devils play this season. Every player had a lot of jump and matched and often exceeded Steelers for pace of play. The zone exits and speed through the neutral zone were a lot more effective and helped make the defence man’s job a lot easier. I thought the defence were very good and apart from a few chances won the net front enough Kozun saw most things clearly. Crawford played very confident and his stretch passes gave Steelers a lot of trouble as they split the D quite a few times. The Devils rolled all four lines effectively and all seemed to know their role and executed it well. The emergence of a genuine third line centered by Brittain gives Devils sustained pressure on teams now while resting others and helps give physical momentum. Really liked the fourth line as well and getting first goal was great reward for a very responsible performance. Steelers are a good team but that display felt a lot more like a Devils display of old where they could grind on a team relentlessly and then pick them off when the time came. My only criticism is Devils perhaps weren’t clinical enough finishing as should have probably had more than the 3 goals.

I don't disagree but, for me, the major learning point was not to put clearances and break out passes straight through our own slot. There were a few occasions where we almost gifted the Steelers a goal.

Hopefully we can now go into the continental cup on a high and bring home some silverware.

 

[Earnie]

Steelers were not at their best. We didn’t allow it. As others have noted they were not too physical either - repercussions would have been severe.
A well deserved win . The score could have easily been more in our favour. Shots on goal tell a story. (39-25)

And my grand daughter would like to say that hot dogs have gone from £3 to £4 and got shorter in size!

 

[Mooney#16]

I don't disagree but, for me, the major learning point was not to put clearances and break out passes straight through our own slot. There were a few occasions where we almost gifted the Steelers a goal.

Hopefully we can now go into the continental cup on a high and bring home some silverware.

Ordinarily I’d agree with you on the principle of keeping the puck away from danger but my honest take is much of Devils problems has come from the zone exits up the walls and the wingers not having good control of the point defencemen. Devils get turned over a lot on the walls and the breakout loses speed. Last night the puck stayed off the walls and in the middle and Devils were able to fly the zone much quicker and split Steelers D on multiple occasions. So whilst high risk playing more hockey through the slot in the defensive zone I think it plays better to Devils strengths to look for quick head man passes and stretch the ice. I think more scoring chances were generated playing that way than were conceded. Joey could have had two in about the first 10 minutes.

 

[moggy#9]

Ordinarily I’d agree with you on the principle of keeping the puck away from danger but my honest take is much of Devils problems has come from the zone exits up the walls and the wingers not having good control of the point defencemen. Devils get turned over a lot on the walls and the breakout loses speed. Last night the puck stayed off the walls and in the middle and Devils were able to fly the zone much quicker and split Steelers D on multiple occasions. So whilst high risk playing more hockey through the slot in the defensive zone I think it plays better to Devils strengths to look for quick head man passes and stretch the ice. I think more scoring chances were generated playing that way than were conceded. Joey could have had two in about the first 10 minutes.

That's a fair point, however I think that the same effect can be had at lower risk by crossing at the top of the circles rather than at or below the hash marks - particularly as the Steelers seemed to press a man up between the hash marks and the crease.

It was interesting to note in DuPont's post game interview he mentioned pressuring Sheffield in a particular way based on their video scouting. It's really good to hear that we've gone into a game with a specific plan for countering the way the opposition play. Credit where it's due, and long may it continue.