What better way to decide a trip to the Stanley Cup Final than with two bitter rivals, the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils, facing off in the conference final?
In recent years being the top seed in the Eastern Conference has guaranteed nothing in the playoffs. Under the current format only three top seeds in the conference have gone on to reach the Stanley Cup Final -- and none since 2004 -- and only two have managed to win it.
The Rangers, as the top seed in the East this season, are now just four wins against the Devils away from making their first trip to the Final since 1994, and being the first No. 1 seed out of the east since the 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning.
It hasn't been the easiest path for New York to get here, needing a Game 7 win against the seventh and eighth seeds in the conference and narrowly winning both by a single goal.
That's been the constant theme for the Rangers for much of the season, and certainly in the playoffs. Of the 14 games they've played this postseason, 11 have been decided by one goal, and none have been decided by more than two.
After needing a Game 7 win of their own in the opening round against Florida, the Devils steamrolled through the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round and are coming in as a well-rested group.
Will that be any sort of an advantage?
History says that Stanley Cup Champions always have at least one short series on their way to the Final. The Devils have already had theirs. The Rangers haven't.
Devils offense vs. Rangers Defense
These aren't the sit-back-and-wait New Jersey Devils of the mid 1990s.
These Devils attack, and use an aggressive forecheck to get in on the defense and create opportunities. They don't wait for the other team to make a mistake, they force the mistake. We saw them at their best in the second round against the Flyers, a team that had no answer for Zach Parise, Patrik Elias, Ilya Kovalchuk and the rest of the Devils forwards.
New Jersey has controlled possession during the playoffs better than just about every other team, but they're also going to get what is perhaps their toughest challenge defensively against New York. And the Rangers are going to get their toughest challenge of the playoffs as well.
When it comes to strategy and style of play, the Devils look to be the polar opposite of New York's second-round opponent, the Washington Capitals. That was a series with two counter-punching teams that were content to give up the perimeter and block a lot of shots from the outside. The Devils aren't going to play that type of game and it's going to be an interesting matchup to see how the Rangers' defense handles New Jersey's forecheck, which is much better than either of the teams New York has played this postseason.
Rangers offense vs. Devils defense
If you take a quick look at the Devils' defense, it's probably not a group that's going to make you sit back and say "wow." The biggest name on the blue, Anton Volchenkov, has had his share of struggles this postseason and has averaged only 15 minutes of ice time per game. That is fewer than every other blueliner on the team other than Peter Harrold. Instead, the Devils have leaned on guys like Marek Zidlicky, Andy Greene and Bryce Salvador to carry the load.
Salvador has been rock solid this postseason (and even has a pair of goals after scoring none since 2010), and it's probably safe to say that Zidlicky has been a very pleasant surprise. After a disastrous start to the season with the Minnesota Wild, the Devils picked him up prior to the deadline in exchange for what amounts to a couple spart parts and have ended up coming away with a player that's been one of their top defensemen in the playoffs.
Offense has been a pretty constant struggle for the Rangers this postseason, averaging just a little over two goals per game. That number gets even worse when you look at 5-on-5 play, where the Rangers are averaging just 1.36 goals per game, which is 11th among playoff teams this year. Just for comparisons sake, the other conference finalists are second (New Jersey), third (Phoenix) and fourth (Los Angeles).
Goaltending
This is the area where one team has a significant edge over the other.
As he's been all season, Henrik Lundqvist has been a difference-maker for the Rangers in the postseason and is one of the biggest reasons they're still playing. Their goal-scoring struggles are well documented this postseason, but the Rangers have also been outchanced by their opponents through the first two rounds, and Lundqvist has pretty much stolen a couple of games for New York. When every series to this point has gone the distance, and been decided by just a handful of goals, that's a huge deal.
Lundqvist is one of the best goalies in the league right now, and while Martin Brodeuris a legend in his own right, he's clearly not the same player he was years ago.
Actually, the Devils have done a pretty solid job of keeping the play away from his end of the ice and not relying on their goalie to win games by himself.
Special teams
The Devils penalty kill vs. the Rangers power play is a matchup I like in New Jersey's favor quite a bit, so much so that I think it gives them a slight edge in the special teams game.
With the Rangers struggling to score at even strength their power play becomes even more important, and it hasn't always been that strong this season. Even though the Devils penalty kill has fallen off a bit in the playoffs, they were the best penalty-killing team for the entire regular season, and are not only able to kill off penalties, they're also perfectly capable of scoring in shorthanded situations.
Prediction
Devils in 7.Photo: Getty Images
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