NHL Playoffs 2012: 6 Potential Difference-Makers for the Devils and Rangers

The Eastern Conference Finals are now a best-of-five series entering Saturday’s Game 3 at the Prudential Center. In turn, the question intensifies as to which backstop or set of back-checkers will ultimately blink one time too many in this obsessive-defensive round of staring contests.

Perhaps equally key, though, is whose strike force will have one more dormant volcano perk up?

As early as this series still may be, a noteworthy multitude of New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers forwards have been rather muted through their first two games, if not longer. Some of them have a certifiable clutch history that their respective fan bases are hoping will be reprised.

In alphabetical order, the top three late-breaking candidates from each side to watch over the next week are as follows:

Brian Boyle

Boyle is nursing a 10-game goalless drought. That includes all eight games in which he has played since returning from a concussion sustained in the opening series against the Ottawa Senators.

Yet, he began that round with a three-game goal streak, tallying the game-winner in each of the Rangers’ first two postseason victories.

Ruslan Fedotenko

Fedotenko’s sense of defensive purpose has been hard to question lately, especially in the time since the Rangers trailed in their conference quarterfinals series, 3-2.

With that said, he has yet to recover from another offensive downturn from the regular season. He has no goals and three assists to date in the playoffs.

Head coach John Tortorella and teammate Brad Richards both remember from their days in Tampa Bay that Fedotenko has been a key asset to deep playoff runs in the past, and no one is saying that he cannot recapture that.

In fact, out of his first nine Stanley Cup runs, this being his tenth, Fedotenko has scored a goal in only three of them. Two of those three culminated in a crown for his Lightning in 2004 and the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009.

Not saying anything there, just saying.

Adam Henrique

The New Jersey rookie has tallied four points in his last four outings, all in the form of assists. That streak includes his only playoff point on home ice from Game 4 of the Devils' last series against the Philadelphia Flyers.

There'll be no time like Saturday’s Game 3 and Monday’s Game 4 for Henrique to rediscover his home cooking recipe, the one that gave him 10 goals and 13 helpers at the Prudential Center in the regular season.

Derek Stepan

The Rangers sophomore has all but based his 2012 postseason on Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold.” His only goal to date came as part of a season-saving, three-point night in Game 6 versus Ottawa.

Since then, he has tallied five points, all in the form of assists, though none in his last three games. In addition, he has mustered only a single shot on net in each of the last four contests.

If Stepan can start making more like fellow youngster Chris Kreider in this series, it could be a critical boon for the Blueshirts.

Petr Sykora

The eldest of the Devils' forwards is pointless since tallying a goal and an assist in Game 4 against Philadelphia, but the 35-year-old veteran tied the team for sixth in regular-season points and fifth in goals, including six game-winners.

Not to mention, Sykora has nine winning strikes in 129 career playoff games to go with his two Stanley Cup rings and five appearances in the finals.

Maybe other than goaltender Martin Brodeur and fellow forward Patrik Elias, no current Devil knows how to get to the summit of the NHL as well as Sykora. Consider this his calling to show everyone by example.

Travis Zajac

Since scoring five goals in a span of eight games, Zajac has gone without a single strike in his last five outings.

Yet, he somehow has remained second only to Ilya Kovalchuk among New Jersey’s playoff point-getters with a 5-5-10 log. He also boasts the team’s second-best shooting accuracy among regulars at 15.2 percent, putting five of 33 shots on net in the net.

Finding a way around Henrik Lundqvist and his praetorian guards could be Zajac’s key to redemptive psychological traction. That, in turn, could be a key to getting to the Cup Finals for the Devils.