The Devils faded a bit in the final two periods and allowed Florida to climb back into the game,before stabilizing a bit and earning the 3-2 win.The win gives the Devils a 1-0 (duh) series lead.
The Devils received goals from Patrik Elias,Dainius Zubrus and the game winner was scored by Ryan Carter.
Game two returns to Miami on Sunday night.
Hell Raisers
1) The Devils certainly came out firing against Jose Theodore as the team put 26 shots on goal in the first period,which is often times a total for an entire game for New Jersey.
The bad part came in the final two periods in which the Devils combined for just 12 shots.
That total is not going to cut the mustard over the long haul...
2) All three of the goals came on very solid plays,but the best of the three was the Patrik Elias goal that saw him make multiple moves on Jose Theodore before scoring the goal.
Making the moves on the interior part on the ice will eventually either draw defenders to open up the pass or give the player time to create a shooting lane...
3) The victory was the 100th playoff win of Martin Brodeur's career.
Brodeur also earned an assist on the Dainius Zubrus goal and finished with 24 saves on the game.
4) Lets also be honest,the refereeing left much to be desired and the Devils likely drew more calls than the home Panthers.
The high stick that cost Shawn Mattias four minutes and led to the Zubrus goal was pretty bad and I thought the refs were calling things especially tight in order to set the stage for control of the series.
5) Give Jose Theodore credit as well.
Despite the three first period goals,Theodore made plenty of nice saves that gave his team a chance to win after a Devils barrage that would have wiped out the average netminder.
Without his play,the Devils would have put this away early...
Photo Credit:AP Photo
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