Devils say they have a blockbusting plan
Michael Del Zotto of the New York Rangers and Travis Zajac of the New Jersey Devils vie for the puck. (May 14, 2012) Credit: Getty Images
NEWARK
The Devils spent Monday night watching the Rangers block 26 of their shots. They spent yesterday doing their best to block out the entire subject.
That wasn't easy, though, when many of the questions reporters posed were on that very topic.
"It's definitely not the story of the series,'' coach Pete DeBoer said in response to the very first question he faced after an early afternoon team meeting. (The team did not skate.)
"I mean, they are a good shot-blocking team. Every team you play has strengths in certain areas, and that's one of the Rangers' strengths . . . But it's not the story of the series.''
The Devils had better hope not, given that they lost, 3-0, in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, in large part because of the Rangers' maddening ability to stop pucks before they reach Henrik Lundqvist.
One trick will be to prevent the shot-blocking from getting into their heads. Another will be better execution. Not that DeBoer was willing to share specifics. "It's a bunch of different things,'' he said. "It's finding lanes, moving the puck quickly, being in the right places. We've got a plan.''
In the conference semis the Capitals often faked shots to get the Rangers to commit too early, then skated around them. The Devils seem more inclined to find paths directly through the maze in front of Lundqvist.
"If you have an opportunity to shoot and have a lane you have to take it, so it's got to be either a quick shot or a quick pass across or tips," center Travis Zajac said. "There are places everywhere we can get it into the net.''
Said center Adam Henrique: "We just have to keep putting pressure, getting pucks to the net, keep getting shots from the point and crashing the net, getting traffic out front, getting tips. It's going to be an ugly one that beats him.''
Ilya Kovalchuk had a couple of the Devils' relatively few chances in Game 1. The left wing rejected the notion the Rangers' shot-blocking has or will affect the Devils psychologically. "No, that's part of the game,'' he said. "That's how they played all season long, so it's nothing new for us. They did their job better than we did in the first game and got the win and it's not a big deal.''
Not a big deal? Earlier, Kovalchuk had called Game 2 a "must win.''
So extreme is the use of shot-blocking by the Rangers that a reporter asked DeBoer whether it might be time to consider rules changes to counter it. The coach said he was too busy trying to win playoff games to ponder big issues such as that. "Shot blocking has been around for 30 years,'' he said. "Some teams do it better than others.''
Does Brodeur think it's bad for the sport?
"You have the wrong guy to ask that question,'' he said, laughing. "We were blamed for the [neutral zone] trap, but we were successful at it so I guess whatever breeds success is what you need to do.
"I know it's probably not the most exciting brand of hockey, but it's really effective. They have gotten in people's heads by doing what they're doing and they're tough to play against because of that.''
More Rangers
