The New Jersey Devils are in a familiar position...sort of. In the first round of the NHL Playoffs, the Devils had a three games to none lead over the New York Rangers. In game four, the Devils stomped on the ailing Rangers' collective throats and eliminated them quickly and painlessly.
In round two, once again New Jersey finds themselves in a 3-0 series-only this time they are the ones who's backs are against the wall.
The Carolina Hurricanes have looked sharp throughout the season, first by basically going wire-to-wire as the first-place team in the Southeast Division, and then here in the postseason.
The Hurricanes are playing like every game is game 7: they look hungry and they want...I mean really want it.
Penalties and goaltending are the keys to winning in the NHL Playoffs. In the first round, the Rangers opened the series by giving New Jersey power play after powler play. The Devils took advantage of it, and combined with All-World forward Jaromir Jagr's broken wing, the short of it is that New York never recovered.
Now the Devils are in a similar position, although their scoring stars Brian Gionta and Patrick Elias aren't injured. Another advantage for New Jersey is that they are not relying on scoring from just one player, so they don't have to worry what will happen if one of their stars goes down.
New Jersey is in a different type of series with the Hurricanes. The 'Canes are agressive under Peter Laviolette (remember him, Mike Milbury?), constantly pursuing the puck. They also are getting excellent goaltending, something that has slipped off for the Devils in this round. Carolina also isn't taking stupid penalties.
Carolina also has balanced scoring. Very balanced scoring. They get points from several different players on the ice, which makes them even more dangerous because they can score regardless of which line is playing.
The Devils have their work cut out for them, and we'll see how they respond in game 4 in Carolina tonight.
