NHL Playoffs 2012: Why Game 1 Is Critical for Both the Devils and Rangers

The New York Rangers must garner an authentic token of confidence, namely a victory, in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. Anything less and they will inevitably cram to recompense a deficit and the loss of home-ice advantage by digging into a vat of extra energy that isn’t there.

For the visiting New Jersey Devils, a split of the first two games at Madison Square Garden would not be nearly as dissatisfactory as it would for the Blueshirts. But after a six-day layoff following their Game 5 clincher over Philadelphia, they do not want to let any potential rust get the better of them and give free confidence to the ostensibly overworked Rangers.

For that reason, the Devils are better off setting an immediate tone and letting it be known that home-ice advantage is theirs from the conclusion of Game 1 through at least the conclusion of Game 3 or 4.

Of the last six teams to reach the Stanley Cup Final, four only needed one road win as part of their victory in the conference finals. The two exceptions were the 2009 Penguins and 2010 Blackhawks, who swept their respective series against Carolina and San Jose.

Granted, last year’s Tampa Bay Lightning could not reap any meaningful rewards after taking Game 1 of the Eastern final in Boston. But the two participants in that series were each coming off a second-round sweep and more than a full week of rest.

Should the Devils take Game 1 of this best-of-seven bout, the Rangers, who will be less than 48 hours removed from their rubber-game triumph over Washington, will be much harder-pressed to make a full recovery than the 2011 Bruins were.

The top-seeded New York team faces a historically daunting scenario after failing to abolish Ottawa and Washington a little sooner. No NHL team has ever mustered the requisite energy to win a title after playing the maximum 14 games in the two previous rounds.

The 2009 Hurricanes and 2010 Canadiens, the two most recent teams to do that and the only two in the post-lockout era, lasted four and five games in the conference finals—although neither of them started their third-round series at home, and the Rangers have won four of their last five games in Manhattan.

The best bet for John Tortorella’s pupils is to keep percolating and riding on a fresh, carbonated wave of momentum in hopes of stymieing the Devils’ disproportionately fresher legs. And there is no reason to assume that can’t be done.

All the more reason for New Jersey to come out with brimming buzz and put their rivals in an early hole. While it is not a rigid deciding factor, the Devils certainly do not want to doze off from inactivity the way Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick did early in Game 1 of the other conference final.

At the very least, they must convincingly thaw out their long-idle game legs and make Monday’s series-opener the Rangers’ hardest-earned victory to date in the 2012 playoffs. That way, New York’s prospective 1-0 lead will be especially fragile and perhaps too vulnerable to serve as a legitimate confidence booster.

For the Devils, though it is not the most desirable scenario, a moral victory Monday night would be affordable provided they followed through and seized a tangible triumph in Game 2.

The same cannot be said about the Rangers. For them, to an even greater extent than New Jersey, the series-opener will be a matter of planting the seed of doubt in the opposition or having it planted in their own heads.