Comments on: New Jersey moves into 10th place in East with 4-2 win over Atlanta; Reality check awaits? http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2011/03/15/new-jersey-moves-into-10th-place-in-east-with-4-2-win-over-atlanta-reality-check-awaits/ ProHockeyTalk on NBCSports.com Tue, 21 May 2013 17:24:44 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: stakex http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2011/03/15/new-jersey-moves-into-10th-place-in-east-with-4-2-win-over-atlanta-reality-check-awaits/comment-page-1/#comment-9140 Wed, 16 Mar 2011 16:57:07 +0000 http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/?p=31665#comment-9140 Well the Devils only play 2 games against teams that they have a chance to catch… the Sabers and the Rangers. So thats just two, 4 point swing games the Devilsh ave to look forward to.

So really, those are the only two games against better teams that the Devils actually want to play. Spin in however you want, but the Devils do NOT want to play games against Washington, Boston, Philly, and Pittsburgh right now…. especially Washington, who has been hotter than NJ over the last 10 games. No matter how well they are playing, at best its still a flip of the coin when they are playing the top teams in the East.

The Devils probably need to win 10-11 of their last 13 games to even have a slight chance to making the playoffs (and its quite possible that might not even be enough). Thus they can’t be playing so many of them against the best teams in the East. While they might win some of them, they are not going to win all of them which is what they need to do.

My prediction is that the Devils get blown out against Washington, and then lose to Boston and Pittsburgh… ending any chance of them making the playoffs in the next week and a half.

]]> By: mrhojorisin http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2011/03/15/new-jersey-moves-into-10th-place-in-east-with-4-2-win-over-atlanta-reality-check-awaits/comment-page-1/#comment-9136 Wed, 16 Mar 2011 15:06:14 +0000 http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/?p=31665#comment-9136 If you’re the Devils, at this point you need and want to play the teams ahead of you, even if they’re “better” (possibly only by perception because they are higher in the standings), because that’s the only way the Devs can guarantee essentially 4-point swings over the teams they are chasing. And with the way they’ve been playing, I don’t think they really fear any of these teams or the challenges that are ahead, because a month ago, no one expected them to even be here. Look at what they’ve done against Tampa Bay and Carolina. So, bring on the Rangers, Buffalo and Montreal… and hopefully they stay equally up against the likes of Ottawa.

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