Devils Red-y to Rock (Updated)

With Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals agains the Rangers only a few hours away now, Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner is getting into the full spirit of the first postseason game at Prudential Center.

Langengrunner had on his official "Rock Your Red" T-shirt for this morning's media availability at The Rock following a team meeting and did several television interviews with it on. "I'm Rockin' the Red," he said, though he had to endure some ribbing from his teammates.

More than one player expressed displeasure that fans have to buy the T-Shirts and won't get them for free at the game tonight. Their first concern, obviously, is getting ready for the Rangers tonight. All of them, including the coach, were itching for the puck to drop.

"I'm anxious to get going," Sutter said. "I wish this game would have been played last night, our first game. I'm like everybody on the team, just anxious to get it started. You go through a whole season, an 82-game season, and there's ups and downs, peaks and valleys, to set yourself up to play playoff hockey and we're there now and I'm excited about it, anxious to get it going and I'm excited for the players. That's what it's all about."

Devils defenseman Bryce Salvador was particularly anxious for tonight's game. He hasn't played since March 15 because of a left foot contusion. "I'm just excited to get back playing," he said. "It feels like a different season."

Defensemen Karel Rachunek, Vitaly Vishnevski and Sheldon Brookbank and forwards Rod Pelley and Barry Tallackson, who all will be healthy scratches tonight, skated this morning with backup goaltender Kevin Weekes. Everyone else stayed off the ice.

Sutter still wasn't saying what his plans are for checking Jaromir Jagr. Left wing Dainius Zubrus said he hasn't heard anything from the coaches yet about it, but is expecting to see some time against Jagr tonight.

"I haven't had any coversations with the coach, but I think we'll probably start that way," Zubrus said.

***

MOVIE NIGHT: Martin Brodeur's movie group settled on  "Stop-Loss", Ryan Phillippe's film about a soldier recalled to serve in Iraq, as the first movie of the playoffs. "Good film," he said, Jay Pandolfo and John Madden joined him, but he said a group of six other players went to see "Leatherheads." "There were no games on last night, so more guys went," he said. "By Thursday night, it will probably be just me and (Pandolfo)."

Brodeur is hoping some more movies come out soon. "It's going down hill," he said. "I looked and there's nothing good out there."

Most of the other players who didn't go to the movies stayed at the team hotel to play cards. Langenbrunner claimed he and Arron Asham were an unstoppable team in cribbage. Mike Rupp said he cut his card playing short to watch Big Brother on TV.

ASHAM CUTS HAIR AGAIN: Right wing Arron Asham's playoff mohawk lasted only one day. He shaved the rest of his hair down to an even buzz cut, but said it had nothing to do with Lou Lamoriello. "He was lauhging about it," Asham said. "I think he liked it."

Asham said he never intended to keep the mohawk. "I did it as a joke to start out," he said. "I was planning to shave it again."

RANGERS: Nothing exciting from the Rangers' camp. They didn't do any line rushes this morning and head coach Tom Renney still wasn't saying if he'll make any lineup changes from Sunday.

Sean Avery wouldn't talk to the media this morning. I also didn't see Scott Gomez, who has made himself scarce the last couple of days.

Renney was asked if he would have special motivational words for the team before tonight's game.

"Just win," he joked.

FINALLY: Let's hear you predictions for the series. I'm sure they'll be mostly for the Devils, but give me some reasons why.

Comments

[MikeP]

how cheap is the Devils organization that they can't give away a $5 t-shirt for free to people who paid at least $65/ticket for the playoff games ? Are they worried that the Rangers fans would throw them away ?

[MikeP]

how cheap is the Devils organization that they can't give away a $5 t-shirt for free to people who paid at least $65/ticket for the playoff games ? Are they worried that the Rangers fans would throw them away ?

[Adam S]

Devils in 6

it seems that the rangers and devils have been very evenly matched in the regular season series with the bounces going towards the rangers. i dont think they'll get the same bounces and luck in a straight series. devils need to figure out the rangers weekness and go crazy on them (malik was right in the middle of the devils two goals on sunday) zub will come up big like he did in buffalo meaning madden's line will get some offensive chances. langs will be a keep in this series and needs a jump start like 2003. brodeur will steal atleast 2. so once again, devils in 6

[mike]

devils in 5. i think they've figured out what works defensively against the rangers. combined with brodeurs playoff excellence, goals are going to be few and far between. which plays right into our hands because the pressure is on them. the pressure is always on them. cool, calm and collected we fly below the radar, dont take dumb penalties and have 4 balanced lines which include grit, speed and talent.

[CupChamps3X]

My heart and my mind are in different places right now. My brain tells me the rangers are a better team right now, they can score from a bunch of people (even if overall their offense is about even with ours) and - while Lundquist isn't Brodeur - he's pretty darn good. They finished lower than we did in the standings, but for the first time in 15 years I think they're probably a better team than we are.

Having said that, this is not the regular season. This is a VERY young, inexperienced Devils team. Playoff series' aren't always won by the better team (i.e. Detroit and Ottawa should be in the finals every year). The Playoffs are won by teams who play mistake free and get great goaltending. This Devils team has been anything but mistake free - and drastically needs strong leadership if they have any chance of making a run. Brodeur can play out of his mind - and he probably will - but we need at LEAST one of our underacheiving forwards to step up and carry the team (I'm talking to you Brian Gionta, Travis Zajac, Dainius Zubrus). We will also need the Defensmen to step it up in the transition game and getting the puck down low on the forecheck, but we've been asking for that all season.

Brodeur steals two games that they have no business winning and the devils "suprise" the media favorite Rangers in 7, despite being outplayed for a lot of the series. On to Pittsburgh for round 2.

[jl]

TG,

I think this series is an easy pick. If the Devils PP can score, they win in 6. If it can not, they lose in 6. Mark it down! and by they way Tom, hated your prediction in the paper...jk.

[Kevin]

TG- Devils in 6.

Yeah, the Rangers may have won all but 1 game from the Devs this season but the Devils won the only one that mattered. I said that on my college radio show last night and got berrated by my Ranger fan partner and callers. But its now a momentum thing. If they lost that game i would have had to go with the Rags but now the team knows that Ludqvist isnt a wall and this team is beatable.

Devils in 6... wrap it up at The Garden again and really give it to them.

[bf]

Thanks for the scoop TG.

It's always nice to hear what the players do during playoff, interesting to hear them play cards, watch movies, and TV. :P

[95Crash]

This match-up will not be as lopsided as it seemed to be during the regular season. Even though the Rangers came out on top seven times to the Devils one, the teams are a lot more even than that. We all know the Devils have been scrounging for goals this season. But really, the Rangers, too, do not have as much firepower as it might seem. The Devils defense will be exposed at different times during this series. But so will the Rangers D. In the end, it’s going to come down to Game 7. And that’s when the Devils leaders -- Martin Brodeur, Jamie Langenbrunner and Patrik Elias –- will shine. Devils in seven.

[mark d.]

I think this is the hardest series to predict. I know if the devils will win or how many games this series will go. all I know is if the devils do a few simple things..they will beat the rangers:
1. score the first goal- scoring early will give drive the crowd nutsand the players can feedoff of it
2.zubrus-rupp-clarkson line- these guys need to be at their highest energy..they are a catalyst for energy for the devils and might be their secret weapn.. I think 10 goals in 9 games doesn't hurt either.

3.a better than below average PP will suffice- if they can score one PP goal a game.. even 2 every 3 games this will help the team.

4.marty being marty- enough said

I don't think this is too much to ask from professionals..and if they can do this..they will beat a team that realistically only looks good on paper

[Danofan355]

Devils in 7.

Salvador back in helps the D (after all the last game we won in regulation was the game he got hurt)and the fact that there are no shootouts in the playoffs will help to our advantage. The Devs will struggle a bit but Coach Sutter will master the issues and the Devils will pull it out.

[Pat D'Amico]

Devils in 6, I feel like we're coming out of a dangerous slump and our team seems really confident right now.

[Pat D'Amico]

P.S. How much are the Rock your Red t-shirts going to cost?

[scottyc]

hey TG, quick question, i was trying to set my dvr to record the game b/c i'll be at work but there was NO HD broadcast listed for the game on comcast ... WTF? please dont tell me the first playoff game with my new dlp will be wasted b/c the crappy knicks are on ... any light you can shed on this subject?

[FTC]

TG, the Pioneer Press is reporting the Devils signed Frazee.

http://www.twincities.com/gophers/ci_8857456?nclick_check=1&forced=true

Can you confirm it?

[Josh]

I'm going to have to go with the Devils in 6. I think the series will go Rangers, Devils, Devils, Rangers, Devils, Devils.

We have proven that we can score the early goal against Lundqvist, which I'm sure was a huge relief for our players. I wouldn't call Lundqvist a "bottler", but I think that Brodeur performs better under fire. If the Devils can get in his head and stay active at the top of the crease (where Lundqvist likes to challenge shots aggressively), I think he can be taken slightly out of his rhythm. Simply on the basis of being towards the top of the heap annually, I think that Marty is less likely to get fazed by Avery than Lundqvist is by other distractions and bumps.

Zubrus, who has been excellent of late, will be vitally important because I feel like he will be the one to cover Jagr. As I have said before, if that line of Zubrus-Rupp-Clarkson can establish their deep cycle, that's more time that Jagr doesn't have the puck, and more time that the NYR defense will be getting worn down. As good as Pandolfo is defensively, I don't know if I would be secure having him shadowing Jagr, who is capable of dominating him physically. Zubrus is more likely to cancel him out. Having a chippy player like Clarkson and another big player like Rupp only helps matters for us.

I have a feeling that Parise will start the series slow but by game 3 will start to really shine. I'm predicting 5 points from him in the series.

A question that I hadn't really thought of... Will Clarkson be given the opportunity to fight, or will he have to make sure he stays on the ice this series since it looks like he'll be part of a defensive matching unit? I suppose that if he does fight, Asham would take his spot, and he didn't do bad on that line either.

[qsurf99]

devils in 6.

a lot of people have been claiming that the devils are a younger, less experienced team than the rangers, however they have twice as many players on the team that have one a cup than the Rangers...most of them with multiple cups:

Patrik Elias (2), Brian Gionta, Sergei Brylin (3), Jamie Langenbrunner (2), Jay Pandolfo (2), John Madden (2), Colin White (2), Martin Brodeur (3), Michael Rupp

vs

Jaromir Jagr (2), Brendan Shanahan (3), Chris Drury, Scott Gomez (2)

most of the games have been very close, with several lucky bounces going the Rangers way...with the elimination of the shootout, i like the devils chances better. If it goes to overtime, i see the Devils taking the game based n their 4-4 play

I also like that Salvadore will be replacing VV on defense. With his addition, the defense will be rock solid.

I see almost all of these games ending 1-0 or 2-1

[Mike in Idaho]

Reasons the Devils will win: I have thought all year that Renney is a terrible coach for the Rags who plays way too defensive a system for some of the talent that is on the Rangers. This will keep the Devils in every game, something we saw during the regular season as the games were very close with lots of overtimes. I think 2 goals will be enough to win some games, which is good since it seems that's about all we can score. The Devils played the Rangers much better in the last few meetings than earlier in the season so I have hope for this series.

Reasons the Devils might lose: We have a very inexperienced defense that has gone through a lot of growing pains and has serious consistency problems, I don't know if they can play well enough to win a series. Our chronic lack of scoring is another problem as well but not as big a problem since they won't score a lot either.

[PM]

I love all these gung ho Devils fans..They are so cocky and they can't even sell out a playoff game in their new cheesy arena. Well, it's a sell out now..because of Ranger fans. Rangers in 5.

[ScottE]

TG, have you heard anything about the Devils' alleged "secret strategy for beating Henrik Lundqvist"?

Mark Everson reported on it in today's NY Post. I'm not asking your opinion on a fellow journalist, just whether you have any other knowledge of the topic.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/04092008/sports/rangers/devils_goal__solve_lundqvist_105705.htm

[tyler]

Devils in 5.

Shoot high on butterfly Henrik.

[MoonDragn]

I am predicting the Devils in 6 also. Through the season, every time we've played the Rangers someone was injured. This time we'll have a healthy crew going in. So unless one of our players get injured they should be playing much better than throughout the season.

Hopefully Patty will step up his game, he's going to be the key to winning this.

Btw TG, Tell Marty to go see Forbidden Kingdom when it comes out Apr 18th. Its a Jackie Chan, Jet Li martial arts movie with alot of action and some humor. They should get a kick out of it.

[hoekster316]

There's actually two "secret strategies" for beating Henrik, the first of which is referred to as the "Flying V." The second move that renders Lundqvist powerless, as well as every goalie in the league, is the ever-feared "Knuckle Puck."

[Scott731]

My prediction is this is a coin flip series so I'll take the Devils in 7, even though that is no more likely than Rangers in 7 to me.

TG, tell Marty the Devils just have to keep playing for a while then films such as Harold and Kumar, Iron Man, Speed Racer, Chronicles of Narnia, and Indiana Jones all come out. I'm sure some won't be winners but will probably be halfway watchable. Also Forgetting Sarah Marshall is getting good reviews on rottentomatoes.com but seems like a chick flick to me(although they seem to go to those).

[brandon]

In my world, 1 win counts as 2 points and 7 wins count as 14 points.

How does only one game matter?

That sounds like some convolluted logic to me.