What Do You Think: First Round

by John Fischer on Apr 10, 2009 12:31 AM EDT in What Do You Think?

Let's have a quick What Do You Think. The Devils clinched the Atlantic Division with at least one point earned against Ottawa (they got 2!) and with Philadelphia's loss to the Rangers. They needed one of those scenarios to come true and both did. Since Washington beat Tampa Bay, the Devils will be in the #3 seed in the East. Here's the potential situation for the potential first round opponents.

1. Philadelphia - 43-26-11 - 2 Games Remaining: At Islanders, Vs. Rangers

2. Carolina - 45-29-7 - 1 Game Remaining: At New Jersey

3. Pittsburgh - 44-28-9 - 1 Game Remaining: At Montreal

It's most likely that it will be either Pittsburgh or Carolina; but Philadelphia could still slide if they get 2 or less points out of their two remaining games (not likely, but they didn't get the job done tonight). Also, it's interesting that New Jersey has a hand in all this. We'd love to see them go into the post season with a win; but a loss to Carolina would help them up and away from New Jersey next week. But here is what I want to know:

Who would you want in the first round for New Jersey and why?

There's not an easy matchup among the bunch, but no one ever said the Stanley Cup Playoffs were ever easy. Share your thoughts before the weekend is up. The best ones will be posted up later - potentially for a playoff preview.

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I don't like any of those opponents

In an ideal world, I would’ve chosen Montreal as the first round matchup, but I don’t so I would probably say that Philly would be my first choice if only because Marty knows how to play well against the Flyers and he has the most career wins against that team. Carolina probably scares me the most because the Devils have had some epic failures against them. Pittsburgh wouldn’t be much easier, especially if Sutter plays the “put Madden out every time Crosby is out there card.” I think the Devils should try to match Crosby with the Devils best line of Parise, Langs and Zajac. I think the Devils line is probably the best line in hockey and should rise to the occasion. If you put Madden out there against Crosby, that means you have Mad Dog playing a ton more minutes.

But the reality is that any series the Devils get into will come down to two things. Specialty teams and Martin Brodeur. It’s no secret that Marty hasn’t had a good playoff series in a few seasons now. But in years past, that’s because I believe he was worn down. He doesn’t have that excuse any more. The thing I see with him right now is that he’s overplaying the puck and not controlling his rebounds as well as he usually does. He kicked that Ruutu shot right back onto Ruutu’s stick. If Marty is on his game, he boots that puck right by Ruutu. I also think Marty overplaying the puck is one of the reasons the penalty kill is struggling so much right now. Marty gets his game in gear and it won’t matter who the Devils face.

The new NHL is a specialty team NHL now, even in the playoffs. Whoever probably has the best power play and best penalty kill will likely win, no matter who the Devils face. Ultimately, this would be my preference:

1. Philly
2. Pittsburgh
3. Carolina

I also think that the order in which I put them in reflects who has the best goaltending. Biron doesn’t scare me. Fleury scares me a little and Ward scares me a lot.

by Tyler Bleszinski on Apr 10, 2009 1:07 AM EDT reply actions

What he said

Both PA teams have the offensive ability to overcome their questionable goalie/defense to burn the Devils for not putting them away, and Carolina seems to be suddenly very balanced.

I’m thinking Philly hangs on to the 4 spot, and Carolina wins Saturday to keep the 5th spot, leaving us Pittsburgh.

by elesias on Apr 10, 2009 8:08 AM EDT reply actions

Philly

Biron allowing himself to be pushed into the net for a gaol tells me we went philly. I say after that carolina then pitts. we dont have a real great option here.

by WhatWouldLouDo on Apr 10, 2009 9:23 AM EDT reply actions

You want to meet Philly of these three,

but at this point it’s like the weather — it doesn’t matter what you want, you get what you get. I’d rather have Philly because I’ve always disliked them, but mostly because the Devils will dispose of them quickly. The Flyers are paper tigers — you can’t win in the playoffs with that goalie tandem, they proved it last year. They barely squeaked by the Caps on a bad call OT goal.

by Bob Roberts on Apr 10, 2009 1:38 PM EDT reply actions

I agree with the consensus here, Philliy is my top choice, then Pittsburgh – I want nothing to do with Carolina. For whatever reason the Hurricanes have had our number for years and it seems to be largely the opposite with the Flyers (some of their fans will actually admit it if you happen to ever get into a docile conversation with them). The Pens have been just as solid as the Canes the past month but there defense is not as deep in my opinion, hence why they’d be the second choice.

I see Pittsburgh as the likely opponent and its an interesting matchup. Two of the games the Devils won against them this year they were far and away the dominant team on the ice. In one of them, they had three times as many shots as the Penguins – but barely eked out a 2-1 OT victory because Fleury stood on his head. In the second the Pens scored a few quick goals in the first and then were dominated the rest of the way, with the Devils storming back with 3 goals in the last 10 minutes. Provided the Devils offense wakes up (AKA: Elias can play so we actually have two solid scoring lines again) both teams have some firepower so a series between the two could come down to Brodeur vs. Fleury, even with his subpar performances of late I still take Brodeur in that matchup.

by drhgzang on Apr 10, 2009 1:45 PM EDT reply actions

The Hurricanes!

Sorry guys – I disagree. I think the Canes are the perfect first round opponent for a couple of reasons.
1. The Devils haven’t yet beat them this year.
2. They have lost to them in the playoffs in the past.
3. They have exited in the first round the last two years.
4. This team always seems to need a challenge and these three things should provide the motivation.
5. After the Canes it’s downhill to the CUP !

by PeterB on Apr 11, 2009 12:29 PM EDT reply actions

playoff opponents

i would have preferred philadelphia because the devils have always been able to score against the flyers’ goalies, but that can no longer happen…i guess i’d have to say carolina cause the pens have the better power play and the devils PK has left much to be desired for long streches of his season, including recently of course

by don in central jersey on Apr 11, 2009 5:52 PM EDT reply actions