Eastern Conference Quarterfinals Preview: Florida Panthers vs. New Jersey Devils

The Florida Panthers enter the postseason as the winners of the Southeast Division and the New Jersey Devils are the sixth seed. Could the rats make a return?

#3 Florida Panthers vs. #6 New Jersey Devils

Game 1: At Florida April 13 7:00PM EDT-NHLN

Game 2: At Florida April 15 7:30PN EDT-NBCSN

Game 3: At New Jersey April 17 7:00PM EDT-NHLN

Game 4: At New Jersey April 19 7:00PM EDT-NHLN

*Game 5: At Florida April 21 6:30PM EDT-NHLN

*Game 6: At NJD-TBD

*Game 7: At Florida-TBD

It's kind of weird that the Florida Panthers are sitting in the spot that is normally reserved for the Washington Capitals, the perennial winners of the Southeast division, but they are here. Unfortunately for them, they have to face the New Jersey Devils who are molded from the tough battles for the Atlantic Division Title. 

The Panthers had a chance to win their division early on in the final stretch of games, but posted a 2-3-5 record in their last ten. The Devils were flirting with the fifth seed, having won their last six, and posting a 7-2-1 record in their last ten, but couldn't catch the Philadelphia Flyers.

Panthers won the regular season series 2-1-1

Forwards

Florida relies on goal scoring by committee, because they don't have that top tier guy that can carry them.  Tomas Fleischmann (27G 34A) leads them in scoring, with Stephen Weiss (20G 37A) and Kris Versteeg (23G 31A) also hitting the twenty goal mark. Winger Sean Bergenheim (17G 6A) did step up last year in the playoffs for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Devils are lead in scoring by Ilya Kovalchuk (37G 46A), with Zach Parise (31G 38A) and David Clarkson (30G 16A) reaching the thirty goal plateau. Their twenty goal scorers include the ageless Patrick Elias (26G 52A), and the ageless Petr Sykora (21G 23A). 

Edge: Devils. They have two solid lines that should be able to score enough goals to get past the Panthers.

Defensemen

Florida is led on their blue line by Brian Campbell (4G 49A), who plays in every situation. Jason Garrison tallied 16 goals, and Ed Jovanovski and Mike Weaver provide solid play in their own zone as well as moving the puck to their forwards.

The Devils defense is composed of guys who fall under the radar of most NHL fans. Bryce Salvador, Anton Volchenkov, Andy Green, Mark Fayne, and Marek Zidlicky, provide ample isolation in front of Martin Brodeur.  While their stats aren't eye opening, they can all shutdown the top lines of opposing teams, and the Panthers lack of high powered scoring may suffer.

Edge: Devils

Goalies

Martin Brodeur (21-4-3, 2.41 GAA, .908 SV%) vs. Jose Theodore (22-16-11, 2.46 GAA, .917 SV%), or Scott Clemmensen 14-6-6, 2.57 GAA, .913 SV%).  It was musical goaltender in Florida this year.

Edge: Devils. Whoever starts in Florida, they can't compare to Uncle Daddy.

Special Teams. 

Panthers: Power play 18.5% 7th, Penalty Kill 79.5% 25th

Devils: Power play 17.2% 14th, Penalty Kill 89.6% 1st.

POFAs Pick

Devils in 6. They have too much scoring for the Panthers to keep pace, because the Devils can shut them down.