Fresh Start for Playoffs!
Well, after months of waiting, and looking for Michael Dell's
pants, I had enough and decided to take on correspondence for the
team. With the playoffs looming, and the Devils on a roll, I'm
hoping I get to post more than two articles before my writing
season is over...but enough about me, onto the team.
Since the regular season has been wrapped up, there's no real
reason to go into the 4-2 loss to the Islanders a week ago, or a
6-2 beating of Montreal. The second season is here, and that's
all that matters. The biggest events to note are listed below:
1) New Jersey won its 3rd straight Atlantic Division and Eastern
Conference titles, the first team to do that since the 1985-87
Philadelphia Flyers.
2) The final win against Nashville gave this Devils team a place
alone in the history books, setting an NHL record for road wins
in a single season (28-10-3).
3) Felix Potvin had an outstanding game on the 12th, stopping 55
of a New Jersey record 57 shots on his way to besting Martin
Brodeur, 4-2.
4) Unlike the previous two seasons, this team is not backing into
the playoffs. The Devils are 8-2-0 in their last 10, and 13-4-3
in the last 20.
5) Again, unlike the previous two seasons, the players aren't
backing into the playoffs. Bobby Holik came back to life after
his second two-game suspension of the season, and Brian Rolston
has been nothing short of on fire for the better part of two
weeks.
Regular season wrap-up
The Eastern Conference standings were wild and wooly right until
the buzzer. Heading into Sunday's games, the only thing that was
set in stone was Wayne Gretzky retiring. Despite Jaromir Jagr's
heartbreaking overtime winner against the Rangers, the Penguins
drew 8th seed thanks to Washington failing to score for the 11th
game this season, giving Buffalo a 3-0 victory, and a date with
Ottawa. Here's a rundown of how New Jersey and Pittsburgh match
up:
Forwards
The two teams draw an interesting contrast when it comes to the
forward lines, and their style of play. Pittsburgh has (for my
money) the most exciting forward in the game, Jaromir Jagr.
Martin Straka had a breakout year, adding some desperately needed
scoring depth to the Penguins lineup. Past those two guys, the
roster turns into a team full of grinders and enigmas. Kovalev
and Lang have tons of potential, and no killer instinct. Jan
Hrdina had a great rookie campaign, but still shows his green
side at least once a game. The Penguins success will pivot
around how the rest of the lineup chips in, and if Jagr can break
free.
New Jersey has one of the most exciting lines in the NHL right
now, with Jason Arnott centering Petr Sykora and Patrik Elias.
The line has been white hot the past few months, and if
Pittsburgh can't stop them, there could be a lot of red lights
spinning. If the rumblings of the Andreychuk-Holik-McKay line
keep up, the Devils will have two legitimate scoring lines, with
players like Brian Rolston (24 goals), Jay Pandolfo (14), Denis
Pederson (11), and Brendan Morrison (46 points) skating on the
"checking" lines. Pittsburgh's defense has its work cut out for
it.
Defense
Pittsburgh's defense has been a rotating who's who of
who-what-not's all season long. With Kasparaitis gone, the
Penguins lack a top notch blueliner who can play in his own end.
A few of the guys can hit, a few can skate and pass, but none can
do both. This will be Pittsburgh's Achilles heel unless someone
unexpected steps up.
The Devil defense, which was shaky for the first part of the
season, finally rounded into a solid unit for the final playoff
push. For a recent stretch of nine games, the Devils only
allowed 20 or more shots in one game. Twice in that span, they
faced the Penguins, who totaled just over 30 shots for both
games...combined! With the great play of Scott Niedermayer,
there may not be much the Pens can do to keep the defense from
hurting them at both ends.
Goaltending
Heading into the playoffs, Tom Barrasso is tagged as the Penguins
number 1 goalie. While Barrasso has two Stanley's to his credit,
that was a long time ago, and his better days are long gone. He
recently returned from an injury, and should be fresh for the
playoffs. In net for the Devils is Martin Brodeur, who had an
"off year", if you examine the statistics alone. After a slow
start, Martin got on a few good rolls, which brought him to his
final record of 39-21-10. Not a bad mark for a guy having an
"off" year.
Prediction
I don't make predictions, but I know everyone wants them, so I'll
make you all a deal...if you can find those pants, the prediction
is in one of the pockets.
