Rangers vs. Devils Line: Game 4 Eastern Conference Finals
Carrie Stroup here with your Rangers vs. Devils line for Game 4 of the 2012 NHL Eastern Conference Finals. All odds can be found at Sportsbook, offering up to $250 in FREE CASH to qualified customers.
The Devils look to even up the series for a second time when they take on the Rangers in a pivotal Game 4 in New Jersey on Monday night in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Devils were unable to capitalize on the momentum from their Game 2 win in New York, squandering home ice in a 3-0 loss on Saturday. Game 3 was a mirror image of Game 1—where both teams played even hockey through the first 40 minutes before the Rangers took over in the third period for two goals and an empty netter. Once again, Henrik Lundqvist stole the show for the Blueshirts, stopping all 36 shots he faced for his NHL-best third shutout of the postseason. With a win on Monday night, New York would take a commanding 3-1 series lead with a chance to close it out on home ice on Wednesday, but to do it, the Rangers will need to buck a troubling trend. Since winning Games 6 and 7 against the Senators in the first round, New York has not won back-to-back games in a series. Starting with Game 1 of the Washington series, the Rangers have zigzagged back and forth, following up each win with a loss in the next game. Perhaps it’s a byproduct of their defensive style of play, but the Rangers seem to take their foot off the gas after wins. The Blueshirts are 0-2 in Game 4s in the playoffs this year, and expect New Jersey to play its best game of the series to prevent blowing both games at home. The Devils played very well for the first two periods on Saturday and had multiple quality scoring chance, but simply could not get anything past Lundqvist.
New York broke a scoreless tie 3:19 into the third period of Game 3 on a wrister from defenseman Dan Girardi (three goals, eight assists in 2012 playoffs). The Rangers have now gotten a goal from a d-man in five of their past six games, and Girardi’s 11 playoff points are second only to C Brad Richards who has 13 (six goals, seven assists).
Rookie LW Chris Kreider (five goals, two assists in 2012 playoffs) stayed red hot for the Rangers in Game 3, scoring his third goal of the series. The 21-year-old Boston College product leads the Rangers in points in this series with four.
The Devils shouldn’t be too concerned after Game 3—sometimes a world-class goaltender like Lundqvist is going to steal a game. The Devils had a ton of great scoring chances—outshooting the Rangers 36-22—but the bounces just didn’t go their way. New Jersey’s top line of Zach Parise, Travis Zajac and Ilya Kovalchuk had an especially rough game with each player posting a -2 rating. Kovalchuk’s lazy defensive zone coverage led to Kreider’s goal, which came off a tip-in from a Ryan McDonagh point blast.
Look for Devils’ head coach Peter DeBoer to switch up the lines in Game 4, moving Kovalchuk down to play LW on the second line with Adam Henrique and Patrik Elias and bringing Dainius Zubrus up to play on the right side with Zajac and Parise.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
