Oooooooooh boy.This series is going to be a wild one. The New York Rangers managed to knock off the Washington Capitals in their Game 7 matchup to advance to the Conference Finals against their rival, the New Jersey Devils. And it is going to be a doozy.
The Rangers, while looking fatigued, got a much needed lift from their defense in recent games. Marc Staal, Dan Girardi, Michael Del Zotto, and Anton Stralman have all lifted their play to assist the Rangers in a playoff year where the goals haven't come easy. Not only that, but every game has been close. Too close for comfort. Six out of the seven games against Washington were ended by a one goal differential. Some of them came in overtime, while others came in the final minutes of regulation. When looked through that perspective, one can really appreciate all that the defense has helped out with in these playoffs. Without them, they would be eliminated right now.
The Rangers took half of the games from the Devils this year, while the Devils took the other half. Aside from each side getting a shutout, every other games winner came out with a total of four goals during their win. The scoring in this series is probably going to be a bit less than these teams saw in the regular season, because of the heightened play of both their goaltenders. Henrik Lundqvist and Martin Brodeur are esteemed in their position, and reel in excitement every time these two duel for a win. It is no doubt in my mind that both of these goaltenders will be able to pull off a stellar series in their respective styles.
Keys to Victory
Patience: Living in Jersey, and always enjoying watching highlights of the Devils losing, I saw some things that really showed me a bit about Martin Brodeur that I haven't seen before. I don't know why, but this year Brodeur was way more aggressive on the puck, making diving poke-checks and stacking the pads more often. Sometimes it worked, other times it left the Devils vulnerable to be scored upon. Patience is key in these situations. If Brodeur goes for a stack, his mobility goes down. I know the trend among these Rangers has been to shoot first, ask questions later, but trust me on this. If Brodeur goes to his aggressive side, patience will leave him vulnerable.
Keep a Level Head: A lot of speculation has been made about this series already, and it hasn't even started. People are guessing how many fights they'll be and other inane things to distract from the realness of the game. This series is going to be nothing but a duel. A duel that will put two teams looking to make it to the dance to try and win that coveted Stanley Cup. Both teams have proven they have the guts and determination to make it this far, now it is all about who can take it to that next level, step up, and be the hero for their team. Don't get caught up in the hype, and just play the game the way it's suppose to be played.
Prediction
Since the Rangers have performed well in Game 1's this playoffs, I'm going to go the creature-of-trend route and pick them to win this game. I think they have a good pattern of play going, while the Devils have had some time off which may prove to be their downfall tonight. If the Rangers can exploit their rink-rust, they can for sure win this game tonight to kick-start the series on a good note.
Enjoy the game!
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