Now that the NHL regular season concluded on Sunday, two local teams, the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers, will gear up for the first-round Eastern Conference playoffs.
The third-seeded New Jersey Devils will get ready to take on the sixth-seeded Carolina Hurricanes while the seventh-seeded New York Rangers will battle against the second-seeded Washington Capitals.
As a result of losing back-to-back games to end the season, the Carolina Hurricanes dropped to the sixth-seed in the Eastern Conference and will go on the road for their first two games in New Jersey.
However, despite coming into the series without home-ice advantage, they might have a mental edge over the Devils, having beaten them twice in the postseason in 2006 and 2002. In 2006, the Canes defeated the Devils in five games and went on to the win the Stanley Cup.
Prior to this series, the teams have met each other three times, with the Hurricanes winning two out of three. In 2001, the Devils needed six games to oust Carolina in the quarterfinals. Proving that even in victory, Carolina has never been an easy opponent for the Devils to face.
Another factor that could play in Carolina’s favor is the momentum they built during their nine-game winning streak in late-March and April.
However by the same token, the Devils really came together as a team to close out the season, bouncing back from a brutal six-game losing streak.
Devils star goalie Martin Brodeur spoke about his team’s revival with www.newjerseydevils.com and how he felt his team coalesced at the right time, “In the playoffs, it’s important to be composed and I think we got out of the funk that we were in and we did a good job and we all did it together.
“It wasn’t one guy that took us out of the hole we were in. Everybody chipped in and now we’re looking forward.”
The Devils will definitely not be taking the Hurricanes lightly. In addition to having to worry about Carolina’s star center Eric Staal, the Devils have to be mindful with Carolina’s power play. The Canes scored seven power play goals against New Jersey in their four meetings this season, with four of those goals coming from defenseman Anton Babchuk.
Canes’ netminder Cam Ward has also given New Jersey fits. He posted a 3–0 record against the Devils this season with a 1.67 goals-against average. In their last playoff matchup in 2006, Ward allowed only five goals and also had a shutout.
However, despite their history against each other, 45 goal-scorer Zach Parise liked the Devils chances. Speaking to www.newjerseydevils.com, he said, “I think we’ve matched up pretty well against them and every time we’ve lost it’s been tight the whole way through. We’ll see what happens.”
Rangers On A Roll
As the New York Rangers gear up for the Washington Capitals in the opening round, the Blueshirts come into this matchup on a high note, winning their last three games of the season including back-to-back games against the fifth-seeded Philadelphia Flyers.
Rangers goalie, Henrik Lundqvist also earned a career-high 38 wins this season
This matchup between New York and Washington is sure to be filled with plenty of grit and excitement. The Caps are an explosive team and are led by the NHL’s leading goal scorer in Alex Ovechkin who had 56 goals.
What makes this series even more interesting is the history involved between both teams. The Rangers and Capitals have faced off four other times in the playoffs, splitting their series. The last times both teams met, the Rangers defeated the Capitals in five games in the second round in 1994 before going on to the win the Stanley Cup.
Other Eastern Match-ups
The Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins will meet in the battle of Pennsylvania. As a result of the Rangers 4–3 victory over the Flyers on Sunday, the fourth-seeded Penguins earned fourth-place and home ice advantage.
The top-seeded Boston Bruins meanwhile will face the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens in a rematch of last year’s first round series starting Thursday. Last year the Habs won in seven, but on paper, this year should be very different.
