New Jersey Devils: Don’t Overreact To Game One Outcome
By Nick Villano
The New Jersey Devils are playing their first playoff game in almost seven years. It may be easy to overreact to the first game of the series, but fans need to be patient this week.
We are just about 40 hours until the New Jersey Devils play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The chase for the biggest trophy in sports finally has Jersey’s Team. It’s been 51,111 hours since the Devils last played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Yes, I just calculated how many hours it’s been since June 11, 2012.
That’s what happens when you miss the playoffs for this long. Especially when it’s a franchise that made the playoffs for 13 straight seasons. Starting Thursday, the Devils will add to their 240 playoff games.
Obviously, with how much time has passed, and four straight days without Devils hockey, tensions will be high. Devils fans will live and die with every dump in. Every single play will be critiqued with scrutiny.
We need to take a step back, at least for game one.
The Devils are taking on the Tampa Bay Lightning. They came into this season as the de facto favorite to win it all. They recorded the most points in the Eastern Conference, and may try to get this series done as soon as possible.
There’s one problem, they’ve had terrible luck playing the Devils. That could drive them to play their best hockey coming out of the gate.
There’s no chance the Lightning overlook the Devils. For one, the Devils beat them all three times they played this season. In one game, Miles Wood made a man bleed his own blood, then later scored the game-winning goal in Tampa. These games have been hard fought, and each time the Devils came out on top.
That’s why the Lightning will come out firing on all cylinders. The entire team wants to take an early lead in this series, and show they can beat the Devils.
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Also, the building is going to be insane. As much as people say bad things about sports in the Sunshine State, Tampa loves hockey. They don’t care about the Rays, and they’re lukewarm about the Buccaneers, but the Lightning run that town.
Then, there’s the fact that the Devils are coming in with very little experience. Keith Kinkaid plays his first playoff game ever. There’s no way to know how that will go. He could ignore the pressure and stand on his head, or he could play like he did back in January.
Taylor Hall is the most important player in this series. If Tampa finds a way to bottle him up, it will be hard for the Devils to drive play. If the pressure of his first playoff games ever starts to weigh on him, it could be an issue. However, those butterflies may only last one game. The first is always the hardest.
It’s great the Devils returned to the playoffs. Remember, this is a seven-game series for a reason. The Lightning can win 7-1, and they will still only go up in the series 1-0. The Devils can bounce back immediately, like they’ve done so many times before. Give the Devils a chance to prove themselves. Just like the Average Joe’s, it’s not how you start it’s how you finish.