NJ Devils & Atlantic Division Weekly Snapshot: 3/21 - 3/27

by John Fischer on Mar 21, 2010 11:15 AM EDT in Division Snapshot

The New Jersey Devils, finally healthy, helped their cause for the Atlantic Division title race with their sixth win of the season over the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Devils swept the Penguins in their season series, leaving all Devils fans to rejoice. Alas, they followed that up with one point in their next two games; so the Penguins were able to retake the lead by two points. They're still in the hunt, though; thanks to Pittsburgh dropping a point against the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Philadelphia Flyers look to be in a good position as they've made their way up to fifth in the conference, and with a game in hand on the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens, who have 79 points as well. Basically, they control their destiny if they keep on winning. The New York Islanders' playoff hopes are increasingly bleak at six points behind eighth place Boston, who has two games in hand on the Islanders. But most Isles fans aren't surprised at this point. New York Rangers supporters are, as their team slipped down behind Atlanta and remain three points outside of eighth place. At this rate, it looks like the division is only sending three teams to the postseason this season.

Atlantic Standings

	GP	W	L	OTL	PT
Pittsburgh	72	42	24	6	90
New Jersey	71	42	25	4	88
Philadelphia	71	37	29	5	79
New York Rangers	71	31	31	9	71
New York Islanders	72	29	33	10	68

(updated 3.21.2010 at 8:42 AM EDT)

Now, I'm sure you may be wondering when that game in hand on Pittsburgh is going to kick in for the Devils. The season is down to it's last few weeks. Well, it won't be this week, both teams play three games. It'll be in the following week, the week running from March 28 through April 3. The Devils will play four games and the Penguins will only play three. What game will that be? Well, it could very well be the first half of the back-to-back the Devils have at the end of that week: a home game against the Chicago Blackhawks. Already I can tell you that it won't be an easy two points.

This week, with four games this week, the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers use up their game in hand on the division. The only way the Flyers can catch New Jersey is if the Devils collapse in an atrocious manner and the Flyers get hot. With 11 games left in the season for both teams, it's very unlikely.

	Potential Points	Last Week	Conf. Position
PIT	6	2-1-1	2nd
NJ	6	2-1-1	4th
PHI	8	1-2-1	5th
NYR	8	1-2-0	10th
NYI	6	2-1-1	12th

This week is an important one for the Rangers. Their first game of the week - and arguably their one game in hand - is today against Boston on national television. I'm sure some of you may be sick of seeing Blueshirts on NBC, but it's a vital game for them if they really want to make the playoffs. The Rangers faithful won't be just hoping their team wins but that the Flyers get the job done against Atlanta. The Thrashers have won their last three and basically thrown a wrench into the Rangers' fading postseason hopes.

There are a few intra-division matchups this week, all of them the end of rivalries this week. The Devils and Rangers will play their final game of the season between each other. The Islanders and Rangers will also end their season series this week. (Aside: Wouldn't be just wonderful if the Rangers dropped both their rivalry games to guarantee that they miss the postseason? Sometimes, I just appreciate schadenfreude in sport.) Lastly, the Battle of Pennsylvania will end the weeks for Pittsburgh and Philadelphia in a matinee.

	3/21	3/22	3/23	3/24	3/25	3/26	3/27
PIT		@ DET		@ WSH			vs. PHI
NJ			vs. CBJ		vs. NYR		@ MON
PHI	vs. ATL		@ OTT		vs. MIN		@ PIT
NYR	@ BOS			vs. NYI	@ NJ		@ TOR
NYI				@ NYR	vs. CGY		@ CBJ

The Devils, on paper, have the easier schedule than Pittsburgh if only for not facing the Washington Capitals like Pittsburgh does this week. However, that means little on the ice. The Devils are two points behind the Penguins with a game in hand and the same number of wins as them. If the Devils can tie the Penguins or even get ahead of them slightly, it would be a very successful week. A sweep of this week alone would be a huge success. The Devils picked up 5 out of a possible 8 last week, the first time in a while they got more than half the points in a week. Now is the time to take it to that proverbial next level.

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Comments

Devils' week

They SHOULD beat Columbus (I will be there without my roommates) and now take my 6-1 record into the Rock then. They play the Rangers a day after the Islanders will hopefully beat up on the Rags. As for the Montreal game, I would play Danis in Montreal and save Marty for Philly the next (travel) day on Sunday. However, you KNOW Marty will want to play in Montreal and I really don’t see Jacques putting Danis in for the Philly game.

When the Devils win Tuesday and if they win Thursday, I think Jacques would consider splitting Danis & Brodeur in Philly or Montreal. If 0-2 or 1-1, I think you’ll see Marty in them both. . . but Marty will probably play in them both anyway.

John, sorry to go ahead on your week blog post, but I think you’ve gotta look at this upcoming weekend together and in context – and that includes Sunday.

I have respect for most sports fans with 2 exceptions: NY Ranger fans who grew up in New Jersey, and Dallas Cowboy fans who can't name the capital of Texas.

by Cherno77 on Mar 21, 2010 9:46 PM EDT reply actions

I’d start Marty this entire week. Every win counts right now, and home ice advantage for most of the playoffs would help too

Cheers, Complaints, homerism and bashing of mediocre pop musicians in 140 Characters
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by Kevin Sellathamby on Mar 21, 2010 9:55 PM EDT up reply actions

OK.

You say this knowing full well there could be outrage – OUTRAGE, I TELL YOU – if Danis doesn’t play?

Devils in my heart! Devils in my mind! Devils in my eyes! Devils until I die!
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by John Fischer on Mar 21, 2010 10:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Outrage… this is worse than i thought…

by Kevin Sellathamby on Mar 22, 2010 6:50 AM EDT up reply actions

OK

No need to lay the sarcasm on too thick, but am I the only one worried about Marty being tired?

I have respect for most sports fans with 2 exceptions: NY Ranger fans who grew up in New Jersey, and Dallas Cowboy fans who can't name the capital of Texas.

by Cherno77 on Mar 23, 2010 6:24 AM EDT up reply actions

No, you're not

But aside from Columbus, I don’t see a reasonable night off for Marty this week. And Danis has played a couple recently already, so Columbus wasn’t likely.

Go Jets
Go Devils

by FrankG929 on Mar 23, 2010 10:18 PM EDT up reply actions

Clarkson Fighting/80 plus Game Schedule

Two random thoughts I may as well put out there. First, this last week I think Clarkson really came into his own and showed what we can do offensively; I know his skill level can still improve, but the guy brings much need punch to our third line. In my book, he is now a SKILLED player, a key offensive component. An important consequence of this in my view is that he needs to simply grow up mentally and stop fighting. I know he didnt actually fight this past week, but he was looking for it a couple times. If I’m Lemaire I pull him aside and say, listen, you are a key to where we are going in the playoffs, we cant have you risking pointless injuries by fighting. I hope most people agree with me on this, even those of you who love Clarkson’s fiestiness. Let us put aside the question of whether fighting should be in the sport (I am personally of the view that it adds nothing, its somewhat of an embarassment when contrasted with other sports, and that the kind of fight Leblond got into against the Blues is just a pointless sideshow between two players who should be out of the game), and come together on the point that Clarkson has more important things to focus on: i.e. third line goals.

Second random point relates to all us trying to make sense of the Devils consistent inconsistency. Lets face it, none of us of late can make any sense of where this team stands after the break. They beat the sharks, the penguins twice, loose to edmonton and toronto. What can be said? Well, one thing is they seem to get up for BIG games which positive. They have played well against the top teams (I will be interested to see if they can grab a win against Chicago on April 2nd to avenge the New Years Eve loss). But lets keep in mind that the 82 game schedule, while we all love the 40 home games, and its probably necessary for revenue for the teams and teh league, is simply insane. The season is too long, no team could possibly get the intensity level up for each game, and in fact one could argue that being overly intense a few weeks before the playoffs is bad. Of course you dont want to loose 6 in a row right before the playoffs, like I believe we did last year with Sutter, but going out and leaving it all on the line against the lowly Leafs might not be a great idea either. Yes, I read Lemaire’s quote, professional athletes are supposed to play at the same level every game; we all know they dont, and this season is too long. Hopefully that explains some of the inconsistency.

by max16s on Mar 22, 2010 3:54 AM EDT reply actions

Hopefully that explains some of the inconsistency.

That explains the peaks and valleys; the lulls and runs. Not the good games against a good team and the poor game against poor teams. That’s not a consistency problem, it’s a motivational problem, imo.

On the upside, Pittsburgh lost last night and seems to be struggling also.

by elesias on Mar 23, 2010 7:49 AM EDT up reply actions

In other news, the Flyers’ Jeff Carter is out 3-4 weeks with a fractured foot. I didn’t think anything of it when I first heard the news, but the Flyers are in a more tenuous position than I’d originally thought:

They currently sit in the 6th seed, tied with Montreal (in 7th, with two more games played than Philly, but who’ve been hot lately), and only 3 points up on 8th place Boston (who has a game in hand—but don’t seem geared to go anywhere). Throw in Atlanta, only four points back, and who’s been stringing together some wins lately… and with a bad week struggling to replace Carter, the Flyers could be on the outside of the playoff race!

I figured if Atlanta moved into the top 8, they’d bump Boston, but that injury could change things…

by elesias on Mar 23, 2010 4:43 PM EDT reply actions

Awwwwww

my heart bleeds for the Flyers. NOT! Here’s hoping they fall out. Although playing them in the first round wouldn’t be terrible, them not having a real starting goalie.

Go Jets
Go Devils

by FrankG929 on Mar 23, 2010 10:22 PM EDT up reply actions