#1 New York Rangers vs. #6 New Jersey Devils
While I was 2 for 2 in the Western Conference in the second round of the playoffs, I was 0 for 2 in the Eastern Conference.
If you watched the Capitals vs. Rangers series, I wasn’t too far off. I knew that the series would be long and I knew that it would be close. In my opinion, the Capitals outplayed the Rangers more than the Rangers outplayed the Capitals, but that doesn’t matter at the end of the series. The only thing that matters is who comes out victorious four times and that was the Rangers. They took advantage of bad plays by the Capitals (Hello, Joel Ward) and they had their star players play like star players.
Henrik Lundqvist played like a king. He stole games and he kept his team reeling in the series. Their defenders, Girardi, McDonagh and Staal played their roles perfectly, shutting down Ovechkin, Semin and Backstrom, while also contributing offensively. Then they even got a little bit of offensive help from other defenders like Anton Stralman, but that’s not the story for me. Yes, the defense is filling the void that most of their offense has neglected, you know, goal scoring, but there are still two key forwards that are very much awake and alive.
To me, those forwards are Brad Richards and Chris Kreider. I will be the first to admit that I wasn’t sure how much Brad Richards had left in the tank, especially after that concussion scare at the end of last year. I mean, you just never known in hockey and when players are out for months at a time, it never looks good. When I saw Richards sign for an astronomical figure in the offseason, I couldn’t help but see flashes of Ranger’s past (mostly Chris Drury and Scott Gomez), because let’s face it, the Rangers like to spend money. And sometimes, I don’t think that they understand the fact that just because you have a boat load of money, doesn’t mean that you should unload it onto every “superstar” free agent that looks at your franchise.
Well, I will give it to the Rangers this time, because that was money well spent, at least this year, because Richards has had an answer for every thing this post season. He is scoring big goals, blocking big shots and making big passes. He is everything that this team needed and with Chris Kreider stepping in the way that he has, the Rangers are showing some signs of life, because with Dubinsky out (not that he was a factor this year, at all), Gaborik’s sporadic Houdini act and the only other real goal scorer showing up being Anisimov, it’s something that they need desperately.
The Devils on the other hand are firing on all cylinders. I mean, there is a similar story in New Jersey. Their star players are playing like star players. Parise is playing like a complete beast. Zajac is doing everything right down the center and contributing offensively. Henrique and Clarkson are waking up. Brodeur is playing above average and the defense is EVERYWHERE.
The part that I am enjoying the most about this Devils run is that people are starting to give Kovalchuk the credit that he deserves. I love Kovy. I think that he is a great player that is completely underrated. I know, how can a player that has a $100 million contract be underrated, but he is. I’ve heard countless people and analysts alike criticize both the Devils and him as a player for signing that contract, saying that he’s a good player, but is he worth it? Is he a playoff player? Can he do more than score goals? If you have watched these playoffs at all, I think that you can see that the answer to that question is an overwhelming, yes.
At the end of the Panther‘s series and at the beginning of the Flyer’s series, Kovy looked a little bit out of sorts. He looked like he was struggling with his reach and his shots were a little bit off target. Everyone asked if he was injured and in true playoff hockey fashion, he denied it. He said that he wasn’t hurt, but after another rough game, he took a game against Philly off. The Devils won without him and then he returned the following game, looking like a new player. I don’t know what happened in those few days that he was off, but whatever it was, it was big and beating the Flyers in five games was undoubtedly huge, because that just meant that he had time for his injuries to heal. And in my opinion, that’s bad news for New York.
During the regular season, the Rangers “won” the series going 3-2-1 again the Devils, but again, this is the playoffs. The Rangers struggled through Ottawa and then struggled through a heavy hitting series in Washington. The Devils didn’t exactly have a walk in the park with Florida, but they survived and then strutted right on through Philadelphia, outplaying them in every facet of the game. I think that the break that the Devils had might slow them down in game one, but I think that after that, they are going to remain as hot as they have been this post season. Their penalty killing has been relatively decent and that’s all you need against a team like New York, whose power play has looked rather mediocre thus far (not Kings/Coyotes mediocre, but mediocre nonetheless).
I think that this is another close series. The Devils play a similar system to Ottawa and Washington, a system that has been causing all sorts of fits for Torts and the Rangers, but the Devils do it better than the Sens or the Caps and I think that makes all of the difference in this series. I think that New York will play well. Better than their mediocre performance thus far, because of what’s at stake and because they have a great coach, but I’m not sure that they can put the Devils off edge. I think that unless the Rangers can get their power play going at a significantly higher rate, that the Devils are going to eat them up.
I’m expecting an episode of “star wars” in this series. For me, the focus is on Kovy/Parise vs. Gabby/Richards. Yes, there will be focus on the Hank/Brodeur battle, but to me, the superstar duo that outperforms the other, will be the ones that are competing for the cup.
Prediction: Devils in 6
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