NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs 2012: 6 Players to Watch in Eastern Conference Finals

The top-seeded New York Rangers and sixth-seeded New Jersey Devils start their Eastern Conference championship series on Monday at 8:00 p.m. ET at Madison Square Garden.

The Hudson River Rivalry resumes. These two neighboring teams have met five times before in the playoffs in the last 21 years, with the Rangers winning four of those encounters. The only time they met for the Eastern Conference title was the memorable series in 1994, when Mark Messier guaranteed victory after the Rangers went down 3-2. New York did come back to win Games 6 and 7, then beat Vancouver in seven games in the final to win their first Stanley Cup since 1940.

Since the Rangers also dispatched Washington in the second round back in '94, fans in the Big Apple are hoping that the fates are aligning to lead them to a similar triumph in four weeks' time.

Before the series begins, here's a look at six key players to watch.

Zach Parise

Perhaps no player has more on the line in these playoffs than Devils captain Zach Parise.

The 27-year-old is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, and with every New Jersey win, his value increases. He's high on the wish list of more than one franchise.

It's widely believed that Parise will move on to a new team at season's end, particularly in light of the Devils' financial woes. But playoff games are big revenue generators, and the Rangers are probably the best possible economic opponent, in terms of attracting fans of both teams to the Prudential Center in Newark. If Parise won a Cup with the Devils, would he be tempted to take a hometown discount to stay?

So far, Parise is 4-4-8 in 12 playoff games, and he's a plus-one, logging around 20 minutes of ice time a game. He plays in all situations and has been a key part of the Devils' success.

Expect continued strong play from Parise against the Rangers.

Ryan Callahan

Parise's counterpart on the Rangers is Ryan Callahan.

He's also a 27-year-old American-born team captain. The two are even about the same size—both listed at 5'11", with Parise at 195 pounds compared to Callahan's 190. However, Callahan's in the first year of a three-year deal that pays him just over $4 million a year.

Callahan is 3-3-6 so far in 14 playoff games, and he's also a plus-one. His average ice time of nearly 25 minutes a game is skewed by the Rangers' triple-overtime game against Washington, but he is a player who contributes in many ways other than on the score sheet.

Still, after a low-scoring series against the Caps, the Rangers would love to see more of an offensive contribution from their captain against New Jersey.

Ilya Kovalchuk

2012 has proven to be the year when Ilya Kovalchuk bucks his stereotype.

During his time with the late Atlanta Thrashers, Kovalchuk was typically portrayed as a selfish, one-dimensional player who only cared about his personal stats and didn't put the team first.

He was an odd fit for New Jersey when they acquired him before the 2010 trade deadline, and an odder fit to re-sign—especially to a long-term, $100 million contract with a cash-strapped franchise.

Whatever happens off the ice, Kovy is showing that he's committed to the Devils' game. He's forged a strong relationship with coach Peter DeBoer, is showing more commitment to defense and has fought back from a herniated disk suffered in the first round against Florida to become one of the top scorers of the playoffs.

Kovalchuk now has 5-7-12 in 11 games. That puts him third overall after two rounds, with only ousted Philadelphia Flyers forwards Claude Giroux and Danny Briere ahead of him.

This is the first significant playoff run for Kovalchuk in his 11-year NHL career, and he's making the most of it. Expect him to continue to dazzle against the Rangers.

Brad Richards

The New York Rangers gave Brad Richards a $60 million contract last summer—including $22 million payable this year—because they wanted his Stanley Cup experience and big-game scoring.

That's a lot of coin, but when Richards scored on the Rangers' first shot of the game against Washington in Game 7 on Saturday, he probably justified the expenditure.

Richards also scored the tying goal in Game 5 against the Caps with just 7.6 seconds to go in a 1-0 contest that the Rangers would go on to win. Without those two goals alone, the close series could well have swung in Washington's favor.

Richards is now sitting fourth in playoff scoring, right behind Kovalchuk, at 6-5-11 over 14 games. He also has a Stanley Cup ring and a Conn Smythe Trophy from 2004 with Tampa Bay—when he was coached by none other than John Tortorella.

Offensively, Richards vs. Kovalchuk should prove to be a fascinating matchup in this series.

Martin Brodeur

If you want to talk about that 1994 Rangers vs. Devils Eastern Conference final, Martin Brodeur should be your guy. He was in net for the Devils in that series—in his first full season in the NHL.

That year, he got out-dueled by Mike Richter, but the Devils did go on to win their first of their three Stanley Cups of the Brodeur era the following season, in 1995.

The unflappable 40-year-old may not be quite as technically proficient as he was in his younger days, and Brodeur's goaltending numbers are the least impressive of the remaining four starters—"just" a 2.05 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage.

But Brodeur knows how to win hockey games, especially in the playoffs. His experience—particularly in the fishbowl of a Rangers-Devils series—will be a valuable asset for New Jersey.

Henrik Lundqvist

Saving the best for last?

"King" Henrik Lundqvist has been the Rangers' best player so far in the playoffs, and he'll need to continue to be so if New York wants to vanquish the Devils.

Lundqvist sits second among the remaining starting goalies with a 1.68 goals against to accompany his .937 save percentage. He has also already played a stunning 892 minutes of playoff hockey, compared to a more moderate 730 for Brodeur (or just 541 for Jonathan Quick).

In terms of present-day goaltending, the advantage in net clearly lies with the Rangers in this series. The intangible of Brodeur's experience must not be discounted, but expect Hart and Vezina trophy candidate Lundqvist to put on a clinic against the Devils.