Devils Take Series Lead 1-0
~New Jersey National
Last night, the New Jersey Devils opened up their playoff campaign with a 6-3 win on the road against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Despite giving up three early goals, the Devils quickly regained their composure and managed to even the score before the 1st intermission. Deadline acquisition, Sergei Berezin, netted the first of his two goals to put New Jersey on the board and the team never looked back scoring twice more in the first period and adding three more in the final two periods. Center and team captain, Mats Sundin, scored three goals including two in the third to help seal the victory.
This win is very important for the Devils due to their lackluster play at home. They need to win as many road games as possible. We caught up with Devils GM, Ryan Caster, after the contest. He had this to say, "We know we are playing a tough team. They weren't the best team in the East for nothing. They have a lot of talent, but I think we can beat them if we stick to our game and continue to get production from every line."
Some people in and around the organization thought Caster was crazy for acquiring Berezin before the deadline saying he was washed up and had lost his scoring touch, but he has certainly made believers out of the New Jersey faithful. Since being acquired, he has eight goals (including the two last night) in thirteen games. He had eight goals in fifty-seven games with Detroit this season. After the game we asked him what has brought about this change. "Well, ya know, Coach Granato has paired me up with Pecs and Drew and things have clicked right from the beginning. Drew always seems to find a way to get me the puck and Pecs does the dirty work down low. I am just trying to go out and work as hard as I can to help the team."
The series is far from over and the Devils have to be a little nervous about the way they started the game, but Granato righted the ship as the Devils earned their split and have a chance to take two from the mighty Penguins on their home ice.
This is a totally different season than the one we were playing.. I dont think our season games / stats etc have no count in these playoffs as they were nullified.. Penguins are going down =( We only play good every 2 years