NHL Playoffs 2012: Philadelphia Needs to Bring the Hate Against Devils

It's hardly encouraged in sports at any level to bring emotion into your competition. Most people tend to lose focus and become unraveled when the objectivity and purpose of their mission becomes personal.

After a first round filled with vitriol and bad blood against their hated in-state rivals, the Flyers are hoping to avoid a letdown against the decidedly less-hated New Jersey Devils.

While the Flyers are hardly friendly with their local neighbors to the northeast, the Devils typically don't bring the hatred and emotion to the Wells Fargo Arena that the Penguins do. The Devils' recent history  has seen them lift the Stanley Cup three times in the last 18 years, twice beating Philadelphia along the way.

The last two playoff meetings were won by the Flyers in the first round, four games to one (2004 and 2010). The "Battle of the Jersey Turnpike" just doesn't seem to have as much venom as the in-state rivalry, possibly because the teams might actually be too close to one another. The Flyers practice in Voorhees Township, New Jersey, and South Jersey itself is about a 50-50 Flyers-Devils fanbase.

Flyers fans will certainly be the first to say that the Devils are just as hated, but is that sentiment shared in  the Philly locker room? The Flyers edged the season series 3-2-1, though the games lacked the drama that the Penguin games had.

The passion that the Flyers played with against the higher-seeded Penguins will need to be duplicated to vanquish the ageless Marty Brodeur (40 next Sunday) and the Devils. The chippy nature of Philadelphia's first round may not be duplicated in this round, but the emotion that the Flyers played with seemed to bring the team together. The Flyers certainly have the talent to win this series, but will they be as driven as they were in the opening round?

The opening game gave us a look at what may lie ahead for both teams. The Flyers started ridiculously slow, to nobody's surprise, and gave up the first 11 shots. They spotted the Devils an early 1-0 lead on a bad turnover behind their own goal. Some back-and-forth goal exchanges tied it at two before Claude Giroux's power-play goal four minutes into the third period put the Flyers up 3-2.

A relatively soft goal from Petr Sykora tied the game seven minutes later, and the two headed for extra time. After having a goal waved off for clearly kicking the puck into the Devils' net, Danny Briere scored his second of the game. A slap shot from just inside the blue line gave Philadelphia a well-deserved win.

The Flyers get a day of rest before Game 2 Tuesday night in Philadelphia. Slow start aside, they have some momentum to build upon. If Ilya Bryzgalov can avoid the soft goal, the Flyers have to be heavily favored to advance. Brodeur did himself no favors on the Flyers' second goal, but the playoffs are where he typically shines the brightest.

Positive takes for the Flyers would be the continued strong play of Briere and Giroux and out-shooting New Jersey 35-15 once they took their first shot. Despite the scoreline, Philadelphia controlled the tempo of the game after the first 10 minutes.

Areas of opportunity moving into Game 2 would be to keep traffic in front of Brodeur. He has been vulnerable with bodies in front of his net. Patience on the power play is also a key. The Devils had the best penalty kill in the league during the regular season, so the Flyers need to make the most of their power plays.

Player for player and line for line, the Flyers match up well with New Jersey. With the exception of goaltending, the Flyers have to be favored in each area. Game 2 will be interesting to see how the Devils' strategy adjusts after falling short in the opener.

If the Devils are smart, they'll keep their gloves on and their sticks down. They were a bad bounce away from winning Game 1. They could have taken home ice away from Philadelphia, despite being badly outplayed for the final two periods.

The Flyers need to summon some of the residual hatred from Round 1, or watch some old Scott Stevens clips to get fired up for Game 2. Maybe Eric Lindros or Ron Hextall are available for a pregame pep talk on Devil-hating. Either way, the Flyers need to keep their foot firmly on the throat of New Jersey and not let up until the Devils are dead and gone.