Total domination of the Rangers. If this Jagr injury is serious and he has to miss games, this could be a quick series. Without Jagr the Rangers aren't any good.
The series is now 2-0 to the Devils. Another great performance and especially by Madden getting the hat trick but the play of the game came towards the end with the diving save by Brodeur. Off to the Garden for games 3 and 4. Game 3 will be very crucial because a Devils win will pretty much give the series to the Devils but a loss can give the Rangers new life. If the Devils continue to play like this there really shouldn't be a problem.
While I don't think the ghosts of Messier and Matteau will ever be completely banished from Devils fans collective memories, for now they are very much irrelevant as we FINALLY are able to shove the Blueshirts aside when it counts, in the playoffs. We still have a tough road ahead, but who wants to play us right now? No one in the East wants to, I'm pretty sure. If we should face the Sens, they will no doubt be hoping avenge our winning in their house back in '03. As of now, I'm saving up my pennies just in case it's a SJ-NJ Cup final.
Off to the 2nd round to play Carolina. This should be a very interseting series an I think the Devils match up well with Carolina but it should be a good test for the Devils.
Well as I am writing this, the Canes are laying the wood to the Devs in Game 1. I knew Carolina would provide a much tougher test for us than the Rangers, but this imminent loss today is pretty tough to swallow. We need a much much better effort in Game 2. Oh look, it's now 5-0. By the way, I always hated Rod Brind'amour when he was playing for the Flyers, and I still hate that ugly SOB.
An awful performance by the whole team. 5 of 6 Carolina goals were on the power play. That is just bad. Better hope that we bounce back because coming back from 2-0 down would be very tough.
I'm glad I had to work during this game, or else I'd have killed someone. I can't believe they played so poorly. I guess that's the price your form pays when you go such a long time without a game, as a result of the sweep of the Rangers...
Hi Andy: While I didn't like the outcome of Saturday's game.....I do like the photos. Thanks - and let's play seven!
Before the series, I was really nervous. Having been at Game 1...well, maybe it was the layoff, but it was very, very clear that the Canes have a substantial edge in team speed and hustle. The Devils' horrid stretch of nothing when they had 3 straight power plays was, IMO, instructive. About halfway through, I turned to my wife and said, "Every single time, they have to dump it in, they never carry it in." That continued. The Devils really didn't look like they were on the PP; they dumped it in, a Cane was the first to the puck, he was able to turn and find a path, he cleared it to Brodeur, lather, rinse, repeat. Part of me recognizes that the Devils just had a bad game AND an unlucky game at the same time. The Canes lost game 1 last round and even game 2 before winning 4 straight. OTOH, the Canes lost 6-1 despite outshooting the Canadiens something like 43-21. Huet was awesome and Gerber was TERRIBLE. On Saturday, the Canes outshot the Devils BADLY. I wonder if the Canes have just a) integrated Weight and Recchi and b) got over their late season funk and returned to their Dec-Jan-Feb form while c) some guys with nagging injuries have recovered. We'll see how it goes tonight. I expect the Devils worked on some way to avoid dumping it in on the power play. That didn't work AT ALL.
Well a better effort, but our boys are going back up to Jersey down 2. DAMMIT, we were SECONDS away from WINNING!!!!! To me, it's even more disappointing giving up a GTG in the dying seconds and then blowing it in OT than it is losing 6-0. Now what? Will we be able to "hold serve" and tie up this series? Home ice may be overrated (see the West QFs and the OTT-BUF series ), but we will need our fans at the Swamp to somehow lift the Devs to win the next game.
Man, what a game. The 'Canes just wouldn't die. NJ was just deflated after regulation. It's hard to get back in it once you give one away like that. Too early though. Anything can happen in this series.
New Jersey was seriously, seriously lucky not to be down 2-1, or even 3-1, when Gomez scored. The better team on the night won. I just hope the Canes get at least one in Jersey.