Turnpike Series: Flyers-Devils
The Turnpike Series has been set.
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)
Yeah, I have to agree with the gentleman above. We can roll four lines. We can scrap if we have too, but we can also play disciplined hockey if we need too. We can score on command at times, and can dominate a zone at times. It's true, our Defense can get inconsistent, but with Mesz and Grossman coming back with Gus-the-wunderkid... Man, this series is a whole lot more than just Bryz vs. Marty.
Take the Devils up and down the line and they just don't match up. From G-man on down to Zac Rinaldo (Ok, that might be a stretch) we're better.
There's Briere-- our little giant, Simmonds, Hartzy, Old man Jagr (I kid, I kid... we're the same age!)Who do the devils have again? Just no-names playing a good "system" game. It's not enough.
Now, AGAIN, that doesn't mean get cocky, but it does mean a little swagger won't hurt! I wouldn't guarantee anything, but if I was going to bet on anyone it would be Philly in 5. Mark it! (But please don't ask me to pay if I'm wrong... I'm rather poor)
GO FLYERS GO! BLEEDING WITH YOU UNTIL MID-JUNE!— WestonF01- here's the main thing i noticed - the devils have only beaten the flyers this season when bob is watching the net. undefeated when bryz played. knock knock— Zero
- Four Lines Healthy Coming At Them Devils. No Way They Win. FLYBOYS Just To Deep This year. Face it Trolls. This TEAM Is Ready to Bring it Home. LET'S GO FLYERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!— Darryl Cofield
- The Flyers should win the series, but it may take the full 7 games to get it done. Brodeur is playing very well and is approaching the end of his truly great career - you know he wants it to end with a Cup. The week-long rest between Rounds 1 and 2 will be an advantage for the Flyers as they come down from the emotional high of putting Cindy to rest and as they rest & recover from injuries. Looking forward to seeing Mezaros and Grossmann back.— OrangeFury
- Hate This Team Too. Scott Stevens and That Gang. And the rest Of Them On The List With Rangers, Penguins, Bruins, Redwings. Well If You're Not FLYERS You Know We Have No Love For You. Flyers In 5. LET'S GO FLYERS!!!!!!!!!!!— Darryl Cofield
I wonder after doing such a great job against Malkin who Sean Couturier goes against this time around. I have shoes older than that kid. What a great performance. Had Evgeni shakin his head.— DUDESKINS- I wonder after doing such a great job against Malkin who Sean Couturier goes against this time around. I have shoes older than that kid. What a great performance. Had Evgeni shakin his head.— DUDESKINS
- I wouldn't count on NY making it out of their series. Has anyone seen Holtby? He's been playing like Broduer 20 years ago. Caps in 6...— 7xChamp
- I want the Flyers to win, but the Devils at +150 for the series appear to be a good value bet at only one point behind in regular season standings. When is the last time a 5/6 game had a such a huge favorite?— 17MileDrive
- No,they won't win game 1 or the series.— Eaglejay
Comment removed.- @ chilenos - bro, we get it. You want people to be cautious because nothing is settled. Do you have to attach that to every optimistic post thrown up here? I agree with you, but you made your point repeatedly. Your message is going to get lost and is getting tired. And the DN already has Marcus Hayes doing your job for you...— Doctor D
- we dodge NYR this round but it's evitiable that we meet them in semis ...— puckdaddy
- Flyers will blow past devils the Devils stink.....Brodeur a shell of his past...then its the Rangers Bryz vs Lundqvist....NOT GOOD...did you see Lundqvist the last 2 games...we dont have a goalie who can shut down a team at will like he can...Enjoy the Devs series because raelity hits after that— flyers1000
- It all comes down to this...
Bryzz vs. Brodeur - whoever is hotter will carry their team to the conf finals. Can you do it Bryzz?? Now is the time to step up!!— bigdaddyG - I hear Volchenkov and Kovalchuk are not 100%. Good news for us.— Nitroglycerin
- glove69: You hit it. I remember watching other playoff years and thinking the Flyers seem so slow compared to the other games going on. This year WE look like the team that is playing fast and smart. I am optimistic, but think it's crazy to even mention the Cup yet, much less claim it as out own. Jersey will be harder than Pit. Let's play every game like it's game 7. Go Flyers.— LuckyDog
- This is going to be a tough series - Brodeur looked like he was 10 years younger against the Panthers (I realize it Florida I'm talking about, but it is the playoffs) and if he carries that over to the Flyers series it is going to be hard fought and go at least 6 games, but I believe the overall offensive depth of the Flyers will prevail.— CTL
- I hope all these over enthusiastic knuckleheads remember that it's not over yet. Everyone just relax take a deep breath and have a chill pill and enjoy what we have won SO FAR, we are from Philadelphia, we have a history,REMEMBER?. Go Flyers— chilenos
- Nothing is easy in the playoffs....that said, Flyers should win...so should have the pens and canucks according to experts...so don't get too cocky and enjoy it...We've won nothing yet.— philly thug
- This series will be no cakewalk for either team. The way I see it is the team that out-fore-checks the other will win this series. The Devils have one of the greatest goalies in net and that means the Flyers Goalie must wake up and fight. Again the Flyers have to take it to the Devils as they took it to the Pens in Game 6. There is no way around it, this series will be a flat-out War. Get ready for the fireworks starting in Game 1.— jpelle36
- Devils in 7 Flyers choke— md57md
- I hope your wrong ,I hope your wrong...............hmm. GO FLYERS! — chilenos
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- GIROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUX— watchingyou
- Comment removed.
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- If JVR had a breakout season last year, wouldn't he already be broken out and rendered incapable of breaking out again?— DavidJUrban
- Mes is back at D and this is huge! I see Philly in 6, winning in Newark to shut Chris Christy up about Jersey Devils...change it to Newark Devils!— BirdinParadise
- Good news....no plane travel until the Cup finals now.— Romus
- -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. - 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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 - 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
- "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? - Not only have the Flyers played well against New Jersey with Bryz in goal this year, but Philly has done well historically with the Devils as an opponent. The Flyers eliminated the Devs in five games in 2010 behind Brian Boucher and also ousted New Jersey in five in 2004 with Robert Esche in goal. A key goal in the 04 series was a 50 foot blue line blast by Philly defenseman Danny Markov that somehow got past super Marty and demoralized New Jersey, the defending Stanley Cup champion.
- you must be 12yo to be talking about History with the devils,
I'm from Philly and a diehard Eagles,Phills and Flyers fan.
The Devils won a couple of Cups at the Cost of the Flyers, don't forget. Go Flyers— chilenos - 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. - 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?
- 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
- 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
- Flyers sweep. Media and Fans make move for Giroux to replace Christ in the Bible. Change December holiday to "Girouxmas" and jolly red elf revised to jerry curled red head known as Santa Claude.— FlyerBlow
- Atta boy Flyblow... Now your gettin it! Can't beat em, Join em.
— Jiggs700 - I like this post. I can appreciate the humor. Got my vote for "Girouxmas" btw. I'm celebrating this next year in place of Festivus.
- Easy Dude. Don't be a knucklehead. Go Flyers! — chilenos
- Dear Mr. F-Blow: You are hilarious.I can't stop laughing at your funny and very creative post. You are a credit to all Pens fans. BTW it should be getting close to tee time right about now so please return to your hut and finish cleaning Sid's & Geno's balls.
Denny b— Dennyb21 - Once upon a time there were three little pigs named Sidney, Evgeni and Marc-Andre. They went to a smoke filled city called Chokesburgh to seek their fortunes. They built a house of straw and called it Consol. The people of Chokesburgh loved the three little pigs because they promised to bring a silver Cup to the city. But a big bad wolf dressed in orange and black blew Chokesburgh away and sent Sidney, Evgeni and Marc-Andre to the golf course.
- Oh man, nothing like starting the day by snorting in laughter. Thanks for the laugh. — Fly Guy
- Comment removed.
- Snoozefest.....The boys have to finish them quick otherwise they may get bored to a loss by these boring Devils!!— santina
- Need a quick start to shake off the rust.— burholme
- This series is going to be a lot less dramatic then Pens' series, and one game shorter. Flyers 4-1....go Flyers!— BMan
- Warmup to the Rangers........— Earl J
- Young , Rested and at Home, sound like a good combo?
"The legs feed the wolf”
― Herb Brooks— DUDESKINS
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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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