Last night the New Jersey Devils came out flying, capitalized on some scoring chances early and didn't look back as they went on to defeat the Rangers 4-1 to tie the series at two wins a piece. Here are some notes on the game.
- I'll start with the Pete DeBoer - John Tortorella incident as that's what is getting all the talk right now. From DeBoer's perspective, I have no problem at all with what he did. Tortorella's intention was obviously to stir the pot, and he did just that. I like the fire DeBoer showed last night. As a player or coach, it's your job to stick up for your team in any way you can. DeBoer did that and showed the entire Devils roster that he has their back. Good on him for that. In case you missed it or want to see it again, here's the video.
- On another note, I have no idea what Mike Rupp was doing giving Martin Brodeur a shot. It wasn't like he grabbed a hold of him and starting beating the crap out of him, but there's no room for that kind of thing in hockey. If Brodeur gave Rupp a shot or a whack first, I could understand it but there was no reason for Rupp to do that. If Rupp was trying to get Brodeur off his game, it didn't work.
- Now onto actual game play...I thought Jacob Josefson was very good yesterday, especially considering it was his first game in over a month and his first career playoff game. He had a couple of shots, was good defensively, and he made a nice play on the boards followed up by a good screen in front of Henrik Lundqvist on the Devils first goal. Oh, and he was 9-of-14 in the faceoff circle, too. Overall he played very well and I certainly expect him to remain in the lineup for Game 5 Wednesday night.
- That was arguably the Devils biggest game of the season last night, and their Captain, Zach Parise, gave the Devils all the production they had hoped for and more. The Devils couldn't afford to fall in a 3-1 hole to the Rangers and Parise did a fantastic job making sure the Devils avoided it. He was good in his own zone, and even better in the Rangers' zone as he had five shots, scored twice, and assisted on what turned out to be the game winning goal (Travis Zajac's 1st period marker). Your best players need to step up in big games, and Parise did just that.
- Bryce Salvador registered another two points last night (1G, 1A) to give him 10 in the post-season. He only had nine points in the regular season and played in all 82 games. Yes, you did read that correctly.
- I know the Devils had a comfortable lead for a few powerplay's they had in the third period, but they need to be better. Not only did the Devils not take advantage of a two-man advantage and another powerplay to follow in the third period, but they didn't even generate any good scoring chances. That needs to change.
- Another thing the Devils need to do in Game 5 if they hope to have the same amount of success: start shooting more. They had quite a few 2-on-1's where, instead of taking a quality shot from in close, the Devils player would force a pass that led to the play being broken up without any scoring chance. They need to start taking what the Rangers give them, on 2-on-1's especially, if they hope to beat them to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.
New Jersey Devils Blogger • 
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