I was going to post a new post after each series. I mean, it IS the Panthers we are dealing with. It's not Philly, Pittsburgh, or New York. It's the Florida Panthers. But that raises the question. What are the Devils doing out there as we stare down on elimination in a series none of us even thought would go past game 4? I decided to try to put into perspective 5 things that have been wrong with our team this series and what needs to be improved by Tuesday or we will once again pull out the shaving cream early on in the playoffs.
#5. The Officiating
OK, the Devils have been known to be screwed over in the playoffs by refs before. '08 against NY that icing call during a PK that cost the Devils the series. '09 in Carolina we had that clear goalie interference call with 1 second to play which led to a Hurricane goal. But this is getting strange. Devils are getting called for simply checking guys while only blatant calls are being assessed to Florida. Since when was racing to prevent an icing call and checking the guy BEFORE the whistle a penalty? And it's starting to effect the way Florida plays. During game 2 or 3 a Panther got caught up in the legs of a Devil while the NJ player was on the ground. Instead of simply falling to get a penalty, the Panther player dove into the Devil slamming his head against the ice. If these refs don't stop suffering from what I call "Koharski Syndrome" we are in trouble.
#4. Sean Bergenheim
When we came into this series we were told that one line was our biggest fear: Weiss, Versteeg, and Fleischmann. But Sean Bergenheim has been a force in this series. But don't take MY word for it. Chico Resche has made a point to mention him every 3 minutes at least. So while I agree he needs to be contained, I'm going to spare you all. Let Chico talk about how amazing he is.
#3 The lack of shots to the net and forechecking
We need to shoot the puck at the net. But instead we are going for these stupid deflection plays that do work... when they actually get deflected to the net! We gain the zone for a small point shot or a shanked shot from the slot if we are lucky. After that, Florida's defense has been stripping the puck away with ease. Start hitting without taking stupid penalties. You can do it! Hitting IS allowed!!! Stop playing too careful and get some pucks in their zone and sustain pressure. And that's the key word here, sustain! Aside from game 4, they haven't been able to sustain pressure for a full 60 minutes.
#2 Pussification of the coaching staff
Listen, when you're losing a series 3-2, a loss away from elimination to a team that int he mind of most hockey fans shouldn't even exist, don't talk to the press like "ohhhh well we had some trouble todayyyy". No, you deny comment to the press, get your ass into that locker room and scream at them. It works! And don't even tell me Petey that you aren't the "angry" type. Larry Robinson, Mr. Smiles, walked into that locker room after going down 3-1 to Philly, and basically beat the crap out of that locker room. And guess what, we came back and won the series and then the freaking Cup! 1980, Herb Brooks yelled at college kids every day for a year, and we all know what happened there! So please someone other that Oates (because I can see he's actually trying to be a hard coach like he should be) man up, harden up, and whip this team (literally if you have to) into shape!
#1 Penalty Kill
uhhhhh, what the hell happened here?! We broke the RECORD for best PK in NHL history! Now, the playoffs begin and we suck on the PK. What happened in the course of a week?! Not much I can say about this one except, fix it!
Facing elimination sucks, but we aren't done yet, so let's fight Tuesday to stay alive. This is Florida's series to lose now. Let's make those little kitties pay.
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