NHL Playoffs 2012: Why the Devils Are in for a Tough Fight Against the Rangers

The New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils face off in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Final on Wednesday at 8:00 pm Eastern at Madison Square Garden.

The top-seeded Rangers currently hold a 1-0 lead in the series, thanks to Monday's 3-0 victory.

The Devils lost the first game of their last series against Philadelphia but were able to rally and win four straight after that, dispatching the Flyers in five.

It's not impossible that they might work some similar magic against the Rangers. Their forecheck has caused problems for New York and the team is working well together.

However, it looks like the Devils are in tough against New York.

Net Works

The biggest reason appears to be goaltending. Head-to-head, the numbers clearly favour Lundqvist. The two goalies have faced each other 35 times in the last seven years, and Lundqvist has a significant edge with a 23-7-5 record.

It's not easy to bet against Marty Brodeur and his three Stanley Cup rings, and the picture does get murkier when you narrow the scope to the playoffs. The Rangers and Devils have played each other twice in postseason since Lundqvist entered the league.

In his rookie year, Lundqvist lost all three of his starts as the Devils swept the Rangers in the 2006 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal. In 2008, the tables were turned as the Rangers beat the Devils in five. Both Brodeur and Lundqvist played every game in that series.

In the ensuing four years, 40-year-old Brodeur has shown signs that his athleticism is starting to decline. Meanwhile, at 30 years old, Lundqvist is still improving. He's just logged his best regular season to date and seems to have taken his game up another notch in the playoffs.

Scoring Obstacles

These aren't your Daddy's Devils. Peter DeBoer's team has some balanced offensive punch and should be able to generate scoring chances. But in addition to Lundqvist's heroics, the Rangers are a shot-blocking machine.

In Game 1, they actually blocked 26 Devils attempts, while only 21 got through to Lundqvist. New Jersey's going to need some puck luck just to break their series goose-egg.

Rhythms of the Night

One thing that favors the Devils for Game 2 is the Rangers' playoff pattern so far this season. After winning Game 1 against both the Senators and the Capitals, they weren't able to hold the momentum either time, losing Game 2. Of course, the Rangers did end up winning both those series in the end.

Dave Lozo at NHL.com reports that a team that goes up 2-0 in a seven-game series will win the series 86% of the time. But once again, the Rangers buck the trend. The last time they did it was actually back in 2009 against Washington; they ended up losing that series in seven games.

It's a dangerous game to play, but perhaps if the Devils lose tonight, they'll have the Rangers right where they want 'em?

Destiny's Child?

Much is being made by the Blueshirts faithful about the similarities between the Rangers' cup-winning 1994 run and the patterns so far this year. We know that, both times, they beat Washington in the Conference Semifinal, then went on to face Martin Brodeur and the Devils. Puck Daddy's Sean Leahy has dug up my favorite obscure parallel so far:

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In 1994, the Rangers had an All-Star Game MVP in Mike Richter, just like this year with Marian Gaborik.

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It remains to be seen whether the Rangers will have another "Matteau! Matteau!" moment and vanquish the Devils. I'm not counting New Jersey out of this series, but at this point, the Rangers look like they're sitting pretty.

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