Before the 2012 playoffs, the Devils had been 3-7 at the state of the art Prudential Center since relocated there for the started of the 2007-08 season.

My how things have changed. This certainly isn’t the case during the Devils latest run towards another Stanley Cup title. In fact, once tickets for round three were released to the public they sold out in under ten-minutes and at that point The Devils opponent had yet to be decided.

Having been the road team in each of the three playoff rounds hasn’t been a problem for the Devils to this point. They have managed to split the first two games in all three only to return home to a raucous and extremely loud home crowd.

The difference has been so great that those who have been around the New Jersey organization since they moved into the new building have commented several times on just how deafening the “Rock” has been throughout this postseason.

Parise on fans at Pru Center: “In the 1st round and the 2nd round they made the building as loud as I’ve ever heard it.”

— Tom Gulitti (@TGfireandice) May 17, 2012

After winning game 2 in New York, the Devils once again return home where they are 4-1 so far in the playoffs. Having wrestled home ice advantage away from the New York Rangers and the Devils and captain Zach Parise hope to use the abnormally vocal home crowd to grab the series lead.

“Even our first game against Florida, despite that we ended up losing that game, I think the atmosphere was great,” Parise said during a media conference call on Thursday.

“I think we played pretty well there (Prudential Center) all year, but just our fans, for whatever reason, you can tell how excited they for where we’re at right now and in the first round and the second round they made the building as loud as I’ve ever heard it. That goes a long way. We’ve all been saying it too. We need them to be even louder and get more involved in this round.”

Personally, I feel that game three of a tied series is almost as important as a series clinching game. The winning percentage for teams that win game 3 speak volumes and are too hard for to ignore. Chew in this for a minute,  the last 24 Stanley Cup Finals in which one team led the series 2-1, only three teams have come back to win the series. That is a winning percentage  of .875.

Because game 3 is going to be nationally televised on NBC, the two teams have an extra day off before resuming the series on Saturday. This helps both teams regroup and refocus before really digging in to the meat of this series.

How will game 3 against the Rangers turn out? Hopefully with more of the same effort displayed from New Jersey in game 2, another three goals and of course an insanely loud crowd to support the Devils from horn to horn.

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The Devils finally found a way to solve the New York Rangers suddenly impenetrable defense and put three pucks past Henrik Lundqvist. Scoring three goals against the Rangers is like Kryptonite to Superman, they are powerless against it.

New Jersey’s tri-fecta of goals was just the fifth time in 16 playoff games that the Rangers gave up more than two goals in a game. New York lost all five of those games.

Could beating the Rangers really be that simple? Just score three goals and you’re golden? It sounds good but it’s not quite that simple. In New York’s other 11 games they have held their opponent to one goal or less 6 times, including two shutouts. New York’s record in those six games? You guessed it, 6-0.

It does seems pretty clear, if the Devils are going to have success in this series and beyond they are going to have to maintain the three-goals a game average they have coming into the East Finals. Before being shutout in game 1, New Jersey had scored three or more goals in 10 of 12 playoff games and seven straight.

The Devils were excellent once again of the forecheck and they found ways to get traffic in front of Lundqvist. This type of hard work once again proved to be the foundation of the Devils overall success.

Of the three goals scored by Ilya Kovalchuk, Ryan Carter and David Clarkson, only Kovalchuk’s beat the Rangers goalie clean. Carter and Clarkson both went to the front of the net and each used quick hands to skillfully redirect the puck past Lundqvist. It seems pretty obvious that the Devils will have to live and die by the deflection.

Can they keep up the same torrid offensive pace against the Rangers? If they play like they did in most of game 2….they just might have a shot.

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Well, if they didn’t before, they surely do now. The Rangers and Henrik Ludqvist took game 1 of the East Final, 3-0 despite spending the majority of the game in their own end. Before being blanked, the Devils were averaging three goals a game and hadn’t been shutout since early in the opening round of the playoffs.

New York used third period goals by Dan Girardi, Chris Kreider and Artem Anisimov to take the pressure of themselves and hold the New Jersey attack at bay.

The Devils had a tremendous first 40-minutes of hockey but failed to scored simply because they had a tough time getting pucks to the net. The Rangers defense didn’t give New Jersey an inch of space, blocking more shots (26) then Lundqvist actually saved (21).

New York has been a forced when it comes to blocking shots in the playoffs and it was paramount to the win Monday night.

”They were blocking a lot of shots, but we know that’s the way they play,” Devils forward Ilya Kovalchuk said. ”We have to find the lanes. We’ll see what we didn’t do right tomorrow morning and we’ll be better next game.”

Although the Devils had the better of the puck possession, they were never able to get that second and third chance on rebounds that it will take to beat Lundqvist, who earned his fifth career playoff shutout in the win.

It didn’t help that the Devils went 0 for 4 with the man advantage while continuing to take poorly times penalties themselves including a Steve Bernier boarding call on Giradi that resulted in the Rangers second and most deflating goal of the game.

Overall, I thought the Devils came ready to play. They will need to make adjustments to combat the tight Rangers defense. If they can score early in game 2 I feel like they will be in control of the game and perhaps the rest of the series. They have to find a way to even the series heading back to the Prudential Center.

It was a textbook New York Rangers win… hang around long enough to strike without warning then squeeze the life out of their opponent until time runs out on the game clock. It reminds me of a snake stalking, killing and eating it’s prey.

If the Devils don’t want to become the poor lifeless field mouse than they must quickly figure out how to outsmart the snake or this could be a boringly short series.

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The NHL is just hours away from dropping the puck on an Eastern Conference Final that is already setting up to be an epic clash of two very familiar titans.

It was 18 years ago that Stephane Matteau forever scarred Devils fans with a wraparound goal that ignited the fire that is today’s New York Rangers-New Jersey Devils rivalry.

“Matt-eau, Matt-eau, Matt-eau” was the call heard around the tri-state area and it still haunts me to this day.

Matteau ended  Game 7 of the 1994 Eastern Conference finals with a goal in double overtime that beat goalie Martin Brodeur and the Devils. The Rangers went on to win the Stanley Cup for the first time in 54 years. (Sadly, this also put an end to the classic “1940″ chants.)

Losing that series taught the up and coming Devils the value of humility and the sting of defeat which they used to capture the franchises first Stanley Cup a year later. New Jersey went on to win two more championships en route to becoming one of the most successful NHL teams of the last 20 years. Meanwhile, the Rangers have yet to recapture the magic of 1994.

Well folks, we have come full circle and the Cup is on the line again.

This series will be the the sixth time the Hudson River rivals have met in the playoffs. New York has won four of the previous five with New Jersey’s only series win coming in a 2006 sweep. The Devils are hoping 2012 will be playoff victory number two over their bitter rivals.

New York was the best team in the East during the regular season, but as we all know the Stanley Cup playoffs are a whole different beast. The Rangers have battled and clawed their way through two grueling 7-games series against the two lowest seeds in the conference just to get to this point.

Now they are forced to take on a New Jersey team that seems to be getting faster, stronger and more confident with every game.

The Devils themselves had to fight through a tough 7-game first round series, needing overtime in both games 6 and 7 to overcome the Florida Panthers. The character and resilience New Jersey showed in victory carried over into the next round.

The Devils thumped the heavily favored Philadelphia Flyers in just five games. New Jersey displayed a ferocity and tenacity unlike any Devils teams I have ever seen and quiet frankly I’m not even sure the Rangers have enough left in the tank to win four more games, period.

The key for the Devils is to approach each game with New York like they did against Philly. They have to stay cool, calm and collected. The Devils turned the other cheek time and time again in the second round win. Plus New Jersey is the best 5-on-5 team left with 24 goals scored. Staying out of the box gives them the upper-hand and the best chance to win.

The Rangers appear to have the edge defensively. They’ve played outstanding in front of goalie Henrik Lundqvist. New York has allowed a microscopic 1.86 goals-per game through 14 games. They’ve also blocked a mind-blowing 267 shots to New Jersey’s 131. Trust me, this will be one tough nut for Devils forwards to crack, but it can be cracked.

The Devils do have the edge offensively. They boast a talented group of offensive weapons that include Ilya Kovalchuk, Travis Zajac, Zach Parise, Patrik Elias, David Clarkson and Adam Henrique. The list goes on and on. New Jersey has averaged three goals per game, while the Rangers are a hair over two at 2.07 goals-per game. The Devils have to keep firing on all cylinders, they can’t let up.

But, maintaining that kind of production against Lundqvist won’t be easy, especially since he owns Brodeur and the Devils in his career. Lundqvist, is 23-6-6 in the regular-season against Brodeur and 4-4 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

If there is a clear advantage for the Rangers in the series it’s in goal. Lundqvist is far better in net than a 40-year-old Brodeur. Don’t count Marty out though, he’s 8-3 with a 2.05 GAA and .920 save percentage for New Jersey thus far in the playoffs. He can still steal games and his ability to handle the puck is still the best in the business.

This is going to be a really tough series. The amount of emotion surrounding these two clubs can hopefully manifest itself into another epic series. It’s unlikely we’ll ever have another series like the one in ’94 but these teams will have fun trying.

The Rangers were my pick to win the Cup at the start of the playoffs, but so much has changed since then and I like the Devils to win this series in 6 games.

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New Jersey has often been the butt of countless jokes because of less than stellar numbers at the gate even in the playoffs. However this postseason has been the complete opposite. Fans have been turning out in droves to support the Devils as they drive towards the fourth Stanley Cup in club history.

The Devils have sold out all five of their home games through the first two rounds. This is great news for the cash-strapped franchise that is desperate for the additional revenue the playoffs generate. New Jersey has been dealing with financial issues for quite some time and were hurt by not making the playoffs last season. Advancing to the third round can only help that situation to get better.

Right now the Devils remain in a holding pattern while they wait for the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals to concluded their semi-final series. The Capitals won 2-1 in game 6 to force a game 7 on Saturday night.

The NHL released the schedule for the first two games of the Eastern Final. Game 1 will take place on Monday, May 14 at 8 p.m. ET. Game 2 will be played at the same time on Wednesday, May 17. Both games will air on the NBC Sports Network in the U.S. and CBC in Canada. The rest of the series schedule is still to be determined.

If the seventh-seeded Caps win, the Conference Finals will open up at the Prudential Center because the six-seeded Devils would be the higher seed. This would potentially mean an extra home game for New Jersey and more money.

New Jersey was the lower seed in their first two series.

If the Rangers win, the series will still start Monday but the venue shift across the Hudson River to Madison Square Garden and the Devils lose out on potential revenue from an extra game.

In the end none of that financial stuff will mean squat once the puck drops. The only thing that really matters to the Devils and their fans is winning eight more hockey games, whether they are in New Jersey, New York, Washington D.C. or even Mars.

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New Jersey eliminated the Philadelphia Flyers with a 3-1 series clinching victory in game five of their Eastern Conference semi-finals match-up. The sixth-seeded Devils scored twice in the first period and once in the third cruising to a relatively easy win.

Once again the Flyers scored first and once again the Devils patience and resiliency paid dividends.  In fact New Jersey became the first Eastern Conference team to win four straight games in these playoffs despite trailing in  all four.

For a team that missed the playoffs last year for the first time since 1996, the win is pretty special. New Jersey improved to 8-4 this postseason and have officially reached the half-way point to capturing the franchises fourth Stanley Cup title.

It was obvious from game two on who the better team was, but New Jersey took it a step further by being the bigger men in the series as well.

The Flyers tried to yap and instigate their way into the Devils heads as they did in their first round annihilation of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Unfortunately, it backfired.

Time and time again New Jersey refused to take the bait, which only seemed to frustrate the Flyers even more. It was that type of discipline by New Jersey and lack of discipline on Philly’s part that caused Flyers star Claude Giroux to foolishly go after Dainus Zubrus‘ head in frustration. The illegal hit resulted in a one game suspension for Giroux and was essentially the final nail in Philadelphia’s coffin.

Nobody could have expected the Devils to have such a relatively easy time with the Flyers especially after struggling in the first round against the Florida Panthers. Kudos goes to the entire coaching staff for having the team so well prepared.

I can’t say enough about each and every player on the Devils bench from the role players to the stars.

• Head coach Pete Deboer has assembled probably the best fourth line in Devils history, “Crash” line included.
• Ilya Kovalchuk played in only fours games (injured for game 2) and collected 7 points.
• Zach Parise had less offensive production but that doesn’t mean he was any less productive. His minutes on the ice were spent out hustled ever single Flyer on the ice and he did that all series.
• David Clarkson scored two game-winning goals in the series after having none against the Panthers.
• Bryce Salvador scored two goals after having none in the regular season.
• Adam Larsson came back and scored a huge goal in game two.
• Martin Brodeur turned 40 during the series and can still play at a high level. His surgical precision with the puck stymied the Philadelphia fore check.

Nobody and I mean nobody gave New Jersey a chance in this series but here they are awaiting the winning of the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals series. New York leads the series 3-2 with play resuming on Wednesday night.

Hopefully that series goes 7 games. A little rest could do the Devils battered bodies some good.

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Giroux was suspended one game for his illegal hit to the head of Devils forward Dainus Zubrus late in the second period of Sunday’s 4-2 loss at the Prudential Center.

The fact that Giroux was suspended just goes to show you how unpredictable the NHL disciplinary process is and quite frankly it boggles my mind. But, that’s an entirely different discussion altogether.

If New Jersey wants to take advantage of the handicapped Flyers then they must not change a single thing in their game plan.

The Flyers will use the loss of a player of Giroux’s caliber as a rallying cry, much like the Devils did in game 2 with Ilya Kovalchuk watching from the press box. New Jersey must be prepared to not only weather the early storm but bring a little thunder themselves.

The Devils have been relentless in their pursuit of the puck, a foreign concept to past New Jersey teams. They have been the offensively more aggressive team through the entire series. If fact, they need to be even more intense in game 5.

As long as New Jersey continues to apply pressure to the Flyers forwards they will force them to turn the puck over. The Devils have been feasting on these mistakes all series long. That can’t change now. If anything, Philadelphia will try and take more risks without their key offensive player in the line-up.

Expect the Flyers to put a ton of pucks on Martin Brodeur. The Devils will have to be patient. not panic and take advantage of their opportunities just as they did in game four.

Goal scoring has not been a problem for the Devils through the first 11 playoff games. They have collected three of more goals in all but two playoff games to this point, including all four games in this series.

Winning the fourth game of a series is without question the toughest thing to do in all of sports. Allowing the Flyers another win changes the entire scope of the series. It almost feels like now or never.

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It was not supposed to be like this for the Devils. It wasn’t supposed to look so easy or effortless. On the day goalie Martin Brodeur turned 40-years-young, he wasn’t supposed to be playing his best hockey in years. But after four games of a series New Jersey was believed to have no chance of winning, the Devils are dominating the Flyers in every aspect of the series. Now Philadelphia must figure out what went wrong and fix it if they hope to get back in this series.

Dainus Zubrus scored two goals and Marek Zidlicky had a goal and a helper to pull New Jersey out of an early two-goal hole. The Devils started the game by doing pretty much the same thing that made them successful in the first three games. They out-hustled and outworked the Flyers for every puck. Bryzgalov held down the fort and allowed his team to strike first.

Flyers coach Peter Laviolette used his timeout to spark him team after a brutal first five minutes and it seemed to re-energize his players. In a rare loss of composure. Travis Zajac took a bad penalty when they Flyers got under his skin. That lead to a Scott Hartnell power play goal to give Philly a 1-0 lead.

Claude Giroux, whom the Devils have been able to contain for most of the series picked up a short-handed goal a few minutes later to put New Jersey in the always precarious 2-0 hole. By precarious I mean for the team with the lead.

That was the end of all of the Flyers warm and fuzzy feelings because New Jersey responded quickly.

Petr Sykora cut the Devils’ deficit in half late on that same power play. Zidlicky fed Sykora with a perfect pass for an easy redirect past Bryzgalov, who seemed to lose track of the puck for a split second.

Then, Zidlicky tied the game late when he crept in front of the net unabated for the easy tip-in off a nicely placed Bryce Salvador pass.

Zubrus, who was incredible all game long, capped off the Devils rally by finishing off a 3 on 1 late in the seocnd period to give New Jersey a 3-2 lead. Unlike in the first series against the Florida Panthers when it felt like no Devils lead was safe, regardless of how big. This game felt like it was over. Zubrus would later add an empty-netter to complete the scoring.

The Flyers are clearly frustrated. Giroux took a dumb penalty when he let his emotions boil over. He chased down Zubrus and delivered an illegal hit to the Devils forwards head with his shoulder. Giroux now faces disciplinary actions from the league. If he gets a suspension (which he won’t) it would kill the Flyers spirit and their chance at the series.

Now the Devils sit just one win shy of the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since they last won the Stanley Cup in 2003 and it feels oh, so good.

If New Jersey can finish off the Flyers they will face either the Washington Capitals or New York Rangers for a chance at the Cup. That series is tied 2-2 with the team heading back to MSG for game five on Monday night.

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It was the Devils third win in four overtime playoff games this year. They needed overtime in both games 6 and 7 of their opening round series with the Florida Panthers to move on and face the Flyers.

New Jersey played their third consecutive OT in the game 1 of this series. Only this time losing in the extra period before getting back on track with Thursday nights emotional win in front of a frenzied crowd at the Prudential Center.

Although the Devils have a checkered playoff overtime past, this years success should come as no surprise to anybody that followed this team all season. New Jersey was great all season long when the outcome couldn’t be decided in regulation.

The Devils finished the 2011-12 regular season with 16 wins after regulation. Of course they did have the luxury of the shootout to fall back on, but the experience they gained from their non-regulation success is paying dividends in the playoffs up to this point.

Another playoff win and another playoff hero. Ponikarovsky can now add his name to the ever growing list of heroes on the Devils bench.

All six of the Devils playoff game-winning goals have been scored by different players. Travis Zajac, Zach Parise, David Clarkson, Ryan Carter, Adam Henrique and Ponikarovsky have all come through in the clutch to help the Devils get to this point.

I don’t think another team in the Stanley Cup Playoffs can make the same claim. Not bad for the oldest team left in the chase for the Cup, eh?

Nobody in the Devils locker room is getting ahead of themselves. They all know they have plenty of work to do, but I said it last night and I’ll say it again….this team is starting to make me believe in them and for the first time I actually felt like they could win this whole darn thing. 

The teams will have an extra day off between games 3 and 4 before resuming the series Sunday at the Rock.

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Kovalchuk, the Devils leading goal-scorer during the regular season, missed game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Philadelphia Flyers with a ‘lower-body’ injury.

According to a tweet from Star-Ledger columnist Rich Chere, Kovalchuk does in fact have a herniated disk.

Ilya Kovalchuk's back problem is a herniated disc

May 3, 2012 9:11 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@Ledger_NJDevils

Rich Chere

Last week I mentioned that the Russian sniper’s injury had to be back related because of the way it altered his skating stride and it worsened in between series. Not only was that the case, its worse than previously suspected.

So what exactly is a “herniated disk?”

I found some information on Medicinenet.com that may help clear up what is actually going on with Kovy’s bum back.

Each disc of the spine is designed much like a jelly donut. As the disc degenerates from age or injury, the softer central portion can rupture (herniate) through the surrounding outer ring (annulus fibrosus). This abnormal rupture of the central portion of the disc is referred to as a disc herniation.

The most common location for a herniated disc to occur is in the disc at the level between the fourth and fifth lumber vertebrae in the low back. This area is constantly absorbing the impact of bearing the weight of the upper body. This is especially important when we are standing or sitting. The lower back is also critically involved in our body’s movements throughout the day, as we twist the torso in rotating side to side and as we hinge the back in flexion and extension while bending or lifting.

Just from what I read in that passage, it’s a wonder Kovalchuk was even able to stand, forget about skating.

There have been several stories in the media lately questioning the work ethic of Russian hockey players and many were including the Devils star on that list. It is apparent that Ilya Kovalchuk’s name does not belong in that conversation. In fact, Kovalchuk proved to be tougher than anybody ever gave him credit for.

Kovalchuk did practice with the team Thursday morning and skated on the fourth line with Ryan Carter and Stephen Gionta. His status for Thursday nights game 3 is questionable at best. But, I’m not going to count Kovy out just yet. He has already proven himself to be one tough cookie.

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