After last night's game, you may have felt confident the Devils could compete, if not win, in this series. You may have felt that if the Devils could win without Ilya Kovalchuk, there's not telling what they could do with the talented Russian (As seen buy today's Devils in the Details title). Hell, you may have felt none of these things, it doesn't matter. The one thing that has consistently ruled the Devil's fate has doomed them to defeat. I am talking, of course, about Scott Burnside of EPSN.

This man, if we can call him a man, has a strange knack for never getting anything right about the Devils. A month ago fellow user (feel like I'm on The Grid) Alamoth posted a FanPost on Scott Burnside's failed predictions for the Devils' 2011-2012 season. As you can see, the laws of nature will never allow Burnside to have an accurate opinion or prediction concerning the Devils. For years, Burnside continually predicted the fall of the Devils, only for the team to prove him wrong and go on to the playoffs, winning four Atlantic Division titles in that span. Then came the infamous 2010-2011 season. The Devils had signed $100 million man, Kovalchuk, had a new head coach, again, in John Maclean, and had signed a couple of free-agent defencemen in Anton Volchenkov and Henrik Tallinder to shore up the blue line. Although they lost in 5 games to Philly the previous postseason, there was a lot of promise for this Devils team.Burnside actually predicted a decent showing by the Devils, only for the team to miss the playoffs for the first time in a decade.

Now, Devils fans around the world may have their postseason dreams dashed by another Burnside article. Today, May 2, 2012, ESPN.com published an article by Scott Burnside. An article in which Burnside pleads with others to take notice of an overlooked Devils squad. He goes so far as to praise the Devils, specifically the penalty kill and team chemistry. This article is as rare as it is deadly. Burnside says the Devils have a chance, which means they don't have a chance.

There is hope. Before I leave you to sacrificing animals and the like to gods unknown in an attempt to reverse the Devils new fate, take heart in two things. The first is even though Burnside wrote a favourable article about the Devils, he still predicted they will lose the series. Second, Burnside continually predicts Zach Parise will leave the Devils once he gets the chance this summer. Obviously this means the captain will definitely return to lead the Devils for years to come. Now go find all the lucky horseshoes, rabbit feet, four-leaf clovers, and knock on every piece of wood you see. We will need every weapon of fortune to reverse the fate Scott Burnside has decided for our team.