Devils and ‘Canes will throw down in the first round

So Carolina is playing New Jersey in the first round. Sweetness! The Hockey Writers’ Devils writer, Brett Bodner, is certainly apprehensive about his team’s upcoming series against the Hurricanes, and with good reason. The Hurricanes go into the playoffs riding more good juju than anyone else in the league (except perhaps fellow six seed St. Louis.) Yes, the team lost its two final games of the season, including a 5-1 home blowout against Buffalo and a 3-2 season-closing decision against New Jersey where the ‘Canes coughed up the game-winner in the last five minutes. However, this shouldn’t worry fans. I actually have the distinct feeling that Carolina threw its last two games to avoid a first-round meeting with the Flyers. The ‘Canes almost certainly did the same in 2006 to avoid the Lightning, and even though the organization is very different, the mentality appears to be the same – why would you go for the glamorous higher seed when you’re just going to get your rear handed to you in the first round? The ‘Canes looked lifeless and almost lackadaisical in their last two games, and I can’t help but suspect that they were told to “take a break.” Benching all their top players would have been suspicious, and the team wisely doesn’t want too long of a gap in between now and Wednesday. I think they threw it on purpose. However, if they didn’t, and those two games were indicative or something…well, folks, we may be screwed.

From an outsider’s prospective, the match-up between Philadelphia and Carolina would certainly have been interesting. Three of the team’s four meetings this season went to overtime, and one included a four-goal third-period comeback (not by the ‘Canes, alas.) It would be a match-up of the most penalized team in the NHL (Philadelphia) against the least penalized team in the NHL (Carolina) which would, again, be interesting. However, anyone with a vested interest in having the ‘Canes advance should be glad that the ‘Canes are facing Brodeur and Co., as weird as that sounds.

Carolina and Philadelphia haven’t ever faced each other in the playoffs and haven’t seen each other since November of this season, and a lot has changed since then. There would have been a lot of question marks in that series. Philadelphia is a very physical team; Carolina, not so much. The team’s physical play has improved ever so slightly in recent games, but aside from Cole and Ruutu and a few defensemen, Carolina doesn’t like to throw the body around. Even if they had made it past the Flyers, there’s a good chance they’d be battered.

Thankfully, we don’t have to worry about that. Do I even need to list the reasons why another New Jersey round is a good idea? Carolina has beaten the Devils thoroughly and frequently since relocating from Hartford. The ‘Canes won the 2008-2009 season series 3-1 and had won their last two playoff series against the Devils, coincidentally (not really) the last two playoff runs the ‘Canes were involved in. New Jersey seems to melt down against Carolina in the postseason, and we’ll see if that will happen again.

BUT. But but but…the ‘Canes will not have home ice advantage this time, as they did in each of the last two series. That is a major blow to the ‘Canes’ chances, as they have been incredibly difficult to beat at home in front of their raucous home crowd. In addition, the style Carolina plays has changed significantly since these teams last met. Since Mo took the reigns again, the ‘Canes become more defensively-minded. Can the ‘Canes beat New Jersey at their own game?

NHL.com seems to think that defensemen scoring will be the key to this series, also a statistical category that Carolina has smoked New Jersey in. I don’t see that letting up any time soon. Anton Babchuk scored Carolina’s two goals in the 3-2 Devils loss and defensemen and goalies alike seem to be confounded when it comes to blocking his booming slapshots. Joe Corvo is back after missing a game with the “flu.” Tim Gleason and Dennis Seidenberg are reasonably healthy and ready to shut down at the blue line. And Niclas Wallin, well…the playoffs are his playground, especially in OT. The Devils remember how that goes.

The goaltending battle should be intriguing as well. We’ve got a white-hot relative newbie against the battle-hardened, ever-consistent, hardware-laden veteran. This time, Cam Ward actually has some expectations put upon him; in 2006, he was thrown in as a Hail Mary as the ‘Canes watched their postseason hopes run down the drain. We’ll have to see where he takes it.

In addition, we’ll have to see whether “start-up” trumps “consistency.” The ‘Canes have been good recently, but you have to wonder whether those issues that plagued them during the early series are still bubbling under the surface. Confidence is crucial, but it can only take you so far. Except for that eerie losing streak a few weeks ago, the Devils have dominated all season en route to the Atlantic division title. Carolina has all the momentum in the world going into the playoffs all of the pundits seem to have jumped on the bandwagon, proclaiming a first-round victory, but I worry that they’ll fizzle out. I can’t help but remember a situation where a hot team met a consistent team and it turned out to be quite one-sided; the ‘Canes/Devils series in 2006, as a matter of fact. The Devils came in having won 15 in a row and the ‘Canes crushed them handily, 4-1. Let’s hope karma doesn’t rain all over Carolina’s parade this year.

The ‘Canes/Devils cage fight rematch will begin round 1 on Wednesday night at 7:30 at “The Rock.”

Posted by Kate Shefte on Apr 13 2009. Filed under Atlantic, Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils, Southeast. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.