On Tuesday, May 1st, the Philadelphia Flyers hosted the New Jersey Devils at home for game 2 of the NHL playoffs Eastern Conference semifinals. Philadelphia came out with energy early in the first period and took a 1-0 lead at the 2:53 mark with a goal from rookie forward Matt Read. The two teams continued to trade chances in the first, but the period would end with no more scoring.
The second period had the Flyers on their heels protecting their lead. The Flyers did not get a shot on goal until the very end of the period. The Devils out-shot the Flyers in the second period12-2, but Philadelphia goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov did not let any goals behind him. The pressure was on.
After a week off, the Flyers entered the game with a slow start in the first period. The Devils opened the scoring at the 3:16 mark with a wrist shot goal from their Captain and forward, Zach Parise. It took about half the period before the Flyers were able to get a shot on net against New Jersey, and they could not score. The Devils outshot the Flyers in the first 15 to 6.
Maybe Danny Briere doesn’t always score in overtime, but when he does, he likes to score two.
The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the New Jersey Devils 4-3 in OT, thanks to Danny Brieres goal just 4:36 into overtime. Though he ended it early, just minutes before Briere had scored a goal – however it was reviewed as a kick in.
With the Flyers typical slow start, it was the Devils who launched into game one strong. Devils captain Zach Parise scored his third of the playoffs 3:16 into the first.
Despite a furious third-period comeback, the Florida Panthers came up short in Game 7 of their opening-round matchup against the New Jersey Devils. Calder Trophy candidate Adam Henrique eliminated the Panthers with his game-winning goal in double-overtime, sending a dejected sellout crowd of 19,313 inside BankAtlantic Center to the exits, many of them with rat in hand as they commiserated over the gut-wrenching 3-2 loss.
The NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinals playoff series have concluded with three game 7s on Wednesday and Thursday evening. Wednesday saw the Washington Capitals upset the higher seeded Boston Bruins in their own building in overtime. On Thursday, the New York Rangers found victory at home against the underdog Ottawa Senators. In addition, the New Jersey Devils upset the higher seeded Florida Panthers in double overtime.
Moving forward to round 2 of the playoffs, the Rangers will host the Capitals in a best of seven series. The Philadelphia Flyers will do the same for the Devils. The Flyers open the round 2 series hosting the Devils at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Sunday, April 29th in a matinee game.
Twelve years is a long time to be away from anything. The last time the Panthers had a playoffs logo painted on their ice, the world was a different place. The Playstation 2 was all the rage, no one knew who Dora the Explorer was, and we still had faith in Floridians’ ability to count. Oh, right, and Martin Brodeur backstopped his Devils team to a Stanley Cup championship, steam rolling over the Panthers in the first round. Brodeur, along with Patrick Elias and Petr Sykora are the only members of that team still with the Devils. I challenge you to name three players still with the Panthers from last season…
Before the puck dropped, even before the chatter started taking place at center, just by looking at both teams’ starting lineups, you knew there were going to be fireworks at the start of last night’s game between the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers.
Devils coach Pete DeBoer elected to start his fourth line—Eric Boulton, Cam Janssen, Ryan Carter—to which Rangers coach John Tortorella responded by having defenseman Stu Bickel take the opening faceoff. Michael Rupp and Brandon Prust would join in on the festivities and before you knew it, there were three fights taking place at the same time just three seconds into the game, much to the delight of a raucous Madison Square Garden.
Although it appears that New Jersey Devils Ilya Kovalchuk inadvertently passed the puck into his own net, Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward was the last player to touch the puck for the ‘Canes before it crossed the goal line.
So no, it’s not as cool as shooting the puck 200 feet down the ice a la Ron Hextall, but since Ward technically became the first netminder since 2006 to be credited with a goal, it’s still a feat worth mentioning.
It had been over seven years since Scott Niedermayer wore a New Jersey Devils jersey, but judging by the reaction he received from a jam-packed Prudential Center Friday night, you would have thought he just played his final game as a Devil the day before.
But then again, when you help a team win three Stanley Cups, chances are people are going to appreciate what you did for the team.
In order to show their appreciation for Niedermayer, the Devils retired the No. 27 he wore for 13 seasons as a Devil, becoming just the third player in team history (the other two being Scott Stevens and Ken Daneyko) to have their number retired.
In the post-lockout NHL, having a solid netminder is a must. However, especially in recent years, backup goaltenders are becoming just as valuable of a commodity. Wins are hard to come by in this league, and if a team’s No. 1 guy in the crease goes down with an injury or just needs a break, it’s important that teams have a dependable backup to fill the void.
Here is a list of five backup goalies who have not only proved their worth thus far, but in some instances, have actually taken over the starting role.
