GAME 1 RECAP: WATCH JAGR!

April 22nd, 2006 was Earth Day, but it could have easily been renamed "What On Earth Happened To The Rangers?" Day. Game 1 ended up a Devils rout, as they cruised to a 6-1 win over the Rangers on Saturday afternoon. The first period was sloppy but closely fought, with each team recording a power play goal to make it 1-1, so it looked like we had a game. But the Rangers started to unravel about halfway through the second, taking bad penalties and playing undisciplined hockey, and they also got spotty goaltending from Lundqvist (who has given up 11 G in the last 2 games). Basically, everything that went right for them in the regular season went wrong, and all of the positive attributes that added up to their success suddenly evaporated. When the smoke cleared, they had handed the Devils 13 power plays, they cashed in on 5 of them, and Patrick Elias had an astonishing 6 points (2G, 4A). Sure, it's only one game, and I still think the Rangers can make this a series (personally, I root for good hockey over blowouts and sweeps), but that was a statement game for the Devils and they took care of business. We'll find out more tonight in Game 2, which is obviously a huge game for the Rangers. Jagr hurt his shoulder on the penalty kill with 4 minutes left (why was he on a PK late in a blowout anyway?), so he's questionable.

As for the scene at the Arena, it was an odd vibe; although it was about 20% Rangers fans in the upper deck, there was barely any tension in the crowd. I've been to playoff games with a lot more atmosphere than this one; in fact, I've been to regular season games vs. the Rangers with more electricity. Maybe Devils fans are getting jaded, or maybe they're just more reserved than the average hockey fan, but they generated very little noise in the cavernous Continental Airlines Arena. And when they made themselves heard, they would merely embellish every chant or song with the word "suck" (ooo, inventive), or chanting "Marty's better". What is the point of that chant? Who's saying he's NOT better? He's one of the greatest goalies of all-time, so it wouldn't even be worth the effort to debate. Also, Devils PR didn't help by passing out those irritating blow-up "thundersticks" which are, well, kind of loud and gay. Of course, as Rob pointed out, what's the point of spending money on PR if you're the Devils organization? You win three Cups and still don't get any press, so why bother? It's always going to be tough being the "3rd man in" the NYC area, because they'll never get the respect and attention they deserve.

We also happened to be sitting right in front of a guy (an NHL scout???) who screamed "Watch Jagr!" every time he was on the ice; thankfully, the Devils coaching staff heard this sage advice about this mystery player and did just that. This might be nitpicking, but there seemed to be an inordinate number fans with "personalized" Devils jerseys, featuring either their own name, or things like "Stanley Cup" or "Spanky" on the back, which always looks stupid ("Hey Ductus! Get your suit on! We need ya!"). I'm a Devils fan, but I'm not a fan of Devils fans, I guess. (Three of us avoided ridicule by wearing our black Barr Labs jerseys--of course, we forgot to bring a camera.) All things considered, that was probably my last playoff game in the Swamp. At least I left the parking lot in style, taking a couple of traffic cones with me. You'd think that without mass transit, at least traffic control would be good--but no. I hate that goddamn lot.

As for the other series, there have already been two fantastic 2OT games, with Detroit prevailing in the first one, and Buffalo outlasting Philly. I thought the Sabres were going to blow it when Philly got the equalizer with less than 2 minutes left, but Briere eventually bailed them out. Campbell's hit on Umberger in OT (see below) is a classic.



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