FanPost

Devils De

I am not happy with the Devils Defense of late.  In playoff hockey, the difference in my mind from the regular season is totally the elimination of time and space.

The defense has continued to play the position hockey which is good, but without the aggressiveness at this stage of the season, is bad.  The success of the Devils has always been to limit the number of offensive chances  by the competition.  That is not what is happening of late. 

The offense is getting behind the defense due to lack of aggression, and the other teams are spending too much time in our defensive zone which is leading to more scoring opportunities.  I like Sutter, but I'm thinking he is encouraging this seasonal type of defense. 

The recent success of the Rangers (although I hate to admit it) is their change in aggressiveness....and I'm not seeing that from the Devils defense...and no doubt, this is affecting their offense as well.  Even as they started to exit the recent slump, I am not seeing the players force this elimination of time and space technique on the other teams while Boston, Carolina, Pitt and even Philadelphia are also showing success by being much more aggressive than the regular season...to me, that is the entire difference between the regular season and playoffs.  I hope they can turn it around, but I'm not seeing the traditional Devils defense that has made them so successful in the past.

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