Yesterday afternoon the New Jersey Devils took on the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, but the Devils failed to accomplish what they did in the first round, and that's winning Game 1. Here are some notes and thoughts on the game.
- Can some fans and members of the media stop pretending Ilya Kovalchuk is playing at 100 percent? He says he is, but he's clearly not. He literally looks like 25 percent of the player he was in the regular season. He can't skate, has no jump in his first three steps and can't find any room or space for himself. Even when he goes into slumps and can't score or produce points, he at least generates chances. He's doing next to nothing right now.
In advance, he can't come out and admit he has an injury or Philadelphia will target him even more in that area. He also isn't in charge of the minutes he has been playing and he wants to do nothing more than win, so he won't approach Pete DeBoer and ask for his minutes to be reduced.
And for all the people I've seen ripping into Kovalchuk, he's obviously playing injured. If he didn't play, everyone would be calling him out suggesting he's soft so in reality it's a lose, lose situation for him.
- I was thinking this during the 1st period but never tweeted it, but I knew the Devils were in trouble when the dominated the Flyers through the first 20 minutes and only led 1-0. They had multiple grade A scoring chances to extend their lead to two or three goals while Philadelphia was still sleeping and they couldn't get the job done. That ultimately cost them Game 1.
- One thing the Devils certainly need to do more of in Game 2: put pucks on net. They didn't get many chances after the first period and they still managed to put two more by Ilya Bryzgalov. Overall he was okay between the pipes but he did allow a couple weak one's which allowed the Devils to stay in the game. The Devils need to shoot the puck more and force him to make saves, because right now he's having a fair amount of trouble doing that.
- Another thing the Devils must do to win Game 2: stay out of the penalty box. The Devils have consistently talked about how staying out of the penalty box is key, yet they keep taking minor penalties. They had another six yesterday.
- The Devils also need to find a way to stop Danny Briere. They did an alright job of making sure Claude Giroux didn't light them up, but Briere sure did. I don't know what's up with him but every single post-season he always produces at an elite level. That's why he's making big time money.
- Martin Brodeur was great for New Jersey yesterday. He made a couple errors playing the puck but he made several highlight reel saves that not many goalies can make. He gave the Devils a chance to win that game and they didn't take it. If he can play close to that good throughout the rest of the series the Devils will be in good shape.
- Petr Sykora finally showed up yesterday. He wasn't great, but he had a couple good chances and managed to score. As I've said all year long, he's a streaky player and when on, he's on. Expect him to be very good for the next few games or so.
- One Devil I was very impressed with yesterday: Zach Parise. The Devils need him to have a good series if they want to advance to the Conference Finals, and he definitely got off to a good start yesterday. Unfortunately for him and the Devils, it turned out to be a wasted effort. Expect more of the same from him in Game 2.
- I've been asked by quite a few fans how I think the Devils will rebound in Game 2, and I think they'll do a fine job. Over the season and post-season the Devils have been very resilient and good when it comes to winning games after a loss. They're an experience and hungry group and they know they didn't play their best in Game 1. I think they'll be better tomorrow and come through with a win to tie the series up.
- The Jack Adams finalists were announced today, and Pete DeBoer was not on the list. I'm not surprised by this, but I feel you could make a good case for him. He took over a team that missed the playoffs last year, has what is considered a 'below average' defense core, and the oldest goaltending tandem in the league and turned in a 102 point, 48 win season in the toughest division in the NHL. He also coached the best penalty killing unit in the history of the NHL. I'm not saying he should have won or been on the list, but he certainly deserved to be brought up in the same sentence with the other candidates.
On a similar note, myself and the writers at TheHockeyGuys.net are doing our own ballots where you can vote for any player/coach you want, regardless if they were a finalist in real life. I haven't done my ballot yet, but about half of the staff has. It has been very interesting to see how players who were not nominated in real life, such as Giroux for Hart, have been picking up so many votes. I'm not going to say where he is sitting in the standings in TheHockeyGuys' voting as of now, but he's in the top three. Another guy who was not nominated for Hart in real life is also in the top three. It will be fun to see if Giroux and the unnamed player can hold their spots when all of the voting at TheHockeyGuys is said and done.
- Sticking with the Jack Adams talk, Peter Laviolette is another guy who could have been a finalist and nobody would have blinked. He led a Flyers team with so many questions heading into the season a 103 point season, despite missing the most man games due to injury and having several rookies play key roles on his team. Like DeBoer, I'm not 100 percent sure he'll be on my ballot for TheHockeyGuys, but he certainly has my attention.
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