NHL Playoffs 2012: New Jersey Devils Getting Critical Points from the Point

The New Jersey Devils all but Xeroxed a page from rival New York Rangers’ playbook and set the right pace en route to a pivotal victory in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals.

The Rangers entered Monday night’s action having garnered a league-best 11, or nearly one-third, of their 37 postseason goals from defensemen. Of late, the highlights were being concocted by Dan Girardi, who slugged home a long-range icebreaker in the third period as part of a 3-0 victory in both Games 1 and 3 versus New Jersey.

But the Devils’ Bryce Salvador entered Game 4 with credit for two of his blue line brigade’s four playoff goals and a 2-6-8 scoring log overall.

He hit the showers having upped his transcript to 3-7-10. His third goal of the spring from 56 feet at 8:10 of the first period proved the first strike in an eventual 4-1 win at the Prudential Center.

Salvador subsequently assisted on Zach Parise’s empty-netter with 1:29 remaining in the third period, giving him a hand in four of the Devils’ seven goals against the Rangers. Salvador and Parise are now tied with New York’s Girardi and Chris Kreider for the scoring lead, each with four points apiece in the series.

Salvador’s first contribution in Game 2 was a low-flying slapper from the straightaway point that found its way home with the help of teammate Ryan Carter on the porch. That drew a 2-2 knot with 1:51 remaining in the second period, turning the tables ahead of David Clarkson’s eventual clincher in the third.

Not unlike Carter, Clarkson was within spitting distance of Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist when he tipped in a slapper from one of his team’s point patrollers. In this case, it was an unlikely point man in rookie forward Adam Henrique.

The secondary assist on that decider went to none other than Salvador, who made a crisp, cross-ice feed from the other point to Henrique.

Another offensive player, top gun Ilya Kovalchuk, set up the dagger in Game 4 while performing his moonlight job as a power play blue line specialist. He absorbed Henrique’s faceoff win and dropped a nimble slapper in front of Lundqvist, who could not cover it before an equally prompt Parise picked it up and tucked it home for a 3-0 advantage.

Both of Kovalchuk’s points and two of Parise’s four in the New York series have been cultivated on the man advantage. Kovalchuk previously deposited a diagonal feed from defenseman Marek Zidlicky, who was set up on the near point by Parise during a Game 2 power play that served to break the ice in the Devils’ favor.

Tuning the mesh within the first period yet again proved a momentous boon for the Devils on Monday. And they owed it to Salvador wasting little time playing at Girardi’s game.