NHL Playoffs: Aggressive New Jersey Wins Crucial Game 2 vs. Philadelphia

In postseason hockey, the aggressive team wins.

The Devils failed to heed that motto in Game 1 of the playoffs. Not surprisingly, they lost that game to the Flyers.

This team needed to play with some spark while adding a touch of nastiness.

They had to try to goad the Flyers into getting penalties. They knew the Flyers could not come into their arena and dominate them at their place again in the playoffs.

They had to give the Flyers their best shot in evening the series at one last night.

Mission accomplished.

They did what they had to do in earning an exciting 5-3 victory over the Flyers at the Prudential Center last night. After the game, the team celebrated by showing emotion rather than accepting a routine handshake.

Forgive them for displaying that type of reaction.

They knew what the situation was if they lost that game. A loss last night, and it would have been hard for the Devils to make up ground by being down 2-0. They would have to win at least two at the Wachovia Center.

That's not happening. It's one thing to win a road game, but it's hard to win two in a series, especially back-to-back games.

The Devils had to do whatever it took to win Game 2. It might as well been Game 7 to them.

For most of the game, the Devils shot the puck at Flyers goaltender Brian Boucher. Boucher had to work and be on the lookout for the puck. That wasn't the case in Game 1.

The Flyers goaltender made saves in the first game, but he didn't have to deal with the rebounds or face consecutive shots. The Devils made it easy for him on Wednesday night.

What stood out was the Devils ramming into Boucher to get a goal in this game. They did that several times.

The puck may not have been in when they did it, but Boucher clearly had to be worried about getting hit again.  He showed a good sign of that when Dainius Zubrus scored the game-winner.

Zubrus and Zach Parise approached at his direction, and Boucher looked like he wanted no part of contact. That's how the Devils scored.

Ilya Kovalchuk may not have put the puck in the net when it mattered. His goal came on an empty-netter.

With that said, don't discount what he did last night. He played the role of Sean Avery by being an agitator.

He got into many Flyers. Most of the Flyers did not like the way he was approaching them.

He pushed them to the ice often and talked trash to them.

It's about time the team did those things instead of being the passive team they are. They actually hit several Flyers last night, and forced the Flyers into drawing penalties.

It was a remarkable sight. Jacques Lemaire likes to have his team show restraint, and make it dull as possible.

That never works in playoff hockey. Being the sage coach Lemaire is, he should know this.

He knows he needs guys to play as goons in April. That's what Scott Stevens and Ken Daneyko did all those years. It's not an accident those two played a role in leading the Devils to three championships in their time together.

Face it. No one wins pretty in the playoffs. People are going to be bruised and bloody when the game is over. It's as predictable as grown men growing playoff beards.

The playoffs are not the place for the weak-minded. They go home early. The Sharks can attest to that. They are a team that rarely hits or agitates.

It's not a coincidence that team is an annual disappointment come April.

What the Devils need to do now is sustain this. They have to take lessons out of this performance.

They can't sit back and hope for things to happen. They need to make it happen.

Now this Devils team must perform an encore in Game 3.