The Devils Waxed The Rags And Dare I Say It, Provided A Glimmer Of Hope

Okay, so maybe "waxed" is it a bit extreme, but it's my blog so fuck you. As far as I'm concerned nearly 60 minutes of shutout hockey is domination, so now that I think about it, "waxed" might actually be too kind. Either way, don't look now Devils fans, but this team is actually capable of competent hockey, and no I am not basing that off one Sunday afternoon game against the cross river rivals. The Devils, outside of two of the worst first periods of hockey you'll EVER fucking see, have played a pretty good brand of puck the last two games. Consider that they were a bullshit disallowed goal (really wish the NHL was fluent in common sense) from potentially beating a talented Sharks team in regulation. Consider that they took the Rangers best shot and responded with a come from behind road victory. I'm not saying they are going to get mistaken for a playoff contender anytime soon. I am saying that if these games, and specifically the win over the Rangers, didn't excite you then I would stop watching Devils hockey, because it might not get too much better than that.  

I think everyone, that understands the state of the franchise, knows that John Hynes is going to be here for a while. With that said, it's about to be a long season, and even if they play "faster" it's still going to feature a bunch of speed bumps. Speed bumps that will undoubtedly be blamed on the coaching staff. Well, if John Hynes wanted to do his best to avoid criticism, getting his first win at Madison Square Garden is a hell of a way to do it. That's got to buy him at least 20 games of good will. John Hynes could pull the goalie in a tie game on the penalty kill and I would still be like "ehh fuck it, he beat the Rangers, he must know something I don't". 

I have a proposal for Rangers fans. I think Adam Henrique is really starting to kill Lundqvist's confidence. I mean he literally scores on him every fucking time they play. Would you be open to starting down 1-0 if we sit Henrique for the first two periods of every head to head matchup? I'm just looking out for you guys, because 60 minutes of the real Henrique appears to be far too much for Lundbutt to handle. With the playoffs undoubtedly in your future I wouldn't want one lowly Devils player to be the reason Henrik finally cracks emotionally. Laugh now, but there will be a day, hopefully prior to a game 7, when Chris Kreider walks in on Henrik Lundqvist crying on the toilet while reading his stats against Adam Henrique. Just don't say I didn't warn you.

Listen, this team still isn't good. They are still heavily reliant upon Cory Schneider to stay in games. They still have their moments where they make Bantam level passes look like rocket science. They still refuse to shoot in obvious shooting situations, and miss the net 75% of the time when they do. However, they have shown an ability to create scoring chances. They have shown an ability to bend but not break on defense. They have shown an ability to play competitive hockey. I'm glad the Rangers were the ones that were there to witness that ability first hand. So close, yet far away. Better luck next time...cocksuckers...