154 replies to this topic

[SterioDesign]

How ironic that Deboer could never make it to the playoffs in florida and now hes making the playoffs for the first time with s other team... AGAINST the panthers

[JWomp]

You guys keep saying Clemmensen, but nobody has confirmed he will start over Theodore. It's possible that we'll see Clemmensen given Clemmensen's strong record against the Devils, but Theodore is their official starting goalie until the Panthers say otherwise.

[devilsrule33]

Probably the only possible matchup where we know the NHL wants us to win.. Bad calls will still be blamed on NHL wanting a small market team to go all the way (standard protocol) but I really think we have league support on this one, and that's all that matters in the playoffs

You're crazy. Winning one round is so huge for small market teams. Look what it did for Nashville last year. They were close to capacity every night this season. A series win for Florida is huge for season tickets, huge for sponsorship, etc. A series win for NJ has proved in the past to mean nothing much.

Edited by devilsrule33, 08 April 2012 - 10:10 AM.

[SS-SS]

There is no little opponents, I think that we've got to look at them the same way we would look at any other team.

- Go there, play hard, win a game in their building.

- Make sure that we don't lose a game at home.

Edited by SS-SS, 08 April 2012 - 02:40 AM.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

How ironic that Deboer could never make it to the playoffs in florida and now hes making the playoffs for the first time with s other team... AGAINST the panthers

Not that ironic...DeBoer had a lot more talent to work with here. That being said, I think DeBoer had an excellent year coaching-wise. There's no way, especially with injures factored in, that this team should've been better than 102 points. The Devils' almost creepy prowess in the shootout clearly helped to bloat their record, but DeBoer got the most out of his team, and after a slow start to boot (12-12-1 to start, 36-16-5 since).

As for the series, I think it will be similar to the Tampa series...some tense moments, wouldn't surprise me if the Devils trail 1-0 or 2-1, but the Devils will pull it out. Good news is I don't think the Panthers will overwhelm the Devils the way other some playoff teams can. Devs in 6.

[Mayday]

Starting on the road will be good I think. No distractions from home, all business, just get it done.

[Steven M.]

I've seen a fair share of Panthers hockey this year... It really is like everyone says, if you shutdown that top line then life will be much easier. Other guys to look out for are players like Kopecky, Goc, Bergenheim.They have a pretty active defense as far as offensive skill. Madden has played well for them. I think one thing we won't have to deal with, which a lot of times can frustrate the hell out of all of us, is on the PK they aren't as aggressive as an NYR, PHI, or PIT. How many times on the PP have we just been overwhelmed and not been able to set up? I don't think we'll have to deal with that one in this series. As far as Clemmensen's record against us, I wouldn't buy into that, I know it's easy to say that and say wow, but half our players nowadays don't even have any connection to him, he's just another goalie. It's not like he's got some mental edge on them.

EDIT: missed a word... d'oh

Edited by DevilsFanSteve30, 08 April 2012 - 09:03 AM.

[pumpkin cutter]

I don't think any of us are going to take this series lightly.. Panthers always gave us trouble in the regular season, but this is the playoffs. Hopefully they boys are tired of losing in the first round and step it up. Homer in me says devils in 5 or 6.

[NJDevs4978]

I have to admit, the season series and how close it was doesn't bother me as much now that I realize that Zajac AND Zidlicky didn't play a single game against the Panthers this year, and Ponikarovsky also only played one game for us.

[DaneykoIsGod]

Shut down Versteeg. He scored 5 of Florida's 11 goals against us this year. Kill the head and the body will die.

1. Shut down Versteeg.
2. ???
3. Profit.

[JustinZ]

The fact is if people were ranking playoff teams Florida would be ranked 16th 95% of the time. They have a -24 goal differential in the worst division in the league.



If you have any sort of hope of this team making a legitimate deep playoff run, then the Devils have to wrap this series up in 5 games or less. If they struggle in this series, they are not a good team. Simple as that.

[Daniel]

Kill the head and the body will die.

Easy there Greg Williams. You're going to get us in trouble again.

[NJDevs4978]

If you have any sort of hope of this team making a legitimate deep playoff run, then the Devils have to wrap this series up in 5 games or less. If they struggle in this series, they are not a good team. Simple as that.

Eh, it could easily be a six-game series, especially since they have the Clemmensen factor and we've had trouble shutting down one great line this year - not just against the Panthers, we had trouble against the Lightning's top line as well as the Tavares line on LI. Seven would be troubling (especially with seven being on the road), but after four years of not winning a single round at the Rock I just want to see them win at least one playoff series this year, and not embarass themselves in the second round. They have every chance to at least do that, and if they don't then there'll be hell to pay. No excuses not to at least do that, with our deepest team in years.

And if we do get past the first round, the draw could get very interesting since the Caps and Senators have a winning record against the Bruins and Rangers this year.

Edited by NJDevs4978, 08 April 2012 - 09:25 AM.

[GoArmySports]

According to NHL.com they're going to announce the dates and times for all the games at 1pm today.

[Steven M.]

According to NHL.com they're going to announce the dates and times for all the games at 1pm today.

I'm still holding out hope for a Wednesday start... even though I am hearing Thursday everywhere I look

[GoArmySports]

I'm still holding out hope for a Wednesday start... even though I am hearing Thursday everywhere I look

I wonder why they're waiting the extra day to start the playoffs. O well I hope they start on Wednesday as well.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

The fact is if people were ranking playoff teams Florida would be ranked 16th 95% of the time. They have a -24 goal differential in the worst division in the league.



If you have any sort of hope of this team making a legitimate deep playoff run, then the Devils have to wrap this series up in 5 games or less. If they struggle in this series, they are not a good team. Simple as that.

If the Devils win the series, I won't care that much about how they accomplished it.

Remember when the Penguins won their first Cup? The Devils were their first round opponent, and took them to seven games. The Devils weren't even a .500 team that season (32-33-15)...the Penguins had won the Patrick Division (albeit with just 88 points). When the Penguins won their second Cup, they were taken to seven games again in the first round, this time by the Capitals (who actually had a far superior regular season record to the Penguins that season).

Not saying the Devils are on their way to a Cup win, just that there's not much correlation between how a team fares in a first round series win to how they'll do beyond.

Edited by Colorado Rockies 1976, 08 April 2012 - 09:54 AM.

[Steven M.]

I wonder why they're waiting the extra day to start the playoffs. O well I hope they start on Wednesday as well.

I am just hoping because if it's on Thursday, the two friends I was going to take cannot go... I'd have to find a few other people to drag along or something.

[mort4345]

You guys keep saying Clemmensen, but nobody has confirmed he will start over Theodore. It's possible that we'll see Clemmensen given Clemmensen's strong record against the Devils, but Theodore is their official starting goalie until the Panthers say otherwise.

If I'm the Panthers, I start Clemmensen. He's got insight into the Devils shooting tendencies, he's been very solid recently, he has something to prove against his former team and he's done well against N.J. since he left. I think it's pretty much a no-brainer. But I hope I'm wrong.

[Quinn01]

Florida fans are tossing the word "payback" around for the 2000 playoffs.