Devils vs Flyers

The New Jersey Devils start the Stanley Cup playoff tonight against a familiar
opponent in the Philadelphia Flyers.
The hated Philadelphia Flyers.
To me,the Flyers are the most hated of the Devils rivals and the team that I simply cannot stand.
The Rangers likely rank over Philly to most Devil fans,but I'll rank the Flyers first.
In any event,as painful as a potential playoff loss would be,it is a throwback to older times when the Patrick Division playoffs meant three brutal series between hated rivals.
Playoff like they should be and like they will never be again....

Even though Philadelphia lumbered down the stretch and barely squeaked into the post season,I am not willing to say that this is a walkover for the Devils.
The Flyers controlled the Devils in the season series as they won five of six and any team that has Chris Pronger on defense and a deep core of centers as the Flyers do cannot be taken lightly.

The big edge for Philadelphia has been the special teams as they have only allowed five power play goals to the Devils on 32 chances.
New Jersey has an advantage in net with Martin Brodeur against Brian Boucher.
Boucher is the third goalie for the Flyers this season and journeyman is a term that suits Boucher well.
Please remember though,that hockey is a game of ebbs and flows and a average goalie getting hot at the right time can send a favored team home early.
Long time Devils fans should remember the top seeded Devils of the 97-98 season being tossed by Ottawa and Damian Rhodes.
I have seen it-it can happen.

The Devils called up Matt Corrente from Lowell as a forward with both Andrew Peters and Vladimir Zharkov dealing with injuries.
Corrente will likely be among the healthy scratches for tonight's game.

An interesting side note is the performance of Ilya Kovalchuk,who makes just his second playoff appearance and is looking for his first playoff victory as Atlanta was swept in their only trip to the post season.
Will the pressure get to the Russian sniper?

Look for David Clarkson to have a big post season after rounding into shape from his leg injury.
Clarkson's game is tailor made for the grit and grind of the playoffs....

Our prediction-Devils in six.
The Flyers have the weapons and experience to win this series,but a lackluster season and Boucher in goal led us to believe that the season series will be the aberration.
But,I wouldn't bet on anything in the NHL playoffs!!!