Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

NHL Playoffs - New Jersey Devils vs. Florida Panthers: Game Two Preview

April 15, 2012, 9:06 AM ET [94 Comments]
Todd Cordell
New Jersey Devils Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
*stats based on playoffs.

Match-up - Devils (48 wins, 102 points) @ Panthers (38 wins, 94 points)
Road/Home records - 24-15-2 -------------- 21-9-11
TV - NBCSN (HD), TSN (HD), NHL Network (US), RDS, MSG-Plus (HD),
Puck drop - 7:30 PM ET
Series score - Devils lead 1-0
Projected starting goalies - Martin Brodeur (NJ) vs. Jose Theodore (FLA)

Battle of the stats

Goals for/against per game *

Florida - 2.00 / 3.00
New Jersey - 3.00 / 2.00

Powerplay/Penalty Kill percentage *

Florida - 33.3% / 83.3%
New Jersey - 16.7% / 66.7%

Here are the projected lines (subject to change) for the Panthers:

Panthers lines courtesy of DailyFaceoff.com.

Tomas Fleischmann - Stephen Weiss - Kris Versteeg
Sean Bergenheim - Marcel Goc - Mikael Samuelsson
Wojtek Wolski - Shawn Matthias - Scottie Upshall
Marco Sturm - John Madden - Tomas Kopecky

Jason Garrison - Brian Campbell
Dmitry Kulikov - Mike Weaver
Ed Jovanovski - Erik Gudbranson

Here are the projected lines (subject to change) for the Devils:

Zach Parise - Travis Zajac - Ilya Kovalchuk
Petr Sykora - Patrik Elias - Dainius Zubrus
Alexei Ponikarovsky - Adam Henrique - David Clarkson
Ryan Carter - Stephen Gionta - Steve Bernier

Bryce Salvador- Marek Zidlicky
Andy Greene - Mark Fayne
Anton Volchenkov - Peter Harrold

Notes: Martin Brodeur will start...Cam Janssen, Eric Boulton and Adam Larsson will sit as healthy scratches...The Devils have won seven consecutive games going back to the regular season.

Panthers to watch out for:

Sean Bergenheim - He had a goal and seven hits in Game One. New Jersey needs to do a better job containing him and his line or they'll make them pay, once again.

Brian Campbell - Campbell played over 25 minutes in Game One and did a good job in limiting the chances from the Devils top line, but if the Panthers want to win this series they'll need some offensive production from him, too.

Jose Theodore - He was exceptional in Game One and they fell short. He likely won't have to be as good today, but if he is not on his game the Panthers could find themselves down two games heading back to New Jersey.


Devils to watch out for:

Dainius Zubrus - He was a force in the first game and really used his body and line-mates well to collect two points.

David Clarkson - He was pretty effective offensively and hit everything in sight in Game One. Pete DeBoer will want much of the same tonight.

Anton Volchenkov - In game one he played less than 12 minutes due to a copy costly turnovers that led to Panthers goals. He'll need to be better today.

Keys to the game

Florida - Good start

The Panthers are down 1-0 in the series and can't afford to be going back to New Jersey down 2-0. They need to come out firing and get the crowd into the game early.

New Jersey - Full 60 minutes

The Devils won Game One but they only played 1 full period of good hockey. If they want to win today's game they'll need to play a full 60 minutes.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Follow me on twitter @ToddCordell.

TheHockeyGuys.net

Email: [email protected]





Join the Discussion: » 94 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Todd Cordell
» Thank you
» On the Chayka rumors and finalists for the Devils' GM job
» Notes on quotes from Lindy Ruff's appearance on 31 Thoughts
» The New Jersey Devils may not have hired the coach they wanted
» Notes on quotes from Ruff, Fitzgerald, and Devils ownership