After yet another 2-1 win and game-winning goal from the stick of Ilya Kovalchuk, the New Jersey Devils find themselves at 19-2-2 in their last 23 games. They are currently nine points out of 8th place with two games in hand on the Carolina Hurricanes, and ten points out of 7th place with three games in hand on the New York Rangers. The only question that should be posed is not "will they make the playoffs?" but rather "who will want to play them in the first round?"
The Devils' upcoming schedule is one of the more favorable among the teams currently situated 7th-12th in the Eastern Conference. Their next six games are against the likes of the Ottawa Senators, New York Islanders and Atlanta "where has our hockey ability gone" Thrashers.
They do have some difficult games against the Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres towards the end of the month—that March 26th tilt against the Sabres could be jockeying for the 7th and 8th playoff seeds—so the Devils cannot afford to drop points in their next six against teams currently far from playoff contention.
The teams the Devils are chasing have infinitely more difficult ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Ryan Stimson
Charge to the Playoffs: The Fall and Rise of the NJ Devils and Ilya Kovalchuk
March 5th, 2011 by Ryan Stimson Leave a reply »
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