The top-seeded New York Rangers barely survived the first two rounds of the playoffs as the difference in each of their first two series was just one. For the people that have just started following them in the postseason, they might think they’re scraping by.
For the people that have been watching them all season long, they know this is just how the Rangers play.
Meanwhile, the New Jersey Devils barely squeaked by the Florida Panthers in the first round but then surprisingly dismantled the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round. Which Devils team are we going to see in the third round of the playoffs?
In any case, NHL fans are in for a real treat in a throwback series from the late 1990’s, which should be full of grit, animosity and seven hard-fought games.
Forwards
It’s hard to give the Rangers the edge in forwards – or scoring – considering how little they’re getting out of the group. The Rangers have now scored two goals or less in five of their last six games and have scored just 29 goals in 14 playoff games (2.07 per game). Henrik Lundqvist and the defense is working on overtime and they might have to again.
Meanwhile, the Devils coming off a five-game series where they scored 18 goals and have had little problems at the offensive end. Ilya Kovalchuk has been a difference-maker along with Zach Parise, and it’s quite clear that the Rangers don’t have anything like him. Sure, Brad Richards is nice and Marian Gaborik chips in, but the Devils have a number of good weapons and balanced scoring the entire way through. They get the edge in this category.
Blue Line
The Rangers do have the better blue line but the Devils units shouldn’t be overlooked. The Philadelphia Flyers scored 30 goals in their first-round series win over the Pittsburgh Penguins but the Devils held them to just seven goals in the last four games. That’s impressive. Nobody knows the likes of Andy Greene or Mark Fayne but their six-man corps shouldn’t struggle too much with a Rangers team that almost needs a lucky bounce to score goals.
As for the Rangers, how can you argue with their units? As pathetic as the offense has been, the Rangers blue line has actually played even better than the regular season and given the Rangers the opportunity to get to the East Finals. Head coach John Tortorella has this team playing as well and as disciplined defensively as anyone could have hoped.
Goalies
Henrik Lundqvist gets the edge here as he’s allowed two goals or less in 10 of his 14 playoff games. And four times he did allow more than two goals, the opponent only got to three. The Rangers have allowed a measly 26 goals through 14 playoff games.
As for Martin Brodeur, who is back in the Eastern Conference Final for the first time in nine years, he’s played excellent since being pulled in Game 3 of the first round. Since then, he’s allowed merely two goals per game.
Right now, Lundqvist is in his prime and playing about as good as any goaltender in the league while Brodeur isn’t what he used to be, but is still playing at a very high level. The Rangers struggling offense should make him look a bit better too.
The Rangers get the edge here but not by much.
Prediction
The first goal will probably lead to the win in each game as both teams are so strong defensively. Also, don’t expect any OVERS or any games decided by more than a goal unless there’s an empty-netter.
These two Northeast Division rivals are very familiar with each other and split the regular season series 3-3 with a total of 20 goals being scored.
That being said, for my NHL picks I’m sticking with the Rangers as they are a little bit better in net, they have home-ice advantage and they are playing really disciplined hockey right now. The Devils looked great in Round 2 but the Florida Panthers stymied them in Round 1. That series might be more indicated of what will happen in the East Finals, so look for the Rangers to pop-in the game tape from that series to see what they did so well and apply it themselves.
Pick: Rangers in 7
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