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Broad Street Bull

Turnpike Series: Flyers-Devils

The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull

68 comments

Turnpike Series: Flyers-Devils

POSTED: Friday, April 27, 2012, 12:56 AM

Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer

The Turnpike Series has been set.

The fifth-seeded Flyers finally learned their second-round opponent early Friday morning. It’s sixth-seeded New Jersey, which scored a 3-2 double-overtime win at third-seeded Florida in Game 7.

The Flyers will have home-ice advantage, and they will host Game 1 on Sunday at 3 p.m.

The Flyers went 3-3 against the Devils in the regular season, with Ilya Bryzgalov winning all three of his starts and Sergei Bobrovksy losing his three.

Bryzgalov’s numbers were off the charts: a 0.29 GAA and .987 save percentage.

The teams' big guns, Claude Giroux and the Devils’ Ilya Kovalchuk, were outstanding in the series. Giroux had four goals and three assists in the six games, and Kovalchuk had two goals and six assists.

The Devils beat the Flyers in the conference finals in 1995 and 2000, winning the Stanley Cup both years. The Flyers defeated the Devils in the first round in 2004 and 2010.

Here is a look at this season's six matchups:

Oct. 8 in Newark - Flyers 3, Devils 0. Bryzgalov ended the Flyers’ 85-game, regular-season shutout drought, and rookie Matt Read scored his first goal.
Nov. 3 at the WFC - Devils 4, Flyers 3 (shootout). Max Talbot scored on a penalty shot, but it wasn’t enough as Bobrovsky and the Flyers fell in a shootout. Kovalchuk had three points and won a fight with the Flyers’ Brayden Schenn.
Jan. 21 in Newark - Flyers 4, Devils 1. Bryzgalov was forced to make just 19 saves and Wayne Simmonds collected three points in the win. On the power play, the Flyers were 2 for 5, and the Devils were 0 for 6. All the news wasn’t good: Danny Briere suffered a concussion.
Feb. 4 at the WFC - Devils 6, Flyers 4. Bobrovsky was shelled (six goals on 23 shots) and relieved by Bryzgalov. The Devils built a 6-0 lead and held off a third-period rally.
March 11 in Newark - Devils 4, Flyers 1. Bobrovsky was again the loser as New Jersey went 2 for 5 on the PP. Kovalchuk had a goal and two assists.
March 13 at the WFC - Flyers 3, Devils 0. Bryzgalov, who was in the midst of the second-longest shutout streak in the NHL since 1967-68, notched his second 3-0 win over the Devils this season. Defenseman Braydon Coburn had two assists, seven hits and three blocked shots.

The playoff schedule:

Game 1: Sun. at Phila, 3 p.m.
Game 2: Tue. May 1. at Phila, 7:30 p.m.
Game 3: Thurs. May 3, at NJ, 7:30 p.m.
Game 4: Sun. May 6, at NJ, 7:30 p.m.
*Game 5: Tue. May 8, at Phila, TBA.
*Game 6: Thu. May 10, at NJ, TBA.
*Game 7: Sat. May 12, at Phila., TBA.

(* if necessary)

Follow Sam Carchidi on Twitter @BroadStBull.

68 comments

Next Story: Giroux bypassed in MVP voting

Comments (68)

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 12:57 PM, 04/27/2012

Talking about the history of the Flyers/Devils playoff competition makes me a 12 year old? The Cups that you are mentioning happened BEFORE the two series I spoke of in my earlier post. Are you sure that 12 isn't your IQ?

— Ken Spencer

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 3:49 PM, 04/27/2012

Gentlemen, Gentlemen, please can we disagree without insults and counter insults. Ken , I know you are the aggrieved party but your a better man and big enough to ignore rather than getting drawn down that path. I enjoy your posts and want to hear your input. Ignore or report things you find abusive. Take and Hold the high ground. Go Flyers!

— DUDESKINS

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 3:49 PM, 04/27/2012

— DUDESKINS

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 1:37 PM, 04/27/2012

Yo chilenos. You may call yourself a Flyers fan, but you'll never impress anyone with your knowledge of hockey.

These are the Devils' most recent playoff performances:

2011 - Didn't make the playoffs
2010 - Eliminated in the first round by the Flyers, in five games.
2009 - Eliminated in the first round by Carolina. A humiliating loss since NJ was leading with less than 80 seconds to go and Brodeur gave up two goals to lose.
2008 - Eliminated in the first round by the Rangers, 4 games to 1.

Those Stanley Cups are a distant memory and do not reflect the Devils' recent playoff performances.

— FlyerFan4Life

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 8:13 AM, 04/27/2012

We couldn't have planned it better. No NY this time around and home ice. Maybe somebody beats NY or maybe the Flyers sharpen their teeth and are more ready for them after another series for the kids. If they play the way they did against Pittsburgh, there is no team that can take them. And, the defense gets even stronger when Mezaros and Grossmann get back.

Maybe JVR will have another breakout postseason like he did last year.

Team of destiny? The dream continues.

— gotedge

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 11:53 AM, 04/27/2012

Take it easy young lad there is a history with phila sports team,take a deep breath don't get to excited yet. I hope your right. Go Flyers

— chilenos

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 1:00 PM, 04/27/2012

"don't get to excited yet" = Don't get too excited

"I hope your right." = I hope you're right.

Are you sure you're not a twelve year old, still trying to learn basic English?

— Ken Spencer

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 8:45 AM, 04/27/2012

flyers in 4 and absolutely no more than 5.THEY MIGHT AS WELL HAVE THE PARADE NOW-THE STANLEY CUP BELONGS TO PHILLY in 2012-THE FIX IS IN!!

— flyers11

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 11:49 AM, 04/27/2012

Easy Dude, take a deep breath, we have some hockey left... you must not be from philly to be that enthusiastic or maybe you might be an inexperience PHILADELPHIA fan. I hope you are right...I hope your right. Go Flyers!

— chilenos

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 3:58 PM, 04/27/2012

Funny, but I kind of thought the fix was in for the Rangers, Did you see game 5 of that series and the 5 on 3 penalty? Chilenos, is it necessary to put down a persons joy and enthusiasm.. Not everyone has the same defeatist attitude as you. Why not let them formulate their own opinion? Go Flyers!

— DUDESKINS

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 8:47 AM, 04/27/2012

FlyerFan - that actually made me laugh. Seriously, it was funny. And, you were actually creative and didn't just pull a copy and paste from an article or website from the past several weeks. Good job. I'm not being sarcastic.

— FlyerBlow

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 8:48 AM, 04/27/2012

-stop being a little ....(joke) about the rags. respect'em, but stop the rain dancing hoping for their demise. plus the caps( rookie goalie) are a big/physical defensive minded team too.

-we owned the pens, but games 1/2 could have easily went the penguins way. and we're probably not even having this conversation. no short cut to a title. minimum,you're gonna have to beat 3 good teams and probably at least 1 great team to win it all.

— the-um-miester