The Time: 8:00 PM EDT

The Broadcast: TV - NBCSN, CBC, RDS; Radio - 660 AM WFAN

The Series: The New Jersey Devils (2) at the New York Rangers (2)

The Previews: For an opposition's point of view, please check out this post by Joe Fortunato at Blueshirt Banter. For a neutral take, Dirk Hoag did this video for SB Nation summarizing what happened in Game 4 and how that goes into tonight's game.

The Pre-Game Video: Here's the awesome pre-game video the Devils have been using before playoff games at the Rock. Watch it and get pumped for this one.

The Song for Tonight: It's rather impressive that they're still around. I guess NYHC legends Sick of it All really were Built to Last. Here's the title track from their 1989 release, Blood, Sweat & No Tears: "The Blood and the Sweat."

Gameday Info: The Devils didn't practice yesterday. Tom Gulitti confirmed at Fire & Ice this morning that the Devils will use the same lineup from Game 4 tonight. Meanwhile, the Rangers will get Brandon Prust back in action after serving his one game suspension. Andrew Gross reported at Ranger Rants this afternoon that in addition to Prust returning, Brandon Dubinsky should return to the lineup. He hasn't played since March 6, so it's unclear as to how much he will or will not contribute. Also: Stu Bickel will be in the lineup too. Yes, John Tortarella would like to keep giving shifts to Stu Bickel.

The Reminder: I know everyone's going to be a bit on edge for this series - myself included. Feelings and emotions will be running high. Still, remember that I and the other users commenting aren't the ones playing this game. There's no need to get salty among ourselves or against any trolls from other places. Seriously, don't feed any trolls and don't troll Blueshirt Banter - sanctions there can be brought over here. To quote Bill S. Preston, Esq., be excellent to each other.

The Band is Awesome: Queen is an awesome band. Here's an example of said awesomeness.. That also reminds me of something. Please don't call Henrik Lundqvist "Queen," or some variation thereof. At its core it is a sexist comment by way of stating that being a female is inferior. Moreover, the band is more awesome than Lundqvist ever will be. Such statements won't be tolerated from here on out, so don't be surprised if you get warned for it. Thanks!

Please use the comments in this post to discuss tonight's game before, during, and after it happens until the recap is up. Please remember the rules at all times. Namely: keep your comments clean, keep them on topic, and keep them legal (For example: nothing is allowed about illegal streams - no links, no discussion, no requests). I will provide the commentary here as well on Twitter with @InLouWeTrust. Go Devils!

The New Jersey Devils defeated the New York Rangers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals by a score of 4-1. It was the first game of the series where one team built up a multiple-goal lead prior to the third period; and that team was New Jersey. Given that Henrik Lundqvist has been amazing for the Rangers throughout the regular season and in the playoffs, it was real impressive that the Devils were able to get more than one past him relatively early.

Most of the four goals New Jersey scored were pretty simple. The first goal came from the improbably productive Bryce Salvador. His shot from the point stayed low, traveled through traffic, and got deflected off Anton Stralman's skate as the puck dribbled in between Lundqvist's legs. A fortunate occurrence more than anything else. The third goal was simple: Adam Henrique won a faceoff to start the power play, Ilya Kovalchuk hammered a slapshot on net, and Zach Parise put in the rebound. It was a very good effort; also straight-forward. The fourth goal was an empty net goal - a long clearing attempt by Parise that sent the puck rolling towards and then into the net.

The second one, the eventual game winning goal, was the lone score by New Jersey that came off a more substantial play. The goal itself was important. It capitalized on big minute defenseman Ryan McDonagh serving a fighting major. Getting one goal against Lundqvist is a big deal, especially since he has two shutouts in this series already. Zajac's goal established that Lundqvist couldn't just bail out the Rangers and keep things close for a timely goal later on Getting two - and not long after the first one - in Game 4 was massive.

Therefore, I think it's worthy of a goal breakdown. What better way to get excited for Game 5 tonight than to see Dainius Zubrus, Zajac, and Parise take a turnover and turn it into a successful two-on-one play? Please set your viewing to wide and continue on after the jump to see how it all happened and Michael Del Zotto getting torched among other things.

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Your Links for today

Devils Links

There will be no supplementary discipline for actions that occurred in game 4 [Fire and Ice]

Mike Rupp gives his explanation on the incident in game 4 [Ranger Rants]

An Opus on Peter DeBoer's coaching tactics [Puck Daddy]

The Devils appreciate Peter DeBoer's emotion [Fire and Ice]

The Stanley Cup Finals begin May 30th [Fire and Ice]

Some props for the relatively anonymous Devils defensive unit [NJ.com]

Breaking down the Devils 2nd goal from game 4 [Backhand Shelf]

Would breaking up the Rangers top line help them? [Blue Seat Blogs]

Is John Tortorella's tactics of benching offensive players costing the Rangers? [Backhand Shelf]

John Tortorella is praying for offense. lol [PHT]

More links after the jump

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With two more games completed in the Eastern Conference Finals, the New Jersey Devils podcast Talking Red returns to discuss what's going on with our favorite hockey team. In this episode, David Sarch; former ILWT writer, Puck the Media manager, and general hockey media mastermind Steve Lepore; and myself discuss Game 3 and Game 4 against our hated rivals, the New York Rangers. We talk about how Game 3 was without resorting to the word "frustrating" several times, and the good feeling that came out of Game 4. We also chatted about the TV ratings for this series and the postseason overall, the media coverage of both teams, Peter DeBoer, the current playoff MVP on the Devils, the current best beard on the Devils, and Kevin Smith. There's something for everyone in this one.

Big thanks to Steve for coming on before his big announcement tomorrow morning. Thanks again to David for having me on to talk about the Devils some more. This episode is 45.67 MB large and 49:53 long. It is directly available here at the TR website; and it can be found at iTunes and Stitcher if you're into either service. You can also listen to a stream of it after the jump of this very post. You can give us your comments and questions to talkingred at gmail dot com, tweet them to @TalkingRed, or just leave them here in the comments of this post. Here's David's description of this bonus mid-week show:

On this week's episode, David is joined by John from In Lou We Trust and Steve Lepore of Puck The Media. They break down the highs and lows of Games 3 and 4. After that, David and John discuss how the Devils and the NHL did with their TV ratings, the media's perception of the team, and a certain coach that doesn't love interviews. After that, they answer some listener questions and share stories of Hardware Stores, Sweden, and Kevin Smith.

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Over at the SB Nation NHL hub, the collective bloggers on the network have voted their selections for the various NHL regular season awards for the 2011-12 season. The voting process was simple: name a player for the third, second, and first place. Each vote is valued accordingly and the most amount of points wins. Since I hastily put together a ballot based on a slap-dash amount of research, I figure I should explain my ballots. I missed the first day due to that whole "Game 4" event; but I'll provide an explanation as the awards are announced on the non-game days going forward.

On Monday, SB Nation named Jonathan Quick as their winner of the Vezina trophy, for most outstanding goaltender. Coming in second place was Henrik Lundqvist, current scourage of the Devils in the Eastern Conference Finals. Third place went to Phoenix's Mike Smith. My ballot had all three names but in different order. I went to NHL.com and organized all the goaltenders by even strength save percentage. While Brian Elliot and Jaroslav Halak led the list by far among regular goaltenders, the two Blues netminders split time whereas Quick, Lundqvist, and Smith were clearly their team's starters. Smith led the trio with a 93.6% save percentage and Quick finished just ahead of Lundqvist, though both rounded up to 93.3%. So that's how I voted: Smith, Quick, Lundqvist. All three were excellent for their respective teams, even all the way into the postseason, so I wouldn't necessarily disagree with any disagreement of that order. Or even the possible inclusion of Pekka Rinne.

On Tuesday, SB Nation announced that Shea Weber won their selection for the Norris as the league's most outstanding defenseman. I will admit, I didn't do a good job with my ballot. I didn't even vote for Weber, who was excellent but also didn't really drive the play forward all that well. Granted, Nashville was often defending. I chose the perennial Nicklas Lidstrom third as he had another season of taking on the toughs, playing big minutes, driving the play forward, and generally commanding the play on the ice. I selected Erik Karlsson second because he simply makes things happen when he's on the ice. I don't think he's like Mike Green in that he's all offense and little defense. True, his ridiculous 19 goals and 59 assists made him, well, outstanding. However, he also played a ton of minutes and was second behind Filip Kuba in Corsi Rel QoC, so those weren't easy minutes either. If Karlsson was so poor in his own end, he wouldn't average 25 minutes a game, now would he? I controversially chose Brent Seabrook first. I was the only one to vote for Seabrook. I was enamored by the fact he had the fifth highest Corsi Rel QoC in the league, he had the highest Corsi Rel QoC with a positive on-ice Corsi rate (read: he won his very difficult match-ups), he played a ton of minutes, he put up a respectable amount of points, and he had to be great given that Chicago's blueline beyond him and Duncan Keith isn't impressive. Seabrook had to be excellent and it seems to me that he was. In retrospect, I should have swapped him and Lidstrom, who had a vastly superior on-ice Corsi rate. I also expect plenty of criticism and what-not.

In any case, that's how I voted. In the meantime, feel free to lambast me for my ballots and/or discuss who won the awards. I don't think any Devils will win, but I will say that some Devils players got some votes for some of the awards. You can probably guess at least one of them. You can also use the comments as an open thread for tonight's Western Conference Finals game between Phoenix and Los Angeles. Thank you for reading.

In 81 regular season games in 2011-2012, Patrik Elias put up 78 points, good enough for a tie with Erik Karlsson for 10th in the league for scoring. While the Devils have received contributions from everyone in the lineup, Elias hasn't exactly been the biggest factor offensively in the playoffs, with 5 points in 16 games, and none in his last six games. In fact, he's more or less been as much of a factor offensively as one of the 4th liners (Gionta, Bernier and Carter all have 4 points each). While guys like Travis Zajac, Adam Henrique, Bryce Salvador (not a typo) and David Clarkson have all stepped up their offensive games in the playoffs, Elias' lack of production is somewhat concerning.

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Your links for today

Devils Links

Recaps of last night's action [Fire and Ice][NJ.com][RWTD][SBN NY][Blueshirt Banter][Ranger Rants][PHT][Puck Daddy]

It's apparent the Rangers frustration is getting to them [NJ.com]

John Tortorella cries at Peter DeBoer because his player threw a cheapshot [PHT]

Zach Parise is happy the Devils didn't stoop to the Rangers' level and throw cheapshots [PHT]

Bryce Salvador has quietly been racking up points in the playoffs [NJ.com]

Tortorella on Michael Del Zotto (who was terrible last night): "He'll bounce back". Hopefully not [PHT]

Comparing Martin Brodeur and Henrik Lundqvist [Down Goes Brown]

An "interview" with the John Tortorella [Barry Melrose Rocks]

More links after the jump

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The New Jersey Devils were shutout in Game 1 and Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the New York Rangers. In the former, the Devils struggled to break down the Rangers defense and Henrik Lundqvist. In the latter, the Devils just plain struggled with Lundqvist and only Lundqvist. Tonight, neither were the case as the Devils were able to establish dominance early on, score twice on Lundqvist in the first period, and tacked on a third goal in the third period. An empty net goal confirmed a 4-1 victory and a tied series in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The first period was reminiscent of the first period of Game 3 except the Devils had better luck and better execution on their opportunities. In the first period the Devils swarmed it up with a 12-3 shot advantage prior to a Rangers power play that got them four more shots to make the total count a more respectable looking 12-7. All four lines found some measure of success in terms of possession. The Devils took initiative and seemingly controlled the play. Unlike Game 3, the Devils got a break when a shot by Bryce Salvador found it's way through traffic and in between Lundvist's legs. One fight that took Ryan McDonagh off the ice and less than four minutes later, Zach Parise - who was definitely noticeable tonight - torched Michael Del Zotto to get into space. He beat a sliding Dan Girardi with a pass to a trailing Travis Zajac, who hammered the puck in on Lundqvist's flank. Yes, the Devils created a two-on-one and actually converted on it. That gave them the 2-0 lead and it could have been much more save for special teams. I didn't even think Anton Volchenkov's tripping call on Mike Rupp was all that bad as it could have prevented an opportunity for him. That aside, it was very good period for New Jersey.

This was new territory for this series: a team maintaining a multiple-goal lead outside of the third period. It is because of this lead that we saw the Rangers get more success on offense in the second and third periods. The second period was similar to Game 3's second period in that the game opened up for both sides. Both New Jersey and New York found holes in the neutral zone for offensive opportunities off the rush. The Devils squandered most of them; and the Rangers didn't do too much with them. Nevertheless, the Rangers were able to pin back the Devils defenders (the longer distance to the bench helped) and out-shot the Devils 10-9. However, Martin Brodeur was too good in the crease and the Devils defense cleaned up just about anything loose. The Rangers definitely played like a hockey team after a poor first period; but they were denied a way back on to the scoreboard.

For some reason, the third period just became a mess in terms of discipline. The Rangers were clearly frustrated. While the Rangers were becoming more threatening on offense in the second period, they shot themselves in the foot. Derek Stepan high-sticked Mark Fayne early in the period. The Devils' power play, inconsistent as it has been, struck gold. Adam Henrique won the faceoff, Ilya Kovalchuk unloaded a slapshot on net, and an uncovered Parise jammed in the rebound. Four seconds into the power play, it's 3-0 New Jersey and the Devils faithful at the Rock were delirious in delight.

Now, with 17:19 left to play, one would think the Rangers would try to battle back into the game. The Rangers did that, only instead of battling to score, they just figured on straight up battling. 6:18 into the third period, Mike Rupp was going to get a minor for roughing behind the net and after the whistle, he took a shot at Brodeur before engaging in a scrum. He got tossed and a double-minor, Ryan Carter and Stu Bickel got matching minors for beefing, and the Devils had four minutes to play with. The Devils didn't do much with that four minute power play; and not even when Carl Hagelin made it a 5-on-3 for over a minute with a slashing call. The Devils wasted that and another power play - also thanks to Hagelin - and so the Rangers only get back to 5-on-5 with less than seven minutes to play. Talk about making it hard on yourselves. Ruslan Fedotenko did score on a shot Brodeur should have stopped; but it was only a consolation goal. It was too little, too late even as the Rangers out-shot the Devils 9-3 at evens and 11-9 overall in the third. As the Rangers tried to draw up something late with the extra man, Parise flung a puck down the end of the ice that just rolled into the empty net. That put the Devils up 4-1 and it sealed a 2-2 tie in the series.

Tonight, the Devils wailed on the Rangers in terms of hockey and finally solved Lundqvist. The Rangers' response was to get chippy, to get nasty, and they end up receiving with a trip back to MSG with a loss. I'd call that a decisive result. The opposition point of view at least agrees with the chippiness according to Bryan Winters' recap at Blueshirt Banter. For more thoughts on tonight's win, please continue on after the jump.

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