Dominant New Jersey Devils Inch Closer to First Conference Finals Appearance Since 2003
The New Jersey Devils rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to spoil a solid effort from Philadelphia Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov en route to a 4-2 game four win and a commanding 3-1 series lead.
It was not supposed to be like this for the Devils. It wasn’t supposed to look so easy or effortless. On the day goalie Martin Brodeur turned 40-years-young, he wasn’t supposed to be playing his best hockey in years. But after four games of a series New Jersey was believed to have no chance of winning, the Devils are dominating the Flyers in every aspect of the series. Now Philadelphia must figure out what went wrong and fix it if they hope to get back in this series.
Dainus Zubrus scored two goals and Marek Zidlicky had a goal and a helper to pull New Jersey out of an early two-goal hole. The Devils started the game by doing pretty much the same thing that made them successful in the first three games. They out-hustled and outworked the Flyers for every puck. Bryzgalov held down the fort and allowed his team to strike first.
Flyers coach Peter Laviolette used his timeout to spark him team after a brutal first five minutes and it seemed to re-energize his players. In a rare loss of composure. Travis Zajac took a bad penalty when they Flyers got under his skin. That lead to a Scott Hartnell power play goal to give Philly a 1-0 lead.
Claude Giroux, whom the Devils have been able to contain for most of the series picked up a short-handed goal a few minutes later to put New Jersey in the always precarious 2-0 hole. By precarious I mean for the team with the lead.
That was the end of all of the Flyers warm and fuzzy feelings because New Jersey responded quickly.
Petr Sykora cut the Devils’ deficit in half late on that same power play. Zidlicky fed Sykora with a perfect pass for an easy redirect past Bryzgalov, who seemed to lose track of the puck for a split second.
Then, Zidlicky tied the game late when he crept in front of the net unabated for the easy tip-in off a nicely placed Bryce Salvador pass.
Zubrus, who was incredible all game long, capped off the Devils rally by finishing off a 3 on 1 late in the seocnd period to give New Jersey a 3-2 lead. Unlike in the first series against the Florida Panthers when it felt like no Devils lead was safe, regardless of how big. This game felt like it was over. Zubrus would later add an empty-netter to complete the scoring.
The Flyers are clearly frustrated. Giroux took a dumb penalty when he let his emotions boil over. He chased down Zubrus and delivered an illegal hit to the Devils forwards head with his shoulder. Giroux now faces disciplinary actions from the league. If he gets a suspension (which he won’t) it would kill the Flyers spirit and their chance at the series.
Now the Devils sit just one win shy of the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since they last won the Stanley Cup in 2003 and it feels oh, so good.
If New Jersey can finish off the Flyers they will face either the Washington Capitals or New York Rangers for a chance at the Cup. That series is tied 2-2 with the team heading back to MSG for game five on Monday night.
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[...] of discipline on Philly’s part that caused Flyers star Claude Giroux to foolishly go after Dainus Zubrus‘ head in frustration. The illegal hit resulted in a one game suspension for Giroux and was [...]
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