The Devils will begin the home portion of their series with the Rangers this afternoon at 1. After being shutout the first game the Devils bounced back in game two and took a win on the road. The Devils played a much more complete game on Wednesday which is something that they were doing very well in the Flyers series.

After having the day off Thursday the Devils welcomed back two players from injury at practice on Friday. Jacob Josefson and Henrik Tallinder both skated with the team but I would not expect to see them this series for a couple reasons. First the team has been playing very well with their current lines so why mess up whats working. Second both players have been out for a long time so they are rusty. Before Josefson’s injury you could see he was finally back in good form but the latest injury has to be a set back.

Overshadowing the Devils victory on Wednesday was the fact that they gave up two power-play goals. Penalty killing has seemed to be a problem for the Devils all post season so staying out of the box for the remainder of the series has to be something the Devils work on.

The Devils fourth line continued to play excellent in game two. They combined for the tying goal late in the second period which was a back breaker for the Rangers.

The Devils need to continue to play their tough style of hockey against the Rangers at home. The fans at the Prudential Center have been great this postseason so look for the Devils to feed off their energy.

Probable lines:

Kovy – Zajac – Parise

Sykora – Elias – Zubrus

Clarkson – Henrique - Ponikarovsky

Carter – Gionta – Bernier

Greene – Fayne

Salvador – Zidlicky

Volchenkov – Harrold

Brodeur

Series:

Rangers Lead 1-0

Previous Game:

NYR 3 – NJD 0

The Rangers are coming off an exciting Game 1 win against the New Jersey Devils on Monday night. The Blueshirts scored all of their goals in the third period after a brutal 1^st and 2^nd period effort. The first goal coming off of Dan Girardi’s stick, ripping a slap shot past Martin “Old-Man” Brodeur. Chris Kreider played a brilliant game scoring a clutch goal later in the 3^rd and continues to impress the Ranger faithful with his offensive play. Kreider now has 3 goals this playoffs and proves that he belongs on the ice with the big boys. The Rangers defense played brilliant all game blocking shots and creating turnovers. Ryan McDonagh is easily the best defensive player on the ice day in day out. Especially after catching Zach Parise on a break-away and taking the puck away from him. The Rangers shot blocking style of play is what Tortorella continues to preach and force everyone to follow. Henrik Lundqvist played another great game saving the bombardment of shots from the offensively minded Devils. The Rangers play tonight again at home and need to keep winning so they don’t have to play another 7 games. If they keep up the play they had in the third there is no way the Devils will be able to keep up to their pace. Dictate the game and you are guaranteed a win, at least most of the time.

Probable Lines:

Gaborik-Richards-Hagelin

Kreider-Stepan-Callahan

Fedotenko-Boyle-Anisimov

Prust-Mitchell-Rupp

McDonagh-Girardi

Staal-Bickel

Del Zotto-Stralman

Henrik Lundqvist

Game Notes:

• Brandon Dubinsky is still injured and is not likely to play this game
• Mats Zuccarello is on his way back from breaking his wrist and is now skating during practice

“Rangers played a great 3^rd period but really need to limit the Devils chances in the first two periods”

“McDonagh is so good it is scary”

“How many times do I have to say that Kreider is going to be dirty”

“I love the energy from the 4^th line, the bring the most pressure and really deserve to score”

“Same with Hagelin”

“Lundqvist has looked nasty all playoffs, there is no way that he is getting beat”

“I cant wait to see the Devils go down early, it will be so pleasing”

“LETS DO IT RANGERS!”

This is the sixth time the Devils and Rangers will meet in the postseason since 1992, with the Devils winning the most recent meeting in 2006. During the Regular season the teams split the series, with the Rangers getting one more point due to a shootout loss.

The Devils will be playing for the first time in almost a week tonight but the rest was well needed. Game five on the Philly series took a toll on the Devils defense. Zidlicky and Volchenkov were both roughed up in the game but should be ready to go tonight against the Rangers. I do expect a little bit of rust from the Devils tonight, it is hard not to be after not playing a game in almost a week but it is important to not let the Rangers get ahead early if the Devils do come out slow.

The Devils have relied on their fore-check to pressure teams into turning over the puck and prevent them creating plays up the ice. The Rangers have some good puck moving defense-men so the Devils need to continue to be good on their fore-check.

This will be the first conference finals for Parise and Kovalchuk both of whom have been great in the playoffs so far. Don’t worry about the Devils lacking experience in these late rounds although two of the team leaders are new to this. Elias, Sykora and Brodeur to name a few all have been in this situation before and will be the experience the Devils need to be successful.

Probable Lines:

Parise – Elias – Zubrus

Ponikarovsky - Zajac – Kovy

Clarkson – Henrique – Sykora

Carter – Gionta – Bernier

Greene – Fayne

Salvador – Zidlicky

Volchenkov – Larsson

Brodeur

-The Devils are all healthy tonight thanks to the long rest they had.

-At 40 years old Brodeur is having one of the most successful post seasons of his career and will look to continue it this round.

-For the Devils to be successful this round they need to continue playing their game. The players credited the the coaching staff after last series for devising a great game strategy to shut down the Flyers, DeBoer and staff have been great this season so expect them to come up with something to shut down the Rangers.

On a personnel note this is a battle between myself and many of my friends so I hope the Devils destroy the Rangers so we can set all of them in their places.

The scoring would dry up until the 3rd period, thanks to fantastic goaltending from newly-fathered Brayden Holtby and Henrik Lundqvist, both of whom made big stops to keep their perspective teams in the game.  It wasn’t until halfway through the third period when Michael Del Zotto followed up Marian Gaborik’s rush and fired a snap shot past young Holtby that the game began to open up.  Just 40 seconds later, veteran Capitals defenseman Roman Hamrlik got the puck between the hashmarks after a great rush, and fired one past a screened Lundqvist to cut the Rangers lead in the half.  A delay of game penalty by Rusland Fedotenko following the Hamrlik goal would give the Capitals a chance to even the score, but they were unsuccessful.  The Rangers went on to defeat the Capitals 2-1 in a nailbiter, and will play the New Jersey Devils on Monday, May 14th at Madison Square Garden.

The series was close throughout, and Dale Hunter’s defensive style worked well against the Rangers, but is it the right style for such a talented team?  While players like Carl Alzner, Jason Chimera and Troy Brouwer thrived on a mindset catered to their strengths, Mike Green and Alexander Semin were nowhere to be seen, aside from a clutch goal from Green.  John Carlson scored twice, but he was guilty of a number defensive lapses leading to goals.  Alexander Ovechkin continues to find his ice-time dwindle until he commits to the defensive size of the game, and looks to be a shadow of the dynamic talent we are used to witnessing.  The Capitals are abundant in skill players, including prized farm system talents like Evgeny Kuznetzov and Dimitry Orlov, so unless they plan on shaking up the core of the team, they need to head back to the drawing board and work on their identity.  Overall they had a very successful post-season run after a lackluster regular season, and should be just as competitive for the 2012-2013 season.

The Rangers are not strangers to close games, it’s their bread and butter and they have found ways to win.  After a mediocre regular season, Brad Richards has been everything fans have hoped for, and has brought an imperative amount of leadership to the locker room.  The Devils however are a big, physical and talented team, and for the Rangers to beat them they will have to settle on some concrete lines and try to find the offense they’ve been missing all year.  Their top 4 defense consisting of Dan Girardi, Ryan McDonagh, Marc Staal and Michael Del Zotto will have to be in tip-top shape against offensive talents like Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise.  It wasn’t an easy 4 victories, but similar to Ottawa the Rangers found ways to win at the most unlikely times, and will be prepared come Monday night.

NJD 4 – PHI 3

Down two goals half way through the first period it looked as though the Flyers had finally found the spark they need to beat the Devils. The Flyers had converted on the power-play and notched a short handed goal within the first fifteen minutes of the first period and had the Devils back on their heels. In the past this could have been a back breaker for New Jersey, but not for this years team. The Devils fought hard after being down two goals, going on to score the next four and take a 3-1 series lead over the Flyers. Sykora and Zidlicky each burried one before the first period would end and Zubrus add two more to seal the Devils victory. Martin Brodeur turned away twenty shots for his 106th career playoff win on his 40th birthday.

The Devils will take the ice tonight looking to close out the series with the Flyers in Philly. The Flyers will be without star player Claude Giroux who received a one game suspension for his hit on Zubrus during Sunday’s game. I honestly could care less if the Flyers had Giroux in the lineup or not tonight. The Devils have done a great job shutting down the Flyers top line. I consider tonight’s game a must win for the Devils, they can’t let Philly get any momentum back especially when such a dangerous player like Giroux will be returning with revenge on his mind.

The Devils key to success has been their balanced scoring and great defensive play. NHL.com ran a bunch of articles this week on the Devils defense and while they do not have big names like other teams they have stepped up to the plate and played consistent. Names that you do not here every night like Salvador, Greene and Zidlicky have really been the backbone to the Devils success this post season. We can not forget Brodeur who has been solid when he needs to be.

The Devils can’t change anything about their game tonight even though the Flyers will be without one of their top players. They have played without him before when he was injured with a concussion so this is not something new. The Devils need to keep getting the puck deep and playing their brand of hockey.

Probable Lines:

Parise – Elias – Zubrus

Ponikarovsky - Zajac – Kovy

Clarkson – Henrique – Sykora

Carter – Gionta – Bernier

Greene – Fayne

Salvador – Zidlicky

Volchenkov – Larsson

Brodeur

-Carter will return to the lineup tonight after missing game four because of food illness.

Bryzgalov has been the backbone of the Flyers so far this series, if the Devils break through Bryzgalov’s wall tonight the series is over. To do this they need to continue to pepper him with shots like they have been doing. Don’t slow down keep the train rolling!

NJD 4 PHI 3 (OT)

Ilya Kovalchuk made a splash in his return to action on Thursday night. The Devils star winger missed game two with an injury but looked better then ever on Thursday. Kovy was part of three of the four goals including the game winner as the Devils edged out the Flyers in game three to take a 2-1 series lead. The key points to the Devils game was them getting the puck deep and winning the battles all over the ice. The Devils remained very confident throughout the game even after going down early. This is crucial for the rest of the series.

The Flyers have changed their lines up a little for game four but I would not be to worried about this. The Devils have done a great job shutting down the Flyers top line which was explosive in the first round against Pittsburgh.

In the post game interviews with the Devils you could tell they were really enjoying the playoff experience which I think is key to winning. The Devils were lose and joking around and have come out ready to play every night. I give a lot of credit to the coaching staff who have had them ready for every game.

For game four the Devils really dont need to change anything besides taking dumb penalties late in games. I feel like at least twice a game the Devils get called for delay of game which needs to stop. Eventually it will cost them, they have gotten lucky so far. The line changes that coach Pete DeBoer has made have really seemed to work out especially with a healthy Kovy.

I believe that Adam Larsson will remain in the lineup for game four although I was not as impressed with him in game three as I was in game two. Larsson made some dumb plays and was on the ice for the Flyers tying goal in the third. It was his man that went to the net and eventually put in the rebound. If Larsson wants to stay in the lineup he better prove himself again tonight or else I would switch back to Harrold.

Probable Lines:

Parise – Elias – Zubrus

Ponikarovsky - Zajac – Kovy

Clarkson – Henrique – Sykora

Carter – Gionta – Bernier

Greene – Fayne

Salvador – Zidlicky

Volchenkov – Larrson

Brodeur

It would be huge for the Devils to take both games at home but don’t expect the Flyers to roll over for game four. They have a lot of heart so the Devils need to come out and continue to play strong. Keep firing the pucks at Bryzgalov and they will find their way in the net.

NJD 4 – PHI 1

The Devils just absolutely dominated the Flyers in game two minus about the first five minutes. All this without one of their top players, Ilya Kovalchuk. In perhaps one of the most important games on the series the Devils game out very strong and finally broke through in the third period with a four goal outburst. The Devils scoring was started by none other than Adam Larsson who had been a healthy scratch from the playoffs until last night. As I said in the pre-game write up before game two I thought it was time Larsson got back in the lineup and he proved he was ready. You could see the excitement in coach Larry Robinson’s face when Larsson scored, Robinson has been working with Larsson for a while and I’m sure he was excited that their hard work paid off.

The Devils need to not take their foot off the gas petal tonight and continue where they left off against the Flyers. Part of the Devils success came in not allowing the Flyers top line many scoring chances. The Flyers top line (Jagr, Giroux, Hartnell) were held to only four shots the entire game and most importantly no goals. The Devils also did a good job of breaking the puck out on Tuesday. A big part of this success goes to Brodeur who has been great stopping the puck behind the net and making a good pass to a defense-men. This not only prevents the Devils defense-men from getting crushed every time the puck is dumped in, but also does not allow the Flyers to get a good fore-check going.

The Devils need to continue to put the pucks on net against Bryzgalov. Tuesday’s game was a great example that he will eventually break down and the pucks will start to go in.

Kovalchuk is a game time decision for tonight’s game. While it would be great for him to get back in the lineup the Devils proved that they can play without him and unless he is 100% it would not make sense for him to rush back.

Harrold fit in nicely on offense on Tuesday. Despite playing defense all year he showed great speed and some nice moves while up at forward.

Probable Lines: (Without Kovy)

Parise – Elias – Zubrus

Ponikarovsky - Zajac – Skyora

Clarkson – Henrique – Bernier

Carter – Gionta – Harrold

Greene – Fayne

Salvador – Zidlicky

Volchenkov – Larrson

Brodeur

With Kovy

Harrold out and Larsson in

It is tough to determine how serious the injury to Kovy is and exactly what he hurt. There are conflicting reports of his back and lower body. If he is in the lineup it looks like Harrold will be out of the lineup because he skated as the seventh defense-men today. It will be a game time decision for Kovy tonight so we will see what happens. Don’t be surprised if you see him on the ice for warm ups and not in the lineup.

**According to a report from the morning skate it looks like Kovy will be in the lineup tonight**

 Video Courtesy of NHL.com

Series:

Tied at 1

Previous Game:

WAS 3 – NYR 2

With the series now headed to Washington the Rangers are, in my opinion, a place where they can make or break their series. If they go into the Caps arena and let the crowd and team dictate their play, than the Blueshirts won’t win a game. The Rangers need to do exactly what they did in game 1 and make the Capitals play the gritty, hard-nosed hockey. Last game the defense broke down a few different times to allow the Capitals good scoring chances with them converting on two of them. Stu Bickel made a huge turnover that gave the Capitals their first goal. The second Capital goal was a huge and rare mistake by Henrik Lundqvist giving the puck up to Jason Chimera for the eventual poke in goal. These two mistakes are something that you don’t see very often as a Rangers fan but they were still key to the Capitals winning that game. The defense has played so well over the playoffs that we cannot blame them for making a mistake but we can say that they must try to tidy up their poor play from the last game. The Rangers offense was however on its game; shooting the puck, driving to the net and putting pressure on their defense/Holtby. Michael Del Zotto played extremely well shooting the puck hard and accurate nailing the post twice, especially the one with less than 30 seconds left, and grabbing an assist (even though it looked like his goal). His played like the offensive defenseman that the team has expected him to be from the start of his career. Ryan Callahan and Chris Kreider also played hard and fast hitting Mike Green hard twice behind the net as well as moving the puck and taking good shots. The Rangers must quiet the Capital crowd by taking away their scoring chances, fore-checking hard, and scoring early. If the Capitals score first than the Rangers will have a tough time clawing back, just like they did in game 2. Pick up the play and put the puck in the net!

Probable Lines:

Gaborik-Richards-Hagelin

Callahan-Stepan-Kreider

Prust-Boyle-Fedotenko

Rupp-Anisimov-Mitchell

Girardi-McDonagh

Del Zotto-Stralman

Staal-Bickel

Henrik Lundqvist

Game Notes:

• Brandon Dubinsky was seen in walking boot today and will not be in the lineup tonight
• Steve Eminger may be in the lineup in place of Bickel today.

“The Rangers had a great comeback last game but they just couldn’t pull it off, still a great effort.”

“They need to come out hard and fast, take the puck away and put pressure on their D”

“Can’t believe Kreider got stuffed on that breakaway, get rid of him”

“Just kidding”

“Gaborik has been playing timid and slow, what is going on with him?”

“Del Zotto looked great last game, hopefully he keeps it up, except the puck will be in the net not off the post.”

“Ovechkin scored his first goal in 5 periods against the blueshirts, gotta give credit to McDonagh and Girardi”

“Boyle did not look too good last game, hopefully he gets back to his normal self”

“Green got rocked by Callahan and then again by Kreider, love that kind of play”

“Shut their fans up tonight!”

“LETS DO IT RANGERS”

NJD 3 PHI 4 OT

The Devils lost a tough one in overtime on Sunday. It would have been great to win that game and go up on the Flyers but again penalties cost the Devils a win. There is no need to elaborate on this, the Devils have been taking a lot of penalties and giving up a lot of untimely power-play goals so instead of being up and game on the road the Devils will play game two tonight being down one game and one leading scorer. Ilya Kovalchuck will be out of tonights game with a lower body injury. I had suspected that something was wrong with Kovy because for the last two games he didnt have the spark that he normally does. It look as if he had lost all of his energy. Sitting out tonight’s game will be good so he can rest his energy and mind.

If Sunday’s game did not prove what I said about Bryzgalov I don’t know what else you need to see. The guy is not a good goalie and can easily be rattled with a few goals. The Devils need to continue to shoot the puck from everywhere keep crashing the net. If we can get in Bryzgalov’s head the Flyers will crumble.

With Kovy out the lines for the Devils will look a little different. I really liked the way that Elias and Parise played together on Sunday so I hope they stay together. Other than that it would not be bad for DeBoer to mix things up a little. These are the lines I would like to see tonight.

Parise – Elias – Zubrus

Ponikarovsky - Zajac – Skyora

Clarkson – Henrique – Gionta

Bernier – Carter – Harrold

Greene – Fayne

Salvador – Zidlicky

Volchenkov – Larrson

Brodeur

Let me explain a few things about these line. First like I said above Elias and Parise can not be separated they played to well together and Zubrus fits in perfectly with that line because he works so on both sides of the ice. Second it looks like Sykora is starting to break out of his shell finally and being paired with Zajac and Ponikarovsky not only gives that line a nice offensive threat but it the top line defensively. I would match this line against the Flyers number one line as much as possible. Third: Clarkson has been somewhat disappointing so far in the playoffs until Sunday. He played his best game so far I think and adding a spark like Gionta to this line could get all three young guns firing away and scoring goals. Fourth; This is the Devils shut down line that can also bring some offense. Bernier has been great this post season and although Harrold is a defense-men I think he makes a smooth transition to offense and fits in perfectly with this line. Moving Harrold up also gives Larsson the chance to make his playoff debut. He has been waiting a long time for this and I think he has had plenty of rest. Its time to give the kid a chance again.

Series:

Rangers Lead 1-0

Previous Game

NYR 3 – WAS 1

The Rangers are coming off a Game 1 win against the Caps Saturday and will be playing again tonight at 7:30. The Rangers game on Saturday was probably one of the best that I have seen them play all playoffs. They controlled the play for almost the entire game and really made Holtby look like the young rookie goalie that he is. The Blueshirts were playing hardnosed, shot blocking hockey and every play they would find mistakes in the Caps offense to break up the play. The Rangers held Alex Ovechkin to only 1 shot because of the fact that the defense was suffocating his play every second he stepped on the ice. The defensive game is extremely solid and should continue to be solid as long as no turnover mistakes give the Caps a scoring chance. On the offensive side of the play the Rangers only managed to hit the net 14 times but that came with scoring 3. Chris Kreider continues to show his offensive prowess as he scored his second game winning goal in only his 5 NHL start. The kid is absolutely playing like a pro and he continues to show why he belongs in the big leagues. Brad Richards also scored a goal last game and I beginning to play with a much more relevant role, as he is controlling the play and showing his ability to put the puck to the back of the neck. The real question however is, where is Marion Gaborik? Gaborik has been absolutely irrelevant since his only goal in game one of the first series. He has not played like the 40 goal scorer he was during this regular season. In other news, Brian Boyle was practicing tonight and may be playing tonight. The Rangers must keep up the defensive play especially if the Blueshirts keep their shot totals low. The Caps will definitely pick their intensity up after being basically embarrassed last game.

Probable Lines:

Gaborik-Richards-Hagelin

Kreider-Stepan-Callahan

Fedotenko-Boyle-Prust

Anisimov-Mitchell-Rupp

McDonagh-Girardi

Staal-Stralman

Del Zotto-Bickel

Henrik Lundqvist

Game Notes:

• Brian Boyle participated in morning practice today and may be able to play in tonights game
• Brandon Dubinsky was seen on crutches and was unable to skate today
• Dale Hunter placed Alexander Semin on the fourth line for practice today.

“Rangers need to keep the play up tonight and make sure they keep number 8 away from the puck”

“Glad to hear the Boyle could be back, we could definitely use his depth on the lower lines”

“Kreider continues to tear it up, watching him play is just awesome”

“Gaborik is invisible, Rangers can really use his scoring”

“Stepan has really shown his improvements in every game and looked like the best player on the ice from start to finish Saturday night”

“Nice seeing Richards show why he’s worth that 6 million a year paycheck.”

“Lundqvist looked like a beast, don’t expect any different tonight”

“Holtby was rattled even though they only had 14 shots, I wonder what more shots will do to the kid?”

“LETS DO IT RANGERS”