Second verse, same as the first

April 7, 2008   ·   Lenny   ·   Jump to comments

Ah. It’s been a while since 1994. Derek already has his playoff analysis up, and I am in agreement with most of it. Here’s my take on what the Rangers and Devils will be faced with.

- The Rangers need to come out and establish a physical game. Without that, they will be manhandled by the physicality of the Devils. Micheal Rupp and David Clarkson can throw hits. Vitali Vishnevski and Colin While will make you pay in the offensive zone. Countering that with Sean Avery, Nigel Dawes, Ryan Callahan, Fedor Tyutin and Dan Girardi throwing their weight around will help the Blueshirts succeed in that facet of the game.

- The Rangers need to shoot the puck. And then shoot it some more. Without shots, the Rangers will not solve Martin Brodeur. He was shaky in the first two meetings of the regular season this year, but he’s a playoff goaltender. Anything he did this past season will pale in comparison to what he does to keep his team in the series.

- Don’t fall back on what happened during the regular season. Both teams need to forget that the Rangers were 7-0-1 in the regular season against the Devils. The regular season means nothing come April 9.

- The Rangers need to scratch Marek Malik. No doubt his play turned around in the last weeks of the season, but he is out of game shape again. One game back did not change that. Paul Mara was doing fine, Christian Backman was providing a little offense. Malik is slow and a liability in his own zone.

- Neither team can rely too heavily on the veterans. Brendan Shanahan and Jaromir Jagr have been around the playoffs plenty of times. As have Patrick Elias and Brian Gionta. The series will be determined not on by Henrik Lundqvist and Brodeur, but by Brandon Dubinsky, Dawes, Callahan, Clarkson, Parise and Zajac. Martin Straka with Jagr is great, but Jagr scores when he’s with Avery. Why not mix him back into the top line?

I also will hold off on making a prediction in terms of winners. I will agree that it will not be a sweep, nor will it be easy for either team. This will be an opening round war. Montreal and Washington remain the biggest Eastern Conference threats, but this will be a tough one for the Blueshirts. I say at least six games, although I do give the Devils the slight edge. The Rangers have won three out of four playoff series against the Devils though, and if the power play clicks and they can get an early jump, they should be able to move on. Some good hockey begins on Wednesday.