Turnpike Series: Flyers-Devils
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
Turnpike Series: Flyers-Devils
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.
Comments (68)
This series should be a cakewalk unless BRYZ collapses which is always possible. Then we get what we have all been waiting for BRYZ vs Lundqvist...Oh well it was a nice run another year of "IF WE ONLY HAD A GOALIE"— flyers1000- I love our team but let's not be too cocky. Look at what we did to the pens when they thought they would roll over us. Hopefully, our boys won't look past nj. They have a lot of good players and Brodeur may not be what he used to be but he's still so impressive. Start strong, play the full 60 and finish hard, just like game 6 v pens. And please stop rooting for the rangers' demise. Yeah, I hope they lose but some comments make it look as though we're afraid of them. I remember lots of comments before the playoffs began hoping that we wouldn't face the pens and look at what our boys did to them. As long as our boys play their game, they can beat anyone. One game at a time. No team is easy at this time of the year. Let's Go Flyers!— Cali7
- It really is an ideal matchup against a thoroughly mediocre Devils team whose home arena will be packed with Flyer fans. These will likely be old man Marty's final games with the Debs, and the same for Parise, who is a free agent come July 1.— eagle1971
- Flyers in 5. It took 2OT of game 7 for NJ to beat the Panthers so I don't really see them being a threat to the Flyers, who polished off the expected Cup winner in 6 games. We might even sweep these clowns. Go Flyers!— Fly Guy
- Some fans on here find news ways to amaze me. Im sure Vancouver thought they would cakewalk around eight seeded LA, Pitt would easily dispatch the Flyers according to most pundits, and the Caps had no shot against the defending stanley cup champs with a rookie in goal. Please learn that this is the NHL playoffs not some junior hockey tournament. The Flyers should win this series because they are the better team but that doesnt always hold true to form in the NHL, it is which ever team plays the hardest, gets timely goals, and gains little advantages that make the difference. I expect the Flyers to win in six but by no means will any series going forward be easy. Go Flyers— Bob Sacamano
- Let's not be too confident here. I expect a rusty team on Sunday and see a Devils win in game one. The Flyers should win the series but it will go at least 6 games.— barry1757
Comment removed.- GIROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUX— watchingyou
- It's a fine line between swagger and over confidence, and the other way between knock kneed and realistic. The fact is we are better than the Devils and its not really all that close. We SHOULD beat them in about 5-6 games. Now, this is the playoffs the best team doesn't always win. Should we look past them? No! Should we pee our pants over them? No!
We should pretend they are the Penguins and every puck in every corner counts, and every bad pass in the defensive zone counts, and every Bryz save counts.
Play like that, and no one is looking past anyone, it's just being realistic, we WILL win it.— WestonF01 - Great post Weston! It sounds like you got a little coach in you. Never get too cocky. After beating the Russians in the 1980 Olympics the Americans had to beat Finland to win the gold. Coach Brooks told his team, "If you lose this game you will take it to your grave", he took a couple of steps toward the door ,turned and said,"Your F...ing Grave." and the rest is history. GO FLYERS!
— DUDESKINS - How are the Devs a "mediocre team?" They had 102 points in the season, we had 103. This matchup concerns me. The Devs play a boring surround the puck carrier and look for breakout defense. We play a wide-open, breakout from our end style. If we get over-anxious to score, we may be giving them many odd-man rushes on Bryz. Good thing if Grossmann is back for this series. Bryz has got to play real good to outplay Marty. If Mesz is back, hope he plays a more stay-at-home defense. Not going to be such an easy series, Flyers in 7.— AnukKrakatoa
- If you want to look back at the regular season (ancient history), the Flyers had 43 non-shootout wins, and the Debs had only 36. Of course there's no shootout in the playoffs. I don't know what will happen in the next round against the Rangers and hopefully in the finals against the Blues or Preds, but after shaking off the rust in Game 1, we will have little trouble with the Debs' very average D-men and their 40-year-old goalie. — eagle1971
- Wow just hope the Flyers are not as cocky as what we see posted here. Sure the Flyers should beat the Devils but they're going to have to play well. A week layoff means a tad rusty and game 1 is huge. A devils win on sunday will make it very interesting.No need to look ahead deal with the Devils 1st.....I will say looking at Flyers series vs Pitt the Flyers looked on a complete different level than what I saw in all the other series. Like hyperspeed vs stuck in the mud.— glove69
- Glove, your post made me wonder if any of the Flyers ever read this stuff on here. If Bryz reads it, it would explain why he sounds so wacked out sometimes. Anyway good post and I agree don't get cocky and it sure was a faster game although all playoff hockey seems faster to me. Go Flyers! — DUDESKINS
- We have a lot of reasons for more than just a little cautious optimism. Bryz has stepped up his game, the Giroux-led offense is firing on all cylinders, Grossmann and Mesz are getting healthier by the day, Gus has shown his talent and the Flyers' considerable depth on the blue line, great team spirit etc. I am sure this Flyers squad will not take the Devils lightly. Flyers in six.— flyerdommo
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Broad Street Bull is the Inquirer's blog covering the Philadelphia Flyers and the National Hockey League.
Reach Sam at scarchidi@phillynews.com.
Sam Carchidi
Inquirer Staff Writer
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