New Jersey Devils Return to Playoffs: Offense Coming Alive Right on Time

After a brief one-year absence, the New Jersey Devils are back in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Devils clinched a spot in the postseason tournament with a dominating 5-0 road win in Carolina. The Devils offense has exploded the last two games, scoring a total of 11 goals versus Tampa and Carolina, respectively. Although these two wins do come against non-playoff teams, there are significant signs that the Devils offense is coming alive at just the right time heading into the playoffs.

As the clocked ticked down in Carolina, Devils' coach Pete DeBoer sported a huge smile on his face. This will mark DeBoer's first postseason chance behind an NHL bench after missing out on the dance with three tries in Florida. Ironically, his first-round matchup if the season ended today will be against those Florida Panthers. The Devils and their coaching staff would never admit it, but they would most definitely prefer a matchup with Florida rather than face off against the red-hot Pittsburgh Penguins, if they were to finish in the fifth seed ahead of the Flyers.

With the long-awaited return of No. 1 center Travis Zajac, the Devils now sport four balanced lines that can compete and score with the best of the Eastern Conference. Down the middle is where the Devils strength now lies. Zajac, Patrik Elias, Adam Henrique and Jacob Josefson provide the Devils with tremendous depth at the center position, depth they have not had in many years.

The Devils have a slew of scoring wingers as well, led by team point-leader and team MVP Ilya Kovalchuk and captain Zach Parise, who has had an excellent bounce-back season from last year's injury, scoring 30-plus goals for the fifth time in his Devils career.

However, the biggest surprise of all has been the goal scoring of rugged right winger David Clarkson. Clarkson scored his career-best 30th goal of the season versus Carolina and has a team-leading seven game-winning goals. At a $2.67 million a year cap hit, Lou Lamoriello couldn't be any happier with that steal of a contract. Clarkson's 30 goals on the third line signifies the tremendous offensive depth this Devils team brings to the table.

Add the pleasant surprise return of old-time Devil Petr Sykora and the consistently strong play of Dainius Zubrus and Alexei Ponikarovsky, the Devils have scoring all the way down through their lineup.The newly assembled 4th line of Jacob Josefson centering Steve Bernier and Ryan Carter, provides speed, strength and some scoring punch that the Devils have lacked out of the 4th line all season long.

This group of 12 forwards is the best group they have had since the 2001-02 season, which includes the 2002-03 Stanley Cup-winning team.

The Devils offense has looked scary good over these last two games and has displayed the much-needed scoring depth from all four lines that one must have in order to achieve playoff success. Although just a small sample, the Devils offense may be coming alive just at the right time.