This is the time that has been 18 years in the making. Whether you are a Rangers or Devils fan does not matter, the bottom line is the series itself will come down to a little of everything. No one really knows what to expect from the rest or tired issue to what will win out — offense or defense. However we took a look at some of the series previews out there and here is what we found.
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BEST OF THE BEST PREVIEWS:
In Lou We Trust — Prediction And Preview
Down Goes Avery — #6 Devils Vs. #1 Rangers
Red Light District — Rangers Vs. Devils
Big Blue Interactive Forum Style: Rangers-Devils
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We used a bulletin board like preview for a reason as the war of words will spill on the ice and off throughout this series. The pressure is clearly on the Rangers in this one while the Devils want to try to win one more for Marty. That is just two of the plotlines in this compelling drama. It will be fascinating to see what happens in this one as the sides have clearly been drawn.
What are we going to do? Simply, we are going to run the NHL 12 sims for Game 1. The Rangers and Devils are fairly even in theory. It is all the intangibles that will play out throughout this series that will ultimately determine it. It is time.
NHL 12 — Game 7 Rangers Vs. Capitals
It comes down to the Battle Of The Hudson, this simulation just had to come as these always have fantasy purposes along with fun prognostication. We played a total of seven games and this is what we came up with for our prediction. Again keep in mind, this may not happen obviously. Simply the rivalry deserves the utmost of respect in how the sims are run. Here were our results.
Devils @ Rangers Game 1
1st Period
NYR – Brad Richards (7:41, PP, Hagelin and Del Zotto)
NJD – Zach Parise (14:33, Elias and Larsson)
2nd Period
NYR – Brian Boyle (12:12, unassisted)
3rd Period
NJD – Alexei Ponikarovsky (9:22, Henrique)
Overtime
NJD – Travis Zajac (2:24, Kovalchuk and Zidlicky)
Team Stats:
Shots
NYR- 32, NJD- 33
Power Plays
NYR- 1/4, NJD- 0/2
Final: Devils 3 Rangers 2 (OT)
3 Stars:
1. Zach Parise 2. Brad Richards 3. Henrik Lundqvist
The game is just hours away and if it approaches anything like the sims, it will be an awfully good one. We literally had the seven sims go in all different directions and there was no real consensus. The final sim literally after the first six were split was this one and its what we ultimately went with.
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SCHEDULE TIME:
Monday, May 14, 2012 |
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| Teams | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey | at | NY Rangers | 8:00 PM | Notes | ||
It is always fun to know that this of year there is only this one game on the schedule. Now this is the mother of all Game 1’s at least on this side of the coast. The fantasy ramifications in and of itself will be immense because no one expected Martin Brodeur, Zach Parise, and Ilya Kovalchuk to still be alive in the playoffs. If you own them, it will be an interesting ride in this one and of course, Brad Richards, Marian Gaborik, and Henrik Lundqvist are the obvious keys for the Rangers.
The odd thing about a series like this one is there are always a few unexpected heroes sprinkled inbetween the final outcome. Game 1 will likely have that very bizarre twist and a little of everything. There will be a fight or two in this one also. Also the scoring will be mixed up enough where one player will not necessarily dominate or that is the expectation at least.
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Watch the game and enjoy this one. Hopefully this all lives up to the hype and again, thanks for reading.
